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SPOTLIGHT ON........Adult Non-Fiction |
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Celebrate Black History Month with these recommended titles by, for and about African Americans.
All of these library materials are owned by the Metropolitan Library System. Log on to CyberMars with your library card to reserve any titles that interest you, or ask a librarian for assistance.
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African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom
Patrick Washburn (Northwestern Univ. Press, c2006)
Shelf Number: 071.308996/W315a
Washburn traces the evolution of African American newspapers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Particular attention is paid to the important role of the African American press in the early development of the civil rights movement. |
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Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel
Alek Wek(HarperCollins, c2007)
Shelf Number: 746.92092/W437a/BIOGRAPHY
As a small child, Alek survived the civil war in Sudan by dodging bullets. She fled to England with her family to lead a more conventional life until the day someone on the London streets approached her about modeling. Now her life is anything but conventional again, the life of a jet-setting supermodel. She is no empty-headed beauty, though, but has used her fame to inform others about the plight of the Sudanese and other African issues. |
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Ali Rap: Muhammad Ali, the First Heavyweight Champion of Rap
Muhammad Ali (ESPB Books, c2006)
Shelf Number: 796.83/AL398ar
A chronological biography of “The Greatest” almost entirely comprised of quotes from Ali, daring, outspoken, witty and relevant. While Ali had a lot to say about boxing, courage and himself (his favorite subject), he also had plenty to say about civil rights, religion and the Vietnam War. Each quote is paired with an appropriate image. |
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Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir
Stanley Tookie Williams (Simon & Schuster, c2004)
Shelf Number: 302.34/W727b/BIOGRAPHY
After being convicted of multiple gang-related murderers, Williams served 25 years on death row before being executed in 2005. During his time in prison, he wrote children’s books offering himself as an object lesson warning about the dangers of gangs. This 2007 reprint of his autobiography adds an epilogue by longtime coauthor Barbara Becnel. The first part of the book recalls graphic memories of gang life; the second part chronicles his anti-gang campaign. A particularly moving moment comes when he meets his own son passing through San Quentin on the way to another prison. |
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Brother, I’m Dying
Edwidge Danticat (Knopf,c2007)
Shelf Number: 813/D193Zb
This Haitian-born writer is at her best in recounting her family history. We meet the author as a child in her native country. After her parents and brother immigrate to America, she is left in the care of her uncle. Several years later the teenaged author joins the family she barely remembers in New York City, leaving behind her beloved “second father” and island country. In 2004, her uncle flees to Miami and later dies in prison. |
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Coltrane: The Story of a Sound
Ben Ratliff (Farrar, c2007)
Shelf Number: 781.654/C725r/BIOGRAPHY
Written by the jazz critic for the New York Times, this is not your average biography, but a model for music criticism, the story of the music made by the saxophone master, Coltrane. Readers schooled in music theory or jazz history will appreciate it more than general readers who may be frustrated by some of the more technical passages. The second part examines Coltrane as a musical and cultural mirror of his time. |
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