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First published in 1931, "Black No More" is a clever and important satirical novel by George S. Schuyler which was written during the creative time of the Harlem Renaissance. This humorous and insightful work explores what would happen if blackness could be erased and black people could choose to become white. The novel begins with the central character Max Disher, a young, intelligent and ambitious black man, finding himself lonely and rejected on...
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"Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings" by Joel Chandler Harris is a timeless collection of African American folktales that resonate with the charm and wisdom of the Deep South's oral tradition. Published in 1881, these tales are framed through the character of Uncle Remus, a wise and kindly old freedman who shares stories with children.
Harris's work captures the essence of plantation life and the rich oral history passed down through generations....
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During the 1890s, Ida Wells-Barnett began documenting lynching in the United States. Her findings, which were based on frequent claims that lynchings were reserved for black criminals only, were published in articles and through her pamphlet called Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its Phases. Wells exposed lynching as a barbaric practice of whites in the South used to intimidate and oppress African Americans who created economic and political competition-and...
4) John Brown
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Few figures are more seminal in the abolitionist movement in America than John Brown. His firebrand approach to the movement arose out of his religiously inspired and deep-seated belief that slavery was not only morally unjust but that its removal from American society could only be achieved through armed insurrection. Following his capture in 1859 during an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry and his subsequent hanging he became...
5) Cane
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"The Harlem Renaissance writer's innovative and groundbreaking novel depicting African American life in the South and North, with a foreword by National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree Zinzi Clemmons Jean Toomer's Cane is one of the most significant works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and is considered to be a masterpiece in American modernist literature because of its distinct structure and style. First published in 1923 and told through...
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The Story of an African Farm (1883) is a novel by South African political activist and writer Olive Schreiner. Her first published novel, The Story of an African Farm was a bestseller upon its release despite being criticized for its portrayal of controversial social, religious, and political themes. Part Bildungsroman, part philosophical fiction, the novel is recognized as a groundbreaking work for its exploration of feminism, atheism, and the influence...
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Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, Northup published...
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"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," which was first published in 1861, was one of the first slave narratives penned by a woman. The book tells the story of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897), a slave from North Carolina who suffered greatly (along with her family) at the hands of her ruthless owner. After several failed attempts to escape, Harriet eventually made her way north. Her journey, which involved years of hiding, was incredibly slow. She did...
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An important historical work, "The Red Record" is also a horrifying account of African American lynchings after the Civil War. Black Americans lost their lives for such offenses as offending a white person in some way, proposing marriage to a white woman, providing information to someone who asked, introducing smallpox, "conjuring," and/or writing a letter to a white woman. In some cases, committing no offense at all (other than being Black) was also...
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A compilation of insightful essays and speeches by the renowned abolitionist and orator, Frederick Douglass. This collection brings together some of his most powerful and eloquent writings on the issues of slavery, freedom, and racial justice, showcasing his intellectual brilliance and tireless advocacy for the rights of African Americans. Through his incisive analysis and powerful rhetoric, Douglass challenges the prevailing views of his time and...
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The Conjure Woman (1899) is a collection of stories by African American author, lawyer, and political activist Charles Chesnutt. "The Goophered Grapevine," the collection's opening story, was originally published in The Atlantic in 1887, making Chesnutt the first African American to have a story published in the magazine. The Conjure Woman is now considered a masterpiece of African American fiction for its use of folklore and exploration of racist...
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Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African", an autobiography published in 1798. Equiano (c. 1745-1797) was an African writer and abolitionist, who was taken into slavery as a child and transported to the British colony of Virginia. This personal account depicts the narrative of Equiano's life during his years as a slave: from being purchased as...
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Henry Box Brown (b. 1816) was born in Louisa County, Virginia, and was a slave for thirty-three years before escaping to Philadelphia in a three-by-two-foot box. His life as a slave was relatively free from physical abuse by his slaveholders. His first owner was John Barret, a former Richmond mayor. Upon Barret's death, Brown was, enslaved by William Barret, John's son. Brown was fed, clothed, and given spending money, much to the amazement of slaves...
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Born in West Africa in approximately 1753, Wheatley was sold into slavery as a child and transported to the American colonies in 1761. She was bought by a wealthy Boston merchant named John Wheatley to serve as a servant to his family. They gave the young girl the name Phillis, after the ship that had transported her to America. The Wheatley family soon recognized her amazing intellect and talent and started giving her an education very unusual for...
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First Published in 1920, "Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil" is the first of three autobiographical works by W. E. B. Du Bois, the American sociologist, educator, author, historian, and civil rights activist. Presented as a collection of essays, poems, and spiritual songs, "Darkwater" is part personal memoir and part social commentary and criticism. Du Bois was deeply spiritual and relied heavily on his Christian beliefs throughout his life....
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“When Africa Awakes” is a powerful meditation on Pan-African identity and solidarity, offering an incisive analysis of the complex political and social forces that have shaped the African diaspora. By critically examining the historical legacies of oppression, Harrison engages in an interdisciplinary exploration of racial injustice and its impacts on African societies. He posits that meaningful progress towards liberation must involve histories...
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The book offers a detailed account of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, which was fought between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom in South Africa. Haggard, who served as a special commissioner during the conflict, provides an insider's view of the war and the key figures involved, including the Zulu King Cetshwayo and the British commanders Lord Chelmsford and Sir Garnet Wolseley. He also explores the historical and cultural context of the conflict,...
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Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an American novelist, women's rights activist, abolitionist, journalist, and activist for Native American rights. Child is famous for her fiction and domestic manuals, which enjoyed international popularity during the mid 19th century. However, her work also drew controversy due to her tackling such issues as male dominance and white supremacy. First published in 1865, "The Freedmen's Book" contains a collection of...
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This is an impressive, moving, and disturbing account of racial violence and lynchings, with the central part of the story focused on the final fight for his life of Robert Charles. Charles appears nearly heroic even as he kills four police officers and two civilians and wounds twenty more by gunfire, because Ida B. Wells-Barnett portrays this as the fallout of an unprovoked assault upon Charles and his desperation to fight against his own lynching...
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A powerful and inspiring biography of one of the most remarkable figures in American history. Written by Sarah H. Bradford, a friend and contemporary of Tubman, the book chronicles the life of a woman who escaped slavery and went on to become a leader in the Underground Railroad, helping hundreds of other enslaved people to freedom.