African-Americans

It's ironic (and shameful) that a nation which prides itself on freedom, equality and independence should have acquired a significant number of its citizens against their will. Equally shameful, however, is the assumption that the descendants of the slaves still need a leg up, that they're culturally backward and can't fend for themselves. Liberals propound this all the time, under the guise of "humanitarian efforts" and "affirmative action."

Anyone who thinks this way has never heard of Frederick Douglass, or Booker T. Washington, or George Washington Carver, or Richard Wright, or Ralph Ellison, or Langston Hughes....and that isn't even the beginning of the list. The way to think about African Americans isn't as African Americans, but simply as Americans whose ethnic and ancestral roots are in Africa.

Putting African Americans in a whole different category is condescending and hypocritical. Still, they do constitute a significant demographic, and many of them relish and maintain their cultural heritage far more assiduously than European Americans (though probably less carefully than most Asian Americans).

The use of regional modifiers before the word "American" is a bit counterintuitive. We are all Americans, and to identify ourselves as a particular type belies the equality we so highly praise publicly. Perhaps the best way to break these walls of separation is to learn as much about our African American brothers and sisters as possible, till we see the differences between us are insignificant and synthetic.

To that end, we offer you African American biographies. Many of those we carry are specifically oriented toward Christian men and women, though secular writers, scientists, musicians, politicians and athletes are also represented. We hope these life stories are inspiring, and that they lead to increasingly genial relations between members of all ethnic groups who collectively inhabit the United States of America.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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42 Items found Print
Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8)
Alvin Ailey
by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Hyperion Books for Children
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Amazing Mind of Granville Woods
by Maggie Felsch; illustrated by Kessler Garrity
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$3.95
Coming On Home Soon
by Jacqueline Woodson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Dear Benjamin Banneker
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Famous African-American Women - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Janet Kopito & Cal Massey
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
George Washington Carver
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver: America's Scientist
Heroes of History for Young Readers
by Renee Taft Meloche
from Emerald Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
George Washington Carver: The Peanut Wizard
by Laura Driscoll
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Girl From the Tar Paper School
by Teri Kanefield
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Great African Americans - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Taylor Oughton
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King
by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney
2006th edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King
by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by J. Brian Pinkney
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (3 in stock)
Heart and Soul
by Kadir Nelson
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
2012 Coretta Scott King Award
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
Her Story, Her Words
by Frances E. Ruffin
from Rosen Central
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hundred Penny Box
by Sharon Bell Mathis
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
Newbery Honor
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Hundred Penny Box
by Sharon Bell Mathis
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
1976 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
I Am Rosa Parks
by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, illustrated by Wil Clay
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King
by Ellen Levine
Updated from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
by Bette Bao Lord
from HarperCollins
Immigration for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (7 in stock)
Journey to Freedom
by Charles W. Carey Jr.
from Child's World
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
M.L.K. Journey of a King
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
2008 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Martin Luther King Day
by Linda Lowery
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 1st-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Martin's Big Words
by Doreen Rappaport
Reprint from Hyperion Press
for 1st-3rd grade
2002 Caldecott Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Meet Martin Luther King, Jr.
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by James T. de Kay
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Patchwork Quilt
by Valerie Flournoy
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Sojourner Truth
by David A. Adler
Ill from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Stitchin' and Pullin'
by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Storm in the Night
by Mary Stolz
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Story of the Underground Railroad - Coloring Book
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-4th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Thurgood Marshall
Rookie Biography
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Undefeated, The
by Kwame Alexander
First Ed from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
2020 Newbery Honor Book, 2020 Caldecott
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Value of Courage
by Spencer Johnson, illustrated by Steve Pileggi
from Value Communications Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Character Building (Location: BIB-CH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged!
by Jody Nyasha Warner, Richard Rudnicki
from Groundwood Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
What Are You Figuring Now?
by Jeri Ferris, Illustrated by Amy Johnson
from First Avenue Editions
for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
When Marian Sang
by Brian Selznick, Pam Munoz Ryan
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Who Owns the Sun?
by Stacy Chbosky
from Purple House Press
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.95
Who Was Harriet Tubman?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?
from Hampton-Brown
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)