Black History month is upon us and I have some excellent suggestions for a variety of reading taste. First, let us start with “Life Upon these Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008” by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. It is a comprehensive account of the first blacks arriving to the Americas along with the conquistadors and progresses in timeline fashion to Barack Obama’s presidency.
The book includes a variety of visuals including maps, manuscripts, sheet music, cartoons, posters, portraits, film stills, etc. Gates said after looking through the book that he is, “struck by the sheer diversity of African American expression throughout our nation’s history - how there has never been only one way to be black, religiously, politically, socially, artistically, professionally, sexually, or stylistically.”

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