African American English

In 2003, Jay-Z retired from making music. He had made award-winning albums, founded a record label, and had his own line of clothing. He walked away, but he couldn't stop writing songs. Three years later, he was back on the charts with a hit album and the title of greatest MC of all time. Track this hip hop hero as he makes it in the music world and becomes one of the best known rappers in the world.

Explore the life and career of Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King-awarded author and illustrator Kadir Nelson.

Stay Woke directly addresses these stark injustices and builds on the lessons of racial inequality and intersectionality the Black Lives Matter movement has challenged its fellow citizens to learn. In this essential primer, Tehama Lopez Bunyasi and Candis Watts Smith inspire listeners to address the pressing issues of racial inequality, and provide a basic toolkit that will equip listeners to become knowledgeable participants in public debate, activism, and politics.

A former journalist with a knack for unraveling dirty secrets, Khloe Mercer figures if she's going to risk her life, she might as well make big money as a private investigator. But this reckless newbie needs a major case to make her name - and really show she can handle Norfolk, Virginia's toughest streets. When a narcotics detective's widow needs someone to investigate her disgraced husband's so-called suicide, Khloe jumps at the lucrative fee - and the clues that the Norfolk Police Department is rotten from top to bottom.

In January 1944, 16 Black enlisted men gathered at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois to begin a cram course that would turn them into the US Navy's first African American officers on active duty. Years later, these pioneers came to be known as the Golden Thirteen, but at the outset they were treated more as pariahs than pioneers. This book collects their stories.

The King brothers are blindsided when a mysterious envelope brings forth secrets they knew nothing about. Once the truth is brought to light, they’re left having to find a way to keep their family from falling apart. In a fresh relationship with Raven, Deuce is having a hard time balancing his family and love life - wanting to protect her while still worrying about his brothers’ dilemmas. Will he be able to handle the pressure of saving everyone, or will his juggling of their issues cause him to unintentionally push Raven into the arms of someone else?

On a snowy Christmas Eve in an unnamed American city, the archangel Michael wanders the streets. He is alone and hungry, his clothes tattered, and when he sees his face reflected in a store window, it is that of a young African American boy. Who will offer him food and shelter and who will turn him away? And when he becomes a blonde, freckle-faced child, is his fate different?

Decisions made in the heat of the moment have connected Shai and Heavy for life. It will be up to them to decide how smooth that connection will be. Many other factors come into play, but in the end, Heavy may just have to accept that where Shai is concerned, his only reality is quite simply summed up in one sentence - "I’m Too Hood for You".

When two English brothers arrive at a Barbados sugar plantation, they bring with them a darkness beyond what the slaves have already known. Washington Black - an 11-year-old field slave - is horrified to find himself chosen to live in the quarters of one of these men. But the man is not as Washington expects him to be. His new master is the eccentric Christopher Wilde - naturalist, explorer, inventor and abolitionist - whose obsession to perfect a winged flying machine disturbs all who know him.

New York Times best-selling author Mary Monroe continues the adventures of lifelong friends Annette Goode Davis and Rhoda O'Toole in this riveting novel.

Sensing her husband drifting away, Annette gets a full makeover to recapture his attention. But instead, she catches the eye of another man. Soon Annette is in a full-blown affair - and even Rhoda may not be able to fix things this time.

Now that Mink has pushed her way to the front of the line to capture the Dominion family's oil billions, her life has become a luxurious whirl of easy money, fine whips, and sparkling jewels. But she'll need to come out of a whole new trick bag in order to throw shade on her sizzling swerve with Suge, her uncle-by-marriage only. Meanwhile, Suge is going toe-to-toe with the Dominion's oldest adversary, whose shameless mudslinging could cast dirt on their family name and ruin their good fortune forever.

Oreo is raised by her maternal grandparents in Philadelphia. Her black mother tours with a theatrical troupe, and her Jewish deadbeat dad disappeared when she was an infant, leaving behind a mysterious note that triggers her quest to find him. What ensues is a playful, modernized parody of the classical odyssey of Theseus with a feminist twist, immersed in seventies pop culture, and mixing standard English, black vernacular, and Yiddish with wisecracking aplomb.

Cheyenne and Kelsi grew up together in the hood. They're best friends who've always had each other's backs - until Cheyenne' s father is released from prison and Kelsi can't resist his advances. Their scandalous affair might do more than just tear apart a friendship; it could destroy Cheyenne's whole world.

Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971–1996) was an American rap artist, actor, and social activist. More than seventy-five million of his albums have sold worldwide, making him one of the bestselling music artists in the world. Rolling Stone magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time.

Shakur also gained notoriety for his conflicts with the law and time spent in prison.

Momma drama takes over the Duncan clan, as there is still uncertainty about who has fathered the Duncan sisters' new babies. Meanwhile, Orlando Duncan, the family's new CEO and a man with his own baby momma problems, has just developed a new product that may make the millionaire Duncans into billionaires. Orlando only has one obstacle in front of him, and it's not law enforcement or one of his family's many rivals. It's his mother, because she's making the family take sides. Can a civil war within the Duncan family be averted before it tears them apart?

Freshly 45, Aja James knows that her life is good, complete with a loving, wealthy husband, well-adjusted children, and a beautiful home. Yet the truth is, she feels painfully unfulfilled, stuck in the present, haunted by a painful past. When a friend suggests a girls' trip to a tropical paradise, Aja hopes a change of scene will also change her perspective. On vacation, filled with fun and freedom, Aja is relieved to find her spirits lifting. But her good time also shines a light on what's troubling her: She's spent nearly her whole life taking care of everyone - except herself.

Award-winning novelist Tayari Jones delivers a story based on the 1979-1980 Atlanta child murders. Told from the perspective of three fifth-grade classmates, Leaving Atlanta is a vividly disturbing, but hopeful novel.

With the same unforgettable and distinctive prose on display in his other books, Airtight Willie & Me is further evidence that Iceberg Slim was an expert at capturing the language of the streets. Always compelling, sometimes funny, and often bleak, Slim gives us six slices of city life that will leave you thirsting for more.

Cassandra, grandniece to Woodson and Ivy Lisle, is a college student caught up in the highly charged atmosphere of the days following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. When the granddaughter of Woodson and Ivy's friends goes missing, Cassandra is sucked into a dangerous mystery that threatens to expose long-buried secrets and jeopardize the life of anyone who asks too many questions.

In early 1968 the grisly on-the-job deaths of two African-American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, prompted an extended strike by that city's segregated force of trash collectors. Workers sought union protection, higher wages, improved safety, and the integration of their work force. Their work stoppage became a part of the larger civil rights movement and drew an impressive array of national movement leaders to Memphis, including, on more than one occasion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King added his voice to the struggle in what became the final speech of his life.