Urban African American

Legendary King lives up to his name: a true legend and a king in the streets. His life was perfect with his dream woman by his side. That was until tragedy struck, causing him to lose it all and end up behind bars. His only plan when he gets out is to get back to the life that he worked so hard to build, but it doesn't take him long to realize nothing will ever be the same. He's haunted by the night that changed his life, and simple tasks, like breathing, prove to be difficult. He does all he can to shake the nightmare, but nothing helps. That is until he comes across the rough beauty.

A crippled economy changes Lola Jones' silver-spoon status to copper. Only one thing can save Lola's children from the claws of poverty, and that comes in the form of a million-dollar life insurance policy. It is, however, just a useless piece of paper unless she's dead. Lola vows to make the ultimate sacrifice for her children's well-being. There are two problems - she doesn't have the guts to kill herself, and her insurance doesn't pay out on suicides. Lola turns to Blase, a desensitized hit man with a "no turning back" policy, to execute her murder.

This new South End Press edition makes available the full text of this out-of-print classic - along with a new foreword by Manning Marable, interviews with participants in DRUM, and reflections on political developments over the past three decades by Georgakas and Surkin.

The Cartel runs Miami, and loyalty to their organization runs deep, but when someone breaks the rules, things may be beyond repair. A snitch in the crew has dismantled the notorious Cartel, and now disloyalty threatens to tear the family apart. Young Carter is in the fight for his life as he faces drug kingpin charges due to the treachery of his best friend, Ace. Kidnapping, murder, deception, and seduction fill this thrilling sequel. Will Zyir find out that Breeze is still alive? Will Mecca be exposed as his brother’s killer?

Dylan Monroe, our favorite shopaholic, is back! She’s three months pregnant and madly in love with the father of her child, sexy heavyweight champion Angel. The only problem is the long-legged Victoria’s Secret model standing in the way of getting him back. If that weren’t enough stress, her Jack Daniels-loving mother, Candy, returns to stir up even more trouble. Unsure of how to face her future as a single mother, Dylan reverts back to the only thing she knows to comfort her pain - shopping!

Knight Barron, the second eldest son of the Barron family is led by duty, honor, and chivalry. Above all else, he is dedicated to his family. When it’s his turn to accept a marriage planned by his parents, Knight steps up fully prepared to play dutiful husband. What Knight cannot foresee is another woman falling into his life. A woman that isn’t a part of the plan, but has him intrigued. It doesn’t take long before Knight is questioning whether to choose family loyalty or his happiness.

Marcus vows to spread a positive message with his upbeat flow. After one too many dead-end relationships, he plans on ditching the distraction until he meets the alluring Desta. Struck speechless by her passion and drive, he agrees to feature his mission in her documentary and secretly hopes to capture her heart. My Light: An African American Romance is the first stand-alone book in a series inspired by hip-hop songs. If you like simmering chemistry, driven characters, and Black love in motion, then you’ll enjoy Ebony Rose’s soulful novel.

Law and Zuri met in the most unconventional way, but their connection was straight out of a storybook. It was genuine, poetic, and undeniable. However, haters will always ruin it. Learning what truly sent Law her way, Zuri cut off all ties with the man who had finally reminded her of what truly being unconditionally loved felt like.

Cal “Freeway” Moore, a well-known hitta and kingpin, knows all too well that running his New Orleans-based empire comes at a price. “Shoot first and ask questions later” is his motto as he fights to hold down his kingdom and maintain a healthy relationship with the love of his life, Belladonna. They say you keep your friends close but your enemies closer, but what if both are the same—and coming for his spot?

A go-getter by nature, Amoni Cash always makes sure to obtain whatever his heart desires. That includes the women he sets his sights on. One has him by the history they share, and the other has his heart in a chokehold. Not sure which way he should go, Amoni figures he can have it his way and entertain them both. The plot thickens when a team player grows tired of not being the star player. In the blink of an eye, Amoni's ideal life is transformed into ruins when he finds himself losing control.

From her first days at Virginia’s Hampton University, impressionable, creative Nia falls smitten with Chris Eidos Alleyne, an athlete and a scholar. “Love is sweet nothings and beautiful promises”, Nia writes in her journal. What her girlfriends know, and her mother doesn’t, is that Chris’s expression of love is deeply physical. Wielding powerful charisma, Chris soon has Nia abandoning innocence for experience.

Revealing how seemingly race-neutral urban sites contain hidden racial assumptions and imperatives, Lipsitz examines the ways in which urban space and social experience are racialized and emphasizes that aggrieved communities do not passively acquiesce to racism. He recognizes the people and communities that have re-imagined segregated spaces in expressive culture as places for congregation.

Twenty-two-year-old Sabrina Williams is an Instagram model who's smart, attractive, and living her best life. Her latest gig has her on the way to Honolulu, and she landed her ticket just in time. With six hours to kill before flying out, she's feeling bored to death. Jay Anderson, a movie producer, is inside the terminal ready to fly out for his latest production shoot. He has a few hours to kill so the only place he knew to chill out was at his favorite VIP lounge: Red Carpet. When Sabrina and Jay meet, sparks fly.

People who were once deemed loyal have now turned their backs and shown their true colors. The competition has elevated to a deadly level, and now, it's everybody for themselves. The saying "blood is thicker than water" has not been proven true with the Valentine brothers...who are still at war with each other.

In Compton, California, 10 Black riders on horseback cut an unusual profile, their cowboy hats tilted against the hot Los Angeles sun. They are the Compton Cowboys, their small ranch one of the very last in a formerly semirural area of the city that has been home to African American horse riders for decades. To most people, Compton is known only as the home of rap greats NWA and Kendrick Lamar, hyped in the media for its seemingly intractable gang violence. But in 1988, Mayisha Akbar founded the Compton Jr. Posse to provide local youth with a safe alternative to the streets.

When the identity of the traitor in Kiam's clique is revealed, justice is served swiftly - and with no mercy - sending a message to the others that betrayal will be met with death. But has Kiam really uncovered the treacherous one in his midst, or is the true culprit of disloyalty and larceny still hidden behind her beauty and guile, sacrificing her sister to save herself?

When Snow Wilson graduated from high school, she would have never imagined that such unimaginable deadly circumstances would snatch her off of the campus of the HBCU and land her in the whirlwind of the drug game. Yet, she juggled it all to the best of her ability in order to take care of her brothers, Killion and Prince, and her incarcerated best friend, Bae. She found her strength to push past her pain with the help of Zo, a single father, with the same reason to hustle hard in order to survive.

In this scorching, mournful, often explicit, and never less than moving literary novel by the famed creator of the Easy Rawlins series, Debbie Dare, a black porn queen, has to come to terms with her sordid life in the adult entertainment industry after her tomcatting husband dies in a hot tub. Electrocuted. With another woman in there with him. Debbie decides she just isn't going to "do it anymore". But executing her exit strategy from the porn world is a wrenching and far from simple process.

In New York City, Joanna Marshall is an aspiring singer obsessed with success, determined to overcome the racism and sexism that stand in her way. Her childhood friends Maggie Ellersley and Peter Bye confront similar barriers but with different goals in mind: Maggie is focused on finding love; Peter, on becoming a surgeon. But as their interests overlap and their ambitions collide, the course of Joanna and Maggie’s lives seems destined to change forever. Written in response to the dominant stereotypes of the time, There Is Confusion paints a revelatory portrait....

Black women have higher rates of premature birth than other women in America. This cannot be simply explained by economic factors, with poorer women lacking resources or access to care. Even professional, middle-class Black women are at a much higher risk of premature birth than low-income White women in the United States. Dána-Ain Davis looks into this phenomenon, placing racial differences in birth outcomes into a historical context, revealing that ideas about reproduction and race today have been influenced by the legacy of ideas which developed during the era of slavery.