Malcolm X, Black NFL coaches, African American writers in mid-20th century: Check out these new books for Black History Month
Here are some new books and suggestions for further reading to help commemorate Black History Month.
Malcolm X : a life of reinvention / by Manning Marable (Penguin 2012)
Choice Reviews excerpt: “Columbia University professor Marable died shortly before the publication of his marvelous biography of Malcolm X. Since Malcolm’s assassination in 1965 by followers of Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam, Malcolm has been best known through his autobiography (written with Alex Haley), published shortly after his death. Nearly a half-century later, Marable has written a compelling reinterpretation of Malcolm’s life, answering questions raised by the autobiography. … Malcolm was one of a handful of the most important African Americans in the 20th century, and perhaps the least understood. This book is unrivaled among interpretations of a complicated man and his monumental impact.” Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Publisher’s Weekly excerpt: “Marable deftly follows the same narrative path as did Haley’s autobiography, but filling in the gaps and fine-tuning the exaggerations of that best-selling volume. Combing through FBI and NYPD files, gathering Nation of Islam interviews, and fleshing out Malcolm’s post-NOI activities abroad, Marable succeeds spectacularly in painting a broader and more complex portrait of a man constantly in search of himself and his place in America. © Copyright PW, LLC. All rights reserved.
To find more biographies about Black American civil rights workers, search African American civil rights workers – Biography
Advancing the ball : race, reformation, and the quest for equal coaching opportunity in the NFL by N. Jeremi Duru (Oxford UP 2011)
Choice Reviews excerpt : “That one of the two 2011 Super Bowl teams was led by an African American head coach seemed unremarkable. But as Duru (Law, Temple Univ.) points out, it was remarkable–and a recent development in professional football. Duru tells the story of a handful of lawyers, activists, and former NFL insiders who challenged hiring practices in the NFL, an “old boy” white power structure that treated African American players as commodities but denied African Americans leadership positions. In 2003 the NFL adopted the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates when hiring head coaches. The rule traces back to activist Cleveland Browns player John Wooten, who joined civil rights attorneys in mobilizing NFL African American assistant coaches to call attention to NLF racial discrimination.” Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
For more books on race relations in sports, search Discrimination in Sports – United States- History
Click National Football League for more books on professional football.
The indignant generation : a narrative history of African American writers and critics, 1934-1960 by Lawrence P. Jackson (Princeton UP 2011)
Choice Reviews excerpt : “The title of this ambitious study comes from Ralph Ellison’s praise of Richard Wright’s character Bigger Thomas in Native Son. An “indignant consciousness” led many mid-20th-century black writers and intellectuals to try to transform “their indignation at Jim Crow to manufacture … strata of artworks that secured and pronounced a new era of psychological freedom for African Americans.” …The author organizes the study chronologically–1934 is when Richard Wright first became noticed and 1960 marks the rise of more strident writers–and takes the reader mainly to Washington, DC, New York, and Chicago. Rich with photos and well written, the book merits praise for the deserved attention it brings to the rise of African American criticism and intellectualism and to the many important people who figured in the rise of better-known novelists.” Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Publisher’s Weekly excerpt: “Jackson’s book is news: he connects the writers (the common focus of literary history) to publishers, editors, periodicals, organizations; he links African-American writers to the “significant African American intellectual class teaching at black colleges.” A near census of black writers and thinkers, Jackson’s integrated account of a segregated world places white figures (e.g., Bucklin Moon, Lillian Smith, Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac) on the map as well.” (c) Copyright PW, LLC. All rights reserved.
For further reading on this topic, search African Americans – Intellectual life – 20th century
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