Bates, Randolph. Rings: On the Life and Family of a Southern Fighter. FSG, 1992. First. 23.6 cm, 421 pp. Near fine in near fine dustjacket. Moving chronicle of southern black family life focuses on the story of Collis Phillips, New Orleans boxer. $9.50
Breyfogle, William. Make Free: The Story of the Underground Railroad. Lippincott, (1958). First Edition. 287 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. Book is in very good condition: securely bound with clean interior. Jacket shows some wear, a few stray marks, and chipping at head of spine & top left corner of front panel. A very presentable copy of this exciting history of the Underground Railroad, "based on accredited stories and memoirs, as well as facts and figures from contemporary newspaper and other reports, from legal documents and court cases, from earlier historians." $20.00
Dance, Daryl Cumber. Long Gone: The Mecklenburg Six and the Theme of Escape in Black Folklore. University of Tennessee, 1987. 185 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. Both book and jacket are in close to fine condition. An account of the audacious Death Row prison escape of six men from the Mecklenburg Correctional Center in Boydton, Virginia, carried out in 1984, and how this actual event relates to the theme of escape in African-American folk culture. $11.50
Frank, Gerald. An American Death: The True Story of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Greatest Manhunt of Our Time. Doubleday, 1972. 24 cm, 467 pp. Front endpaper corner clipped; otherwise about very good in worn, chipped dustjacket. $8.50
Franklin, V.P. Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths: Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition. Scribner, 1995. First printing. 464 pp. Near fine in very good+ dustjacket. Author reinterprets the lives and thought of twelve major black American writers and political leaders -- including Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Adam Clayton Powell, as well as lesser known but equally crucial figures. $15.00
Greenberg, Martin H. and Charles G. Waugh, eds. The Price of Freedom: Slavery and the Civil War: Two Volume Set. Cumberland House, 2000. Two softcover books, both in close to fine condition. A two-volume anthology comprised of 48 articles addressing the political, social, and military aspects of slavery and the Civil War. The first volume, "The Demise of Slavery", addresses abolition and emanciation, while the second volume, "The Preservation of Liberty", addresses the implications of the Civil War for African-American communities in both North and South. Volume 1 contains 496 pages; Volume 2 contains 400 pages. $20.00
Hilliard, David and Lewis Cole. This Side of Glory: The Autobiography of David Hilliard and the Story of the Black Panther Party. Little,Brown, 1993. First printing. 450 pp. Small smudge to top edge; otherwise near fine in very good+ dustjacket with bit of creasing bottom of spine & tiny tear top of spine. Both a compelling personal narrative and an eyewitness account of the Black Panthers. $12.50
Johnson, Linton Kwesi. Tings an Times: Selected Poems. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe Books Ltd / LKJ Music Publishers, 1991. First Edition. 64 pp. Softcover book in very good condition overall. Some minor shelfwear to exterior / wrinkling to corners, small faint stain to front edge. Securely bound in sewn signatures, clean interior. Very presentable copy of this work from the famed reggae poet / performer -- a pioneering artist "who coined the term 'dub poetry' and went on to develop it into a gutsy musical idiom along with fellow poets . . ." Some of the poems are from the record album which was issued at the same time as this book, while others are taken from his three previous collections. "A reflective look on how far we have come in the black struggle and where we are going." A scarce title. $35.00
Landrum, Gene H. Profiles of Black Success: Thirteen Creative Geniuses Who Changed the World. Prometheus Books, 1997. First. 23.4 cm, 402 pp. Little staining to bottom edge; otherwise near fine in near fine dustjacket. Biographical sketches of Maya Angelou, Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan, Nelson Mandela, Thurgood Marshall, Colin Powell, more. $13.00
Murari, Timeri. Goin' Home: A Black Family Returns South. Putnam's, 1980. First Edition. 192 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. A bit of faint smudging to top edge; jacket price-clipped. Very good condition overall. Generations of an African-American family from Southern roots to Boston and back again. $8.50
Osofsky, Gilbert, ed. Puttin' On Ole Massa. Harper & Row, 1969. First Printing. 409 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. A little faint foxing to edges of text block. Creasing to front flap of jacket. Attractive copy overall. Presents the unabridged autobiographies of three 19th century American slaves: Henry Bibb, William Wells Brown, and Solomon Northrup, these accounts being especially notable for their vividness, their enduring literary value, and their fusion of imaginative style with keen insight. $12.00
Rollins, Judith. Between Women: Domestics and Their Employers. Temple University Press, 1985. First Edition. 261 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. Owner name on front endpaper; few fairly unobtrusive marks. Jacket shows light wear. Solid working copy. Based on interviews both with domestic workers and their employers, this book examines such facets of this complex relationship as conventions of behavior; the historical association with slavery; and the tradition of "the servant's being not only lower class but also female, rural, and of a despised ethnic group." The author, an African-American college professor, adds to the work "first hand" observations from her own experience as a domestic worker for ten employers in the Boston area. $12.50
Sollors, Werner, et al., eds. Varieties of Black Experience at Harvard: An Anthology. Cambridge: Harvard University Dept of Afro-American Studies, 1986. 6" x 9", 180 pp. Softcover. Very little shelfwear; minor soil to bottom edge; covers a bit faded. Owner name on first leaf. Straight, square spine; clean interior. Nice copy. Fascinating look at the African-American presence at Harvard, beginning with a historical overview and including documents and first-person accounts featuring such notable figures as W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph Bunche, Sterling A. Brown, Malcolm X, Marita O. Bonner, and others. $25.00
Sterling, Dorothy, ed. We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century. Norton, 1984. First Printing. 535 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. Few small nicks & scrapes to edges of text block. Jacket price-clipped, with a little creasing & tearing. Good solid copy. The American 19th century as seen through the eyes of a diverse group of African-American women, based on their letters, contemporary interviews, diaries, autobiographical writings, and organizational records. With insightful commentary by the editor. Black & white illustrations. $15.00
Watkins, Mel. Dancing With Strangers: A Memoir. Simon & Schuster, 1998. First Printing. 320 pp. Hardcover in dustjacket. Both book and jacket are in very good+ condition overall; a little minor smudging to front endpaper & top edge. A memoir of growing up black in an Ohio steel town in the 1950s and 1960s by former New York Times Book Review editor. $9.50
de Verteuil, Anthony. Seven Slaves & Slavery: Trinidad 1777 - 1838: Firmin - Jonas - Zu Zule - Daaga - Jacquet - Laurence - Charles. Port of Spain, Trinidad: Scrip - J Printers Limited, 1992. First Edition. 427 pp. Softcover book. Light spine crease, some rubbing & creasing to covers. There is staining/discoloration to the front edge of text block. Sound interior. With faults as noted, this remains a usable, readable copy of an uncommon title. Documents the history of slavery in Trinidad, focusing on the lives of seven real individuals. The author sees his work as being about "the triumph of survival and eventual release . . . about individuals but also about a people who transformed the new world." With black & white illustrations, references, and bibliography. $25.00