Features

Black People Invented Everything: The Deep History of Indigenous Creativity

Book by Sujan Kumar Dass

Who invented the traffic light? What about transportation itself? Farming? Art? Modern chemistry? Who made cats? What if I told you there was ONE answer to all of these questions? That one answer? BLACK PEOPLE! Seriously. And this book is like a mini-encyclopedia, full of more evidence than WikiLeaks and just as eye-opening! Do you know just how much Black inventors and creators have given to modern society? Within the past 200 years, Black Americans have drawn on a timeless well of inner genius to innovate and engineer the design of the world we live in today. But what of all the Black history before then? Before white people invented the Patent Office, Black folks were the original creators and builders, developing ingenious ways to manage the worlds changes over millions of years, everywhere you can imagine, from Azerbaijan to Zagazig! With wit and wisdom (and tons of pictures!) this book digs deeper that.

The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Book by Peniel E. Joseph

This dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King upends longstanding preconceptions to transform our understanding of the twentieth century’s most iconic African American leaders.

To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals: self-defense vs. nonviolence, black power vs. civil rights, the sword vs. the shield. The struggle for black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement’s militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives. This is a strikingly revisionist biography, not only of Malcolm and Martin, but also of the movement.

Black God: A Brief History of the World’s Religions and Their Black Gods.

Book by Supreme Understanding

Have you ever heard that Christ was Black? What about the Buddha? They weren’t alone. Many of the world’s first deities and divinities, both male and female, were originally depicted as Black. That means dark skin, woolly hair, broad nose, and the kind of personality that made the world pay attention. In this book, historian Supreme Understanding explores the many Black gods of the ancient world, from Africa to the Near East, to Europe, to India, to China, to Japan, to Australia, all the way to the Black Gods of the Americas. Who were they? How did they come to be worshiped? And what does this mean for us today? Find out in Black God, by Supreme Understanding.