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History and Current Events February 2021 |
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| Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma OluoWhat it's about: how white male identity in America preserves a status quo that harms women and people of color.
Food for thought: "If white men are finding that the overwhelmingly white-male-controlled system isn’t meeting their needs, how did we end up being the problem?”
Author alert: Ijeoma Oluo is the New York Times bestselling author of So You Want to Talk About Race. |
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| Unsinkable: Five Men and the Indomitable Run of the USS Plunkett by James SullivanWhat it's about: the USS Plunkett, the United States Navy destroyer that played a crucial role in the Allied war effort.
Why you might like it: This richly detailed history chronicles daily crew life as much as it does the ship's more dramatic wartime exploits.
Featuring: well-researched accounts of five crew members' experiences, including those of John Gallagher, the author's great-uncle. |
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| A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole GrossWhat it is: a sweeping yet concise history prioritizing the experiences of Black women whose "everyday heroism" shaped America.
What's inside: profiles of 11 lesser known Black women whose stories provide illuminating context for the Atlantic slave trade, the Great Migration, Jim Crow laws, protest movements, and more.
Try this next: Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall. |
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| Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong DunbarHow it began: In 1796, on the eve of being "gifted" to one of George and Martha Washington's granddaughters, lifelong Washington family slave and seamstress Ona Judge made a daring escape to freedom.
What happened next: Pursued by Washington for years, Judge settled in New Hampshire, where she lived freely for the next half century.
Book buzz: This thought-provoking National Book Award Finalist offers an eye-opening perspective on the legacy of America's first president. |
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| What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished... by Michael Eric DysonWhat it's about: the fateful May 1963 meeting organized by attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and James Baldwin to discuss race relations.
In attendance: Lorraine Hansberry, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and Freedom Rider Jerome Smith.
Why it matters: This "watershed moment in American politics" jump-started difficult conversations that continue to resonate today. |
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| Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.What it is: a sobering history of America's Reconstruction era and Jim Crow legislation that offers striking parallels to contemporary white supremacy movements.
Topics include: eugenics and scientific racism; mass produced stereotypes and blackface; the emergence of the "New Negro."
Reviewers say: "indispensable for understanding American history" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights by Gretchen SorinWhat it is: an accessible and engaging history of the freedoms (and limitations) of 20th-century Black mobility.
Why you might like it: Featuring photos, interviews, and author Gretchen Sorin's own memories of family car trips, Driving While Black spotlights the ways in which Black travel signaled Black resistance.
Further reading: Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Manatee County Public Library System
1301 Barcarrota Boulevard West
Bradenton, Florida 34205
(941) 748-5555www.mymanatee.org/library |
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