Black History Month

February marks Black History Month and in honor of the wealth of scholarship that the Press has published on the subject, we will be featuring titles throughout the month that examine African American history and culture. The first book is The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939 edited by Robert L. Harris Jr., and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn.

The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939 is a comprehensive resource focusing on the major figures, issues, events, and movements from a crucial period in African American history. Part of the Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures, Choice magazine called it a “one-stop work for quick reference as well as basic historical research.”

The book explores the rise of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements and the national and international contexts that shaped their ideologies and methods; considers how changes in immigration patterns have complicated the conventional “black/white” dichotomy in U.S. society; discusses the often uneasy coexistence between a growing African American middle class and a persistent and sizable underclass; and addresses the complexity of the contemporary African American experience. Contributors consider specific issues in African American life, including the effects of the postindustrial economy and the influence of music, military service, sports, literature, culture, business, and the politics of self-designation, e.g.,”Colored” vs. “Negro,” “Black” vs. “African American”.