Celebrate Black History Month with Columbia University Press

February marks Black History Month, and this year, Columbia University Press is excited to invite you on an exploration of the Black experience.

We’ll begin with an engaging discussion about “biological race.” Then we’ll travel to the glitzy land of film and entertainment with pieces about Bahamian American actors Sidney Poiter and Bert Williams, as well as a post on the famed documentary filmmaker William Greaves. From there, we’ll examine how music, art, and literature have shaped African American culture through “antagonistic cooperation.”

We’ll find ourselves in Spain mid-month and discover how the same forensic science techniques that helped break the historical silence around the violence of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime can be applied to the 1921 Black Wall Street Massacre to bring justice to its victims and survivors. Then we’ll journey to New York, where archives reveal an intriguing story about how a 1793 land sale in what is now Central Park could have freed an enslaved person. Finally, we’ll jump forward a century to discover how a Black nurse from Jamaica, Queens, and her innovative mindset led to the invention of the first home security system.

We’ll close out the month by examining the politics of sexuality within Black churches and the communities they serve. Tying literature, politics, culture, and more together, we’ll also take a brief look at the life and works of Claude McKay (1889–1948), one of the foremost Black writers and intellectuals of his era.

Check back each week or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram to stay informed and join the conversation. Be sure to fill out the form below for a chance to win a copy of one of this month’s featured titles! And you can also save 20 percent on all our books about African American and African diaspora studies when you use coupon code BHM at checkout.