Black American Biographies

April 1, 2011

Gr 6-8-Though billed as "new" on the publisher's website, much, possibly all, of the material in these volumes is recycled from titles issued by this and other publishers within the past decade. Africa to America opens with a historical overview, then surveys African cultural roots, modern racism, African-American slavery, religion, educational institutions, and the arts through the Harlem Renaissance. Some chapters include sections of primary sources. About 300 figures are profiled in Biographies; they are gathered and sometimes forced into categories-"Emmett Till," for instance, is placed in the "Activists" section, and "Crispus Attucks" in "Government Officials, Diplomats, and Soldiers." The choice of entries is conservative; none of the athletes under "Baseball" is still active, and the youngest of the 80-plus singers and musicians is Kanye West (born 1977). Experience continues the historical threads begun in Africa to America, devoting one chapter to the Civil Rights Movement, four to literature and music, and one to sports, and then closing with a section of primary sources. Both of the historical surveys include time lines (the one in Experience ends with Michael Jackson's death in mid-2009, however) and all three feature perfunctory bibliographical essays and scattered, muddy black-and-white photos. The information is accurate enough, but combined with the easy availability of resources that cover similar territory in comparable detail (and often in identical words), the lack of source citations, currency, and even author credits limits the value of these volumes for research.-John Peters, formerly at New York Public Library

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