A critical reexamination of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's bust Why Born Enslaved!, this book unpacks the sculpture's engagement with—and defiance of—an antislavery discourse. In this clear-eyed look at the Black figure in nineteenth-century sculpture, noted art historians and writers discuss how emerging categories of racial difference propagated by the scientific field of ethnography grew in popularity alongside a crescendo in cultural production in France during the Second Empire. By comparing Carpeaux's bust Why Born Enslaved! to works by his contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as to objects by twenty‑first‑century artists Kara Walker and Kehinde Wiley, the authors touch on such key themes as the portrayal of Black enslavement and emancipation; the commodification of images of Black figures; the role of sculpture in generating the sympathies of its audiences; and the relevance of Carpeaux's sculpture to legacies of empire in the postcolonial present. The book also provides a chronology of events central to the histories of transatlantic slavery, abolition, colonialism, and empire.

Describes the experiences of African Americans in the South, from the Emancipation in 1863 to the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared school segregation illegal.

"Grady's novel reads with the velvety tempo of the jazz music of its day. . . . Grady fearlessly explores heated race relations and the masks we all assume." —Chatelaine With his curly black hair and his wicked grin, everyone swoons and thinks of Frank Sinatra when Navy musician Jackson Lewis takes the stage. It's World War II, and while stationed in St. John's, Newfoundland, Jack meets the well-heeled Vivian Clift, a local girl who has never stepped off the Rock and longs to see the world. They marry against Vivian's family's wishes—there's something about Jack that they just don't like—and as the war draws to a close, the couple travels to Windsor to meet Jack's family. But when Vivian meets Jack's mother and brother, everything she thought she knew about her husband gets called into question. They don't live in the dream home Jack depicted, they all look different from one another—different from anyone Vivian has ever seen--and after weeks of waiting to meet Jack's father, he never materializes. Steeped in jazz and big-band music, spanning pre- and post-war Windsor-Detroit, St. John's, Newfoundland, and 1950s Toronto, this is an arresting, heartwrenching novel about fathers and sons, love and sacrifice, race relations and a time in our history when the world was on the cusp of momentous change.

A self-taught young slave astonishes his fellow prisoners by reading aloud the newspaper account of Lincoln s new emancipation proclamation. Based on actual events.

Published on the anniversary of when President Abraham Lincoln’s order went into effect, this book offers readers a unique look at the events that led to the Emancipation Proclamation. Filled with little-known facts and fascinating details, it includes excerpts from historical sources, archival images, and new research that debunks myths about the Emancipation Proclamation and its causes. Complete with a timeline, glossary, and bibliography, Emancipation Proclamation is an engrossing new historical resource from award-winning children’s book author Tonya Bolden. Praise for Emancipation Proclamation: FOUR STARRED REVIEWS "A convincing, handsomely produced argument..." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Bolden makes excellent use of primary sources; the pages are filled with archival photos, engravings, letters, posters, maps, newspaper articles, and other period documents. Detailed captions and a glossary interpret them for today’s readers." —School Library Journal, starred review "The language soars, powerfully communicating not just the facts about the Emancipation Proclamation but its meaning for those who cared most passionately." —Booklist, starred review "Bolden tackles these questions in a richly illustrated overview of the lead-up to the Proclamation, organizing and reiterating information already familiar to many middle-schoolers, while introducing material that will probably be eye-opening to students who have taken their textbook’s version of history at face value." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review Award School Library Journal Best Book of 2013 Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbons List 2013 Notable Children's Books from ALSC 2014 2014 Carter G.Woodson Middle Level Book Award

Shares the stories of Wallace Turnage and John Washington, former slaves who, in the midst of chaos during the Civil War, escaped to the North and lived to tell about their experiences.

Powerful True Story of a Twentieth-Century Plantation Slave Over fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Robert Sadler was sold into slavery at the age of five--by his own father. This is the no-holds-barred tale of those dark days, his quest for freedom, and the determination to serve others born out of his experience. It is a story of good triumphing over evil, of God's grace, and of an extraordinary life of ministry. An updated edition of a classic title.