Pioneering African Americans

From soil-preserving crop rotation methods and innovative beauty products to the filaments that made electric light bulbs possible and laser probes that correct cataracts, African American inventors and scientists have revolutionized daily life in the modern world. With profiles of towering figures like George Washington Carver, Madam C. J. Walker, and Mae Jemison, this inspiring collection celebrates the often unsung and little known accomplishments and innovations of African American scientists, engineers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. They overcame injustice, prejudice, and inequality of access to triumph in every American field of endeavor, from agriculture to the space program.

Through centuries of suffering, slavery, inequality, discrimination, segregation, and racist violence, African Americans have endured, resisted, fought, and, increasingly over time, won many battles. These victories were propelled by a groundswell of grassroots action, but they were also motivated and organized by courageous and inspirational leadership. Journalists, abolitionists, educators, religious leaders, politicians, judges, and even schoolchildren showed the world a better way forward and led the way down the very difficult road to greater equality, freedom, and civil rights. This collection profiles the leading lights in the struggle for freedom and equality, including MLK, Coretta Scott King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, and Ruby Bridges, among many others.

Despite inequality of access to education, relentless discrimination, and a starkly segregated society, African American artists and writers have made landmark contributions to American art and literature. Works like A Raisin in the Son, Beloved, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Invisible Man, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings powerfully express the African American experience, expose the injustices of American society, and reveal the hopes, dreams, sorrows, suffering, and enduring achievements of Black America. With profiles of figures like Phillis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Rita Dove, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison, this collection puts the rich tapestry woven by African American authors and artists on full and breathtaking display.

From the top of Everest to the deepest recesses of previously unexplored caves, from the heart of the sea to the far reaches of space, African American explorers and adventurers have helped chart the unknown, push the boundaries of the frontier, scale the heights, and shoot for the stars. With profiles of courageous and pioneering figures like Arctic explorer Matthew Alexander Henson, the Lewis and Clark corpsman York, and pilot Bessie Coleman, this inspiring collection celebrates the often unsung accomplishments of African American whalers, gold rush fortune-seekers, explorers, mountaineers, pilots, and other intrepid adventurers. They overcame injustice, prejudice, and inequality to triumph in expanding our knowledge of the world and our notions of what was possible within it.

Though often fighting for a country that did not recognize their rights or even their humanity, African Americans have fought courageously in every American war. Even though they often knew they would return to civilian lives of limited opportunities and unequal treatment, they served their nation with conviction and distinction. This volume offers inspiring profiles of African American service people, from Crispus Attucks, the first casualty of the American Revolution, and the freedom-seeking Loyalists to the renowned 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Civil War. From Buffalo Soldiers to the twenty-first century, readers will be thrilled. Also covered is the nation's first African American commander in chief, Barack Obama.

Imagine a world in which gospel, the blues, jazz, R&B, and rock 'n' roll didn't exist. These indigenous American musical forms are the product of, and a moving expression of the African American experience. Musical geniuses and innovators like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, B. B. King, and Jimi Hendrix turned individual and collective histories of suffering and injustice into soul-stirring, monumental art that shattered boundaries, shifted perceptions, and contributed to progress in civil rights. Their efforts were matched by other African Americans in the entertainment field, like Jackie Robinson, Josephine Baker, and Sidney Poitier. A celebration of music, movies, and a growing movement for equality, this collection will inspire, enlighten, and energize teen readers.