African American Adult Titles List

ABRAMS
A History of Art in Africa (Dec., $85) by Monica Blackman Visonà et al surveys art history across Africa with more than 700 illustrations.

AFRICAN AMERICAN IMAGES (dist. by IPG)
Black Theology, Black Power & Black Love (Dec., $14.95) by Michael James examines the theologies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Eleven Things Mama Should've Told You About Men (Dec., $12.95) by Kimberly Wilson argues that it is not enough to attract them if you don't have the glue to keep them, and provides

Madre Knows Best One intriguing aspect of Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century by Maria de los Reyes Castillo Bueno, as told to her daughter Daisy Rubiera Castillo (Duke Univ. Press, Nov.), is the account of Reyita's role as the local healer. More than 90 years old when the book was written, she tells of the home remedies she dispensed at a time when poor people in Cuba had no access to medical care. Especially fascinating are her herbal remedies for infertility, "restoring" virginity and contraception--which, Reyita advised, could be achieved by dabbing honey in the vagina. Try getting that information from your local pharmacy. --Diane Patrick

A History of Race Even after a couple of hundred years, race and racial power remain the core issues at the heart of American social relations. Journalist Scott L. Malcomson's One Drop of Blood: The American Misadventure of Race, just out from FSG, takes on that intractable subject. Malcomson details historically how Americans have come to define race and how these definitions dictate relations between competing social groups. Studying contemporaneous writers and thinkers, Malcomson tracks the creation of American racial caste beginning in colonial America, and brings his story right up to the present. Offering a tale that is both about race and about escaping from race, Malcomson surveys each racial category--"black," "white," "Indian," "mulatto"--and considers historically how these definitions have been used to obtain power, suppress the newly powerless and justify economic ambition and exploitation. --Calvin Reid

African Style G s Swedish Sharne Algotsson, a former interior designer for IKEA, sees a strong similarity between African and Scandinavian design: natural materials, hand weaving, strong colors, simple designs. This view comes from her visits to Africa while attending Howard University, plus years of residence in Sweden--where she fell in love with both a Swede and IKEA. In 1996, Algotsson coauthored The Spirit of African Design (Clarkson Potter); in October of this year, Clarkson Potter published Algotsson's first solo title, African Style: Down to the Details, offering tips on blending African motifs with practically any other decor. Algotsson's witty room designs appeared in the IKEA catalogue; now owner of her own design firm, she creates interiors injected with the same trademarks. --Diane Patrick

Bill Cosby on Art When comedian Bill Cosby isn't making America laugh, he's often giving his views on important topics like education or jazz. Well, now he's offering a few choice words and images about the history of African-American art in a new book called The Other Side of Color: African American Art in the Collection of William H. Cosby and Camille O. Cosby from Pomegranate Books. Edited by David Driskell, an acclaimed scholar of African-American art and the curator of the Cosbys' collection, the book surveys 115 works of art created throughout the 20th century. The artists include Henry Ossawa Tanner, Aaron Douglas, William Johnson, Bob Thompson, Faith Ringgold, Romare Beardon, Augusta Savage, Elizabeth Catlett and many others. Katie Burke, Pomegranate publisher, said, "Their aim is to encourage people to seek out and learn about African-American art. We think that art lovers of all kinds, indeed, anyone interested in African art and culture, will enjoy this book." --Calvin Reid

A Century of Black Achievement It's impossible to imagine American music without Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday or Miles Davis. Or American sports, for that matter, without J Louis, Jackie Robinson or Althea Gibson. And certainly, without Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr. or Barbara Jordan, it would be equally impossible to conceive of the American democratic legacy that we know today. To make that point, professors Henry Louis Gates and Cornel West, two formidable influences on American culture in their own right, have collaborated to document these great Americans in The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country,just out from the Free Press. The book collects 100 short biographies (10 for each decade) about these individuals, illuminating and celebrating the profound influence of African-American people on America as we know it. --Charlotte Abbott