FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: When she died in 1960, Zora Neale Hurston left behind a manuscript that tells the story of Oluale Kossola, known in the United States as Cudjo Lewis, the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade. With editing by Hurston scholar Deborah G. Plant, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” was published in 2018.
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: The historical figures at the center of Set the World on Fire by Keisha Blain are outside the halls of power: They are Black, they are women, they are poor or working-class, and they advocate ideas that fall outside the political mainstream.
In Our Secret Society, Tanisha Ford plumbs the inner workings of the Civil Rights Movement through the complicated life of a dazzling socialite named Mollie Moon. Ford will discuss Our Secret Society at the University of Memphis on February 5.
In Before Elvis, acclaimed writer Preston Lauterbach digs into the deep culture of Black Memphis, finding the origins of the superstar’s music and style.
Immigration, Policy and the People of Latin America, a new book by attorney Bryce Ashby and historian Michael LaRosa, combines history, policy, and personal profiles to illuminate the diverse experiences of migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Colombia.
From hoaxes to demagogues to unthinking media prejudices, disinformation has long infected American politics and media. Joseph Hayden traces that history.
