Showing titles in Cultural Heritage

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was only 25 when he helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott and was soon organizing black people across the country in support of the right to vote, desegregation, and other basic civil rights. Maintaining nonviolent and peaceful tactics even when his life was threatened, King was also an advocate for the poor and spoke out against racial and economic injustice until his death - from an assassin's bullet - in 1968.

In November 1960, all of America watched as a tiny six-year-old black girl, surrounded by federal marshals, walked through a mob of screaming segregationists and into her school. An icon of the civil rights movement, Ruby Bridges chronicles each dramatic step of this pivotal event in history through her own words.

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America and earned Rosa Parks the title "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement".

Motivated by her love for the game and inspired by the legendary Jackie Robinson, Mamie Johnson is determined to be a professional baseball pitcher. But in a sport that's determined by white men, there is no place for a black woman. Mamie doesn't give up - from the time she insists on trying out for the all-male, all-white Police Athletic League until she realizes her dream and becomes one of three women to play in the Negro Leagues. Mamie Johnson's life shows that with courage and perseverance one can overcome even the greatest challenges.

Cuando José Hernández Moreno tenía 10 años, en 1972, vio aterrizar en la Luna el Apollo 17 en la televisión en blanco y negro de su familia y supo que sería astronauta cuando fuese mayor. Más tarde, aquella noche, se lo contó a su padre y se quedó sorprendido cuando este le dijo: «Puedes hacerlo, m'ijo».

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic, edited by award-winning journalist Lilly Workneh with a foreword by #BlackGirlMagic originator CaShawn Thompson, is dedicated to amplifying and celebrating the stories of Black women and girls from around the world; features the work of over 60 Black female and non-binary authors, illustrators, and editors; is designed to acknowledge, applaud and amplify the incredible stories of Black women and girls from the past and present; and celebrates Black Girl Magic around the world.

Critically acclaimed author Jabari Asim gives listeners a fascinating glimpse into the boyhood of civil rights leader John Lewis. Even as a very young boy, John Lewis knew he wanted to be a preacher when he grew up. He wanted to be the kind of leader who could use his passionate speeches to stir hearts to change, minds to think, and bodies to take action. But why wait to grow up? At five years old, when he became the official caretaker of the 60 chickens on his family's farm, he realized he had a wonderful audience to practice on.

An amazing, miraculous refugee story of coming to America, the young readers edition of Tani Adewumi's story will inspire kids looking for true stories of doing hard things. At eight years old, Tani Adewumi, a refugee, won the 2019 New York State Chess Championship after playing the game for only a year - and while homeless. Tani and his family fled Boko Haram's reign of terror in Nigeria to come to the United States, where they lived in a New York City homeless shelter while waiting to be granted religious asylum.

Taken from his mother at age three, Steve Klakowicz lives in the clutches of a cruel foster family. He finds his only refuge in a box of books given to him by a kind stranger, books that take him to new worlds he can only imagine. He begins to hope that one day he might have a different life. As he grows, Steve is determined to unravel the mystery of his origins and find his birth family. A light-skinned boy with blue eyes, a curly Afro, and a Polish last name, he embarks on an extraordinary quest for his identity, armed with only one clue. Yet nothing is as it appears.

Katherine knew it was wrong that African Americans didn't have the same rights as others - as wrong as 5+5=12. She knew it was wrong that people thought women could only be teachers or nurses - as wrong as 10-5=3. And she proved everyone wrong by zooming ahead of her classmates, starting college at 15, and eventually joining NASA, where her calculations helped pioneer America's first manned flight into space, its first manned orbit of Earth, and the world's first trip to the moon!

Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and although he didn't yet know it, Leif was destined to embark on an adventure of his own. The wise and striking Viking landed in the area known as Vinland almost five centuries before Christopher Columbus even set sail! "Leif the Lucky" and the other fierce, sea-fearing pirates were accomplished navigators who raided foreign lands for resources, hunted for their food, and passed down Old Norse myths from one generation to the next.

The inspiring story of Vice President Kamala Harris told in the new Who HQ Now format for trending topics. On November 7, 2020, Kamala Harris, a senator from California, became the first woman and the first African American and South Asian American person to be elected to the vice presidency. While her nomination for this position was not unexpected, her rise to national prominence was one filled with unexpected turns and obstacles.

Born into slavery in Maryland, Frederick Douglass was separated from his mother during infancy, then taken from his grandparents at the age of six to serve at the “Great House” on the Wye Plantation in Maryland. He never imagined the cruelties he would witness or the indignities of his family being treated like cattle to be sold, divided, and scattered far and wide. Escaping from slavery, Frederick Douglass became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in America.

In exuberant verse, Patricia Hruby Powell creates an extraordinary portrait of the passionate performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Meticulously researched by the author, Josephine's powerful story of struggle and triumph is an inspiration and a spectacle, just like the legend herself

As did his father before him, Pierce Butler treats his plantation slaves like family. But massive gambling debts force him to sell 429 “family” members. When the auction begins, torrential rain falls - not stopping until the final slave is sold the next day. The ominous rainfall prompts these words: “This ain’t rain. This is God’s tears.” Based on the largest slave auction in U.S. history, this poignant montage is the fictionalized account of that 1859 Georgia tragedy.

This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great - the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. This audiobook focuses on Harriet Tubman's brave heroism as part of the movement to abolish slavery. As one of the key players in the Underground Railroad, she helped enslaved African Americans escape and find freedom.

You know the Super Soaker. It's one of the top 20 toys of all time. And it was an accidental discovery that brought it into being. Trying to create a new cooling system for refrigerators and air conditioners, inventor Lonnie Johnson instead created the mechanics for the iconic toy. A love of rockets, robots, and inventions and a mind for creativity were present in Lonnie Johnson's early life.

From the New York Times best-selling author of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History comes the highly anticipated follow-up, a beautifully illustrated collectible detailing the lives of women creators around the world.

As a child growing up in Detroit, Ben Carson (1951-) has a dream of becoming a physician, a dream that rose out of struggles with poverty, racism, and poor grades. As Ben persevered and strove for academic excellence, his life became one of compassion and service. Today, Benjamin Carson, MD, is known as the American neurosurgeon with gifted hands.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ibtihaj Muhammad smashed barriers as the first American to compete wearing hijab, and made history as the first Muslim American woman to medal. Her inspiring journey from a young outsider to an Olympic hero is a relatable, memorable, and uniquely American tale of hard work, determination, and self-reliance.