Celebrating Black History Month
Honoring the Legacy of Black Resistance and Resilience
Since 1976, every American president has designated February as Black History Month and endorsed a specific theme. This year, we honor the legacies of Black resistance and resilience as we acknowledge the enduring struggles for freedom and justice. From the abolitionist movement of the 19th century to Black Lives Matter today, African Americans have been a driving force for progress and change. Black History Month recognizes the contributions of individuals throughout history who have fought against slavery and oppression, as well as for civil rights and equality. Dover Publications offers a wide selection of books focusing on the history of Black resistance and how African Americans have been active agents in their own emancipation, never giving up hope for a better future.
Black abolitionists were essential in leading the charge against injustice in America. The Black History Month collection from Dover Publications includes the classic works of major Black activists and intellectuals such as author, abolitionist, political activist, and philosopher Frederick Douglass, and a compilation of his most famous addresses in Great Speeches by Frederick Douglass that includes “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” which was delivered on July 5, 1852, more than ten years before the Emancipation Proclamation. One of the most famous and admired African American women in U.S. history, Sojourner Truth, devoted her life to the anti-slavery movement and the advocacy of women’s rights in the Narrative of Sojourner Truth. She is most famously known for her iconic speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” delivered at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in 1851. A collection of essays, letters, poems, and speeches by 26 bold women who joined the abolitionist movement of the nineteenth century are explored in Female Abolitionists and will educate and inspire all who are interested in this era of American history. Booker T. Washington, the primary voice of the African American community from 1890 to 1915 and the author of Up from Slavery was an educator and orator as well as the founder of the Alabama school for African Americans that developed into Tuskegee University. The courageous life of Harriet Tubman, one of the best-known “conductors” of the Underground Railroad, is an inspiring story of bravery, perseverance, and self-sacrifice in Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People.
Leading activists and intellectuals during the Harlem Renaissance included controversial figure, Marcus Garvey. Message to the People: The Course of African Philosophy chronicles Garvey’s life lessons on topics ranging from universal knowledge and how to attain it to leadership, character, God, and the social system. He offers insight into how African people can fight against racism and discrimination by creating their own paths out of oppression. His message has inspired generations since it was first published almost 100 years ago.
W. E. B. Du Bois was a groundbreaking African-American scholar, civil rights activist, and author who wrote extensively on the social issues of his day. His most famous work, The Souls of Black Folk, is considered one of the earliest and most influential works in the development of the strategy and program that dominated black protest in the early 20th-century United States. In it, Du Bois addresses topics such as racial injustice, poverty among black Americans, and education disparities between blacks and whites, as well as how these problems were compounded by Jim Crow laws that were prevalent during this period. He also outlines his vision for change through collective action from both white and black people alike to dismantle systemic racism in order to create lasting progress toward true equality for all citizens, regardless of their race or background.
Alain Locke was a prominent African-American philosopher, educator, and civil rights activist who famously wrote the book The New Negro. This influential work played an important role in shaping the Harlem Renaissance by presenting an uplifting image of African Americans as empowered individuals capable of making their own destinies. Through this collection of essays, poems, and stories from leading black artists and writers at the time, Locke argued that while racism still existed in America during this period, it could be overcome through collective action from within the community to create positive change. By inspiring a generation of young African Americans with his words, Alain Locke’s The New Negro continues to be relevant today.
Dover’s Black History Collection is a testament to the power and resilience of black people throughout history. Browse our website for fine history books, great speeches, slave narratives, and fiction by authors such as Charles W. Chestnutt, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neal Hurston; great poetry, blues, jazz, Negro spirituals, and ragtime music; paper dolls of Michelle Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris; coloring books featuring the Civil Rights movement, Barack Obama, and other famous African American figures; and much more. Join us in celebrating an enduring legacy that has inspired generations both past and present.
