**This dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King transforms our understanding of the twentieth century’s most iconic African American leaders."A fascinating story, full of subtle twists and turns." —Washington Post**To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals: self-defense versus nonviolence, Black Power versus civil rights, the sword versus the shield. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contras...

A “captivating and compelling” (Keisha N. Blain, coeditor of the #1 New York Times–bestseller Four Hundred Souls) narrative history of 1963, the pivotal moment in America’s long civil rights movement—the year of the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and the assassinations of Medgar Evers and John F. KennedyIn Freedom Season, acclaimed historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a stirring narrative history...

One of our preeminent historians of race and democracy argues that the period since 2008 has marked nothing less than America’s Third ReconstructionIn The Third Reconstruction, distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as m...

This "vibrant and expressive" history of the Black Power movement captures the voices and personalities at the forefront of change ( Philadelphia Inquirer).With the rallying cry of "Black Power!" in 1966, a group of black activists, including Stokely Carmichael and Huey P. Newton, turned their backs on Martin Luther King's pacifism and, building on Malcolm X's legacy, pioneered a radical new approach to the fight for equality. Drawing on original archival r...

From the author of The Sword and the Shield, this definitive biography of the Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael offers "an unflinching look at an unflinching man" (Daily Beast).Stokely Carmichael, the charismatic and controversial Black activist, stepped onto the pages of history when he called for "Black Power" during a speech one Mississippi night in 1966. A firebrand who straddled both the American civil rights and Black Power movements, ...

A powerful chronicle of the last year of Malcolm X’s life, and what we can learn today from the legendary activist as he envisioned and built a world-changing coalition in his final days—from the award-winning author of Freedom Season and The Sword and the ShieldThe last year of Malcolm X's life was in many ways the most revolutionary -- as he pursued the radical notion that Black dignity and citizenship could unlock the key to anti-imperialism wo...

A powerful chronicle of the last year of Malcolm X’s life, and what we can learn today from the legendary activist as he envisioned and built a world-changing coalition in his final days—from the award-winning author of Freedom Season and The Sword and the ShieldThe last year of Malcolm X's life was in many ways the most revolutionary -- as he pursued the radical notion that Black dignity and citizenship could unlock the key to anti-imperialism wo...

The Civil Rights Movement is now remembered as a long-lost era, which came to an end along with the idealism of the 1960s. In Dark Days, Bright Nights, acclaimed scholar Peniel E. Joseph puts this pat assessment to the test, showing the 60s -- particularly the tumultuous period after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act -- to be the catalyst of a movement that culminated in the inauguration of Barack Obama.Joseph argues that the 1965 Voting Rights Act burst a dam hold...

An acclaimed chronicler of the Civil Rights Movement, Peniel Joseph presents this sweeping overview of a key component of the struggle for racial equality-the Black Power movement. This is the story of the men and women who sacrificed so much to begin a more vocal and radical push for social change in the 1960s and 1970s. "... a dramatic story, carefully researched, and deserving of our attention." -Howard Zinn, New York Times best-selling author

**This dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King transforms our understanding of the twentieth century’s most iconic African American leaders."A fascinating story, full of subtle twists and turns." —Washington Post**To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals: self-defense versus nonviolence, Black Power versus civil rights, the sword versus the shield. The struggle for Black freedom is wrought with the same contras...

The Black Power Movement remains an enigma. Often misunderstood and ill-defined, this radical movement is now beginning to receive sustained and serious scholarly attention.Peniel Joseph has collected the freshest and most impressive list of contributors around to write original essays on the Black Power Movement. Taken together they provide a critical and much needed historical overview of the Black Power era. Offering important examples of undocumented histories of black liberati...

A kaleidoscopic narrative history of 1963, the pivotal moment in America’s long civil rights movement—the year of the March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and the assassinations of Medgar Evers and John F. KennedyIn Freedom Season, acclaimed historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a stirring narrative history of 1963, marking it as the defining year of the Black freedom struggle—a year when America faced a deluge of politi...