Join us online to watch the film "The Amazing Grace" by Jeta Amata, a Nigerian filmmaker, released in 2006. This film is not available on streaming. After we watch the film there will be a discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the film:

The film is a feature film (not a documentary) about British slave trading in Nigeria in the mid-1700s. It shows the capture of local people, imprisonment, and conditions on the slave ships from a Nigerian perspective. Parts of the film are in native Nigerian languages with English subtitles.

The song "Amazing Grace" comes originally from Nigeria. Some say the melody came from the Calabar region in Nigeria and was sung by the Ibibio and Eket people.
John Newton, a British slave trader, heard the song in Nigeria and later added English texts to the melody.

The film is part of the Nigerian "Nollywood" film industry, which has made thousands of films and is one of the biggest film industries in the world today.
Nollywood films are often very emotional, and "The Amazing Grace" is no exception. No holds barred.

Watch the trailer:

 

RSVP for the connection information.

Location	Local Time
Washington DC	09:00 EST
Paris	15:00 CET
Nairobi	17:00 EAT
Shanghai	22:00 CST

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The Luxembourg American Cemetery will host its annual Memorial Day Ceremony on Saturday, May 23, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. We will join the DA Luxembourg chapter again to attend the ceremony. We will arrange carpools for those in Germany to get there. If you're interested in attending, RSVP to as soon as possible so we can organize carpool groups.

Attendance is free and open to the public.

 

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Register to Vote and Request your ballot for the 2020 elections

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Please join Germany Black Caucus Chair, Derek Bembry, and International Black Caucus Chair Angela Fobbs for lunch at Zum Achter. We had originally planned a brunch, but with the amount of interest, and the addition of a presentation, we've had to change venues (and therefore meals).

This lunch is a chance for you to meet Derek and Angela, and learn about what the Black Caucus is doing in Germany, especially for the 2020 election. Derek's presentation will focus primarily on increasing voter turnout by focusing on youth and black voters. He will point out the opportunity in each voter segment as well as issues that appeal to both.

 

Zum Achter is located just over the Neckar from Bismarckplatz. Public transportation access is good, Bismarckplatz is only ~5 mins by foot. Also, the bus stop Bergstraße is directly in front of the building (bus line 34). If you’re driving, the parking garage Parkhaus Brückenkopf Neuenheim is adjacent to the restaurant.

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Join us as we march with our DA neighbor chapter in Heidelberg in support of the 2019 Global Women’s March. The theme for the march this year is “ March for Our Human Rights."

The march in Heidelberg begins at 13:30 at the Friedrich Ebert Platz and will finish around 16:30 in at the Heidelberg Rathausplatz.

We will meet at the Mainz HBF and travel as a group to Heidelberg.

We are taking the IC 2015 which leaves from track 5 at 11:13. We will meet on track 5 Section D by the stairs.

Train Station	Time	Track	Train
Wiesbaden Hbf	depart 10:48	6	S 8	S-Bahn Direction: Offenbach(Main)Ost
Mainz Hbf	arrive 11:01	5a
Mainz Hbf	depart 11:13	5a/b	IC 2015	Intercity Direction: Stuttgart
Heidelberg Hbf	arrive 12:04	7

We will arrive in Heidelberg early enough to have a coffee or a quick bite to eat at the Metropolis café in the train station with the Stuttgart Chapter and then take public transit to the start point.

Everyone is welcome! And we need more men too! Come all by yourself if you’d like, and we’ll get to know each other on the train ride.

Some may wish to take a different train or drive but do try to find us in Heidelberg either at the coffee shop or at the Friedrich-Ebert Platz starting point. We will want to take a group photo or two, pass out our DA signs and flyers, and march as a group with our DA Heidelberg partners to show our numbers are strong!

Click here for more march day info and guidelines.

 

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Books Abroad Reads Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye

A titan of literature passed away in August 2019. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, era-defining writer, and editor, mentor, professor, activist, and social critic—there are few individuals who have transformed American literature and culture like Toni Morrison.

Together with the Global Black Caucus, the Books Abroad organizers warmly invite you to join us in reading and discussing Morrison’s revolutionary novel The Bluest Eye. In her 2007 forward to the book, Morrison explains that in this work, she examines “how something as grotesque as the demonization of an entire race could take root inside the most delicate member of society: a child; the most vulnerable member: a female.” During our discussion, we will tackle issues of cultural aesthetics, intersections of race and gender, and the ongoing struggle for black female voices to be heard.

We look forward to celebrating both the incredible work and woman with you on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at 7:30 a.m. EST/1:30 p.m. CET on WebEx.

Meeting time:

7:30 a.m. – Toronto/Washington D.C.

12:30 p.m. – London

1:30 p.m. – Paris/Berlin

2:30 p.m. – Prague/Rome

4:30 p.m. – Dubai

8:30 p.m. – Beijing

9:30 p.m. – Tokyo

 

Please RSVP to receive the information to join this online meeting.

 

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Eat Drink & Be Scary: Join Democrats Abroad Germany for Halloween Costume Party and 2020 Fundraiser.

Halloween is not as scary as a second Trump term, so please come out and support our fundraiser. All funds raised will go directly to our DAG Get Out The Vote efforts for 2020 and beyond! We want to reach every voter here in Germany, but only you can help us achieve that goal. Everyone is welcome. Non-American citizens tickets must be purchased by an American.

 

The party will begin Saturday, October 31st at 7:30 pm Tickets are €20.20 if paid in advance, €25 at the door. Your ticket includes one complimentary beverage and devilishly delicious appetizers (with vegetarian options too), spellbinding music, and great company. Best Halloween Costume Contest Costumes are optional but more fun. Raffle and other games like "Pin the crime on Trump." Back by popular demand the "piñata"

We're serving politically, incorrect cocktails for €5 Moscow Mitch Republican Zombie Jekyll and Gin

Additional Drink Options Beer €2 Wine €2 Jello-shots €2 Soft Drinks €2 Water €1

If you would like to stay the night for the event evening, these hotels are close to the venue: Hilton Mainz Hotel Mainzer Hof Hotel Havana Hotel ibis Mainz City Hyatt Regency Mainz

 

 

 

Directions

• The venue is very convenient to get to from anywhere in Germany or the world.
• The location is at the foot of the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke in Mainz and easily reachable by public transportation
• From the Mainz Hbf, about 15 minutes walk, or 6 minutes by bus to the “Brückenplatz” and then a 5 minutes walk
• From Mainz Kastel Bahnhof, it's a 13-minute walk to the venue.
• The venue is located at the foot of Theodor-Heuss-Bridge in Mainz inside the bridge. On the evening of the party we will put up signs and lighted ballons at the entrance.

Parking

The location has inexpensive near-by (200 meters from the venue) public parking at the Parkhaus Rheinufer. Nachttarif (19:00 - 6:00 Uhr)  €0.60 / 1/2 hr, max. night rate €3

After you RVSP, you will receive an email with payment information.

 

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Brave New Films has produced a new documentary short  Suppressed: The Fight to Vote. 

This film exposes rampant voter suppression that affected the outcome of the 2018 midterm election in Georgia and the threat it poses to our elections all across the nation in 2020. During the 2018 midterms, millions of voters experienced suppression due to voter roll purges, poll closures, long lines of over 4 hours, missing absentee ballots, and strict voter ID laws that disproportionately prevented black and brown citizens from their constitutional right to vote. 

The race in 2018 was finally decided by 54,723 votes and Surpressed reveals that basic constitutional suffrage in America remains under pressure.

Given what is at stake in 2020, the effort to prevent people voting will be fierce! We've been here before and we can stop it!

For this event, DAG partnered with the Mainz cinema Cinémayence. The movie theater is located on the first floor of the baroque Schönborner Hof in a central location on Schillerplatz. It is a guest of the French Cultural Institute - hence the French name ("Mayence" = French for Mainz).
The schedule of the cinema is designed with cultural aspects in mind. The program offers mainly international films. Like most of the films in Cinemayence, Surpressed has never been shown in Mainz before.

Join us in the discussion after the screening to learn how the Republicans will crack down on voting rights in 2020 and what you can do. Non-Democrats Abroad members and non-US citizens are welcome and the discription of the film is in German in the Cinémayence program.

 

There will be a discussion after the screening lead by Sarah A Wagner. Wagner studied Political Science, English and Educational Science at the University of Trier and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Since 2015, she is the Education Manager at the Atlantic Academy Rheinland-Pfalz. Her research focus lies on the Democratic Party, civil-military relations and transatlantic relations.

Democrats Abroad voter registration experts will assist Americans living in Germany register to vote and request your ballot for the 2020 election. 

Tickets are 5€ and can be purchased at the theater's box office, opens at 19:45. 

 

We hope to see you there!

 

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**Registration has been extended until January 19, 2020**

2020 is going to be a pivotal year for the future of American democracy. At Democrats Abroad Germany, we remain committed to mobilizing the over 100,000 Americans in Germany to restore respect, dignity, and integrity to our nation’s highest offices.

Getting Republicans out and Democrats in next year, however, is going to be a collective effort. It’s going to require us to work together nationwide like never before, keeping our eyes set on one main goal: getting each and every American in Germany to vote.

As 2020 approaches, we would thus like to cordially invite you to join us in our efforts by attending the 2020 Annual General Meeting of Democrats Abroad Germany focusing on "Getting Out the Vote - At Home and Abroad" from Friday, January 24 to Sunday, January 26 at the Literaturhaus München (Salvatorplatz 1, 80333 Munich).

Register here

A great series of events are planned to help us – Democrats across Germany – connect and discuss our voter outreach efforts in 2020. These events are outlined in our tentative

Schedule - Full agenda here (updated January 13)

• On Friday, January 24, we’ll hear from the Women’s Caucus, which has put together a fantastic panel and performance centered around the topic “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even – Electing People Who Will Create Balance” (17:00-19:30). The first evening will come to a close with a welcome cocktail reception where we can connect with each other over drinks (starting at 19:00).

• On Saturday, January 25, the main meeting focused on “Getting Out the Vote – At Home and Abroad” will be held (9:00-18:00). We will begin with an introduction to our organization and briefly highlight our activities across Germany over the past year. Our full attention will then be directed at how we can work together nationwide to get out the vote in 2020. In the afternoon, we'll hear from our caucuses as well as several presidential campaigns about why we need to vote in 2020. Representatives from the Biden, Buttigieg, Patrick, Sanders, and Steyer campaigns are expected, and we are awaiting confirmation from other presidential campaigns in the coming week. As we are committed to neutrality throughout the primaries, all Democratic presidential candidates' campaigns have been invited to join. We will round off the main meeting by reviewing our organization’s bylaws as well as vote on any suggested changes to them (for more on submitted suggested amendments, please scroll to the end of the page). Following the meeting, we’ll gather for a three-course gala dinner at the nearby restaurant Zum Franziskaner and hear from David Shor, an Obama-campaign-trained data analyst who is heavily involved in the stats behind the 2020 election (19:30-22:00).

Guest speaker bio: David Shor is responsible for research and development of political consulting practices at Civis Analytics. He is often described as the Nate Silver of the Democratic National Committee. Civis Analytics was founded by alumni of Obama's 2012 re-election campaign's analytics department, which was pioneering in their use of analytics and statistical modeling in winning elections. Civis's political practice works with political clients ranging from large scale political committees to advocacy groups to nearly every major Democratic 2020 presidential campaign, helping decision makers answer strategic questions around messaging and resource allocation. Prior to being part of the founding team at Civis, David worked on the Obama 2012 campaign, specializing in survey methodology and time series modeling.

• On Sunday, January 26, we want to make sure that those from out of town have some time to see the city and have scheduled a walking tour of Munich (11:00-12:30). Following the tour, everyone is welcome to join us at the tasty restaurant CADU for a farewell luncheon that will leave us invigorated for the election season ahead (13:00-15:00).

Register today for this exciting weekend with passionate and inspiring Democrats from across Germany!

Registration has been extended until January 19, 2020. Payment must be received by January 21, 2020.

Cost

To attend the meeting, we are asking for a donation of 10€ for the Women’s Caucus event and 35€ for the main meeting on Saturday. The cost for meals and coffee breaks are as follows:

• Saturday lunch: 20€
• Saturday coffee breaks (includes two): 10€
• Saturday gala dinner (three-course meal): 40€ 

Under the rules of the Democratic Party and Democrats Abroad, a fee for attending the meeting is not allowed. However, we kindly ask for a donation to cover use of the Literaturhaus München, technical equipment, copies, and supplies. We ask that you donate this amount to cover the expenses of hosting the meeting and avoid drawing down the DA Germany treasury, which is devoted to getting out the vote. Participants do have to pay for meals and coffee breaks.

Stipends for Attending

DA Germany understands the accompanying financial cost of attending the Annual General Meeting. To ensure as many members are able to attend as possible, DA Germany offered eight stipends. The deadline to apply was Saturday, November 30, and applications are no longer being accepted. Applicants have been notified about the status of their application. 

Accommodation

Homestays will be available thanks to DA Germany members in the Munich area. If you are interested in having a homestay, please complete the following survey so that we can make sure you are matched with an appropriate host: “need a homestay” survey. As soon as a homestay has been found, you will be contacted via email.

For those in Munich who would be willing to host another member of DA Germany, please fill out this survey to sign up as a host: “homestay host” survey.

If you would prefer to stay in a hotel, the Munich Chapter has compiled a list of hotels, which include several hotels offering us a discounted rate.

We hope that you will join us for this weekend geared at bringing Democrats together and energizing us for the momentous 2020 election season. On behalf of the entire volunteer team already at work planning the meeting, we say:

 

Suggested Changes to DA Germany Bylaws 

The following suggested changes were submitted by the December 31, 2019, deadline, and are currently up for review by all members of DA Germany. Changed text has been italicized. A vote on these changes will be held on Saturday, January 25, 2020, at the AGM in Munich. The current DA Germany bylaws, which were last amended in 2018, can be accessed here. 

Section 3.4

Proposed by Quaide Williams

Discrimination in the conduct of the affairs of DA Germany on the basis of race, sex, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, gender identity, economic status, philosophical persuasion, or physical disability shall be prohibited. 

Section 4.4

Proposed by Quaide Williams (as to bring DA Germany bylaws into compliance with the Democratic Party Committee Abroad's bylaws, which were amended in May 2019 in Washington, D.C.)

No Officer or elected member of the Executive Committee may serve three full terms in an office consecutively unless there are no other candidates, except for the position of DPCA Voting Representative for which no term limits shall apply as per the DPCA Charter.

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Donations for the 2019 EMEA Regional Meeting in Athens auction. 

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If you have Democrats Abroad Germany press questions contact Beverly Seebach at press@democratsabroad.de

About Democrats Abroad

Democrats Abroad is the official Democratic Party arm for the millions of Americans living outside the United States. Democrats Abroad strives to provide citizens living abroad with a voice in government and elect Democratic candidates by mobilizing the overseas vote.

Democrats Abroad currently has 41 country committees throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. These country committees keep Americans abroad informed of their rights and help them participate in the US political process. Members live in more than 190 countries around the globe and vote in every state and Congressional district in the US.

Democrats Abroad is recognized as a “state” Party by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and is represented in the DNC by eight voting members, as well as at the quadrennial Democratic National Convention.

Democrats Abroad online voter registration tool - votefromabroad.org - makes it easy to request a ballot and vote absentee from any place on the planet.

Wenn Sie Fragen zu Democrat Abroad Germany haben, kontaktieren Sie Beverly Seebach unter press@democratsabroad.de

Über Democrats Abroad

Democrats Abroad ist der offizielle Arm der Demokratischen Partei für die Millionen von Amerikanern, die außerhalb der Vereinigten Staaten leben. Democrats Abroad ist bestrebt, den im Ausland lebenden Bürgern eine Stimme in der Regierung zu geben und demokratische Kandidaten zu wählen, indem sie die ausländischen Stimmen mobilisieren.

Democrats Abroad hat derzeit in 41 Länder nationale Gremien -  in ganz Europa, Amerika, dem Nahen Osten, Afrika und Asien. Diese Gremien informieren die Amerikaner im Ausland über ihre Rechte und unterstützen sie bei der Teilnahme am politischen Prozess der USA. Die Mitglieder leben in mehr als 190 Ländern auf der ganzen Welt und wählen in jedem Staat und Kongressbezirk der USA.

Demokraten im Ausland werden vom Demokratischen Nationalkomitee (DNC) als "staatliche" Partei anerkannt und sind in der DNC durch acht stimmberechtigte Mitglieder sowie auf dem vierjährigen Demokratischen Nationalkonvent vertreten.

Democrats Abroads Online-Wählerregistrierungstool - votefromabroad.org - macht es einfach, eine Briefwahl zu beantragen und Abwesende von überall auf der Welt abzustimmen.

 

About Democrats Abroad Germany (DAG)

We are one of the largest country committees of Democrats Abroad. We are a 100% volunteer organization with a presence throughout Germany.

Our mission is to provide Americans living in Germany a voice in our government and to elect Democrats by mobilizing the overseas vote.

Wherever you are in Germany, there is a chapter or a precinct with events for our members. Click on a link to find your local chapter: Berlin,  Cologne Bonn, Dusseldorf-Ruhr,Frankfurt, Göttingen, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern, Muenster-Osnabrueck, Munich,Stuttgart, and Wiesbaden/Mainz.

Bookmark our Events and News pages to stay up-to-date on what is happening near you.

Über Democrats Abroad Germany (DAG)

Wir sind eines der größten nationale Gremien der Democrats Abroad. Wir sind eine 100%ige Freiwilligenorganisation mit einer Präsenz in ganz Deutschland.

Unsere Mission ist es, den in Deutschland lebenden Amerikanern eine Stimme in unserer Regierung zu geben und Demokraten zu wählen, indem wir die ausländischen Stimmen mobilisieren.

Wo auch immer man in Deutschland lebt, es gibt eine Ortsgruppe mit Veranstaltungen für unsere Mitglieder. Klicken Sie auf einen Link, um Ihre lokale Ortsgruppe für weitere Informationen: Berlin, Köln Bonn, Düsseldorf-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Göttingen, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern, Münster-Osnabrück, München, Stuttgart und Wiesbaden/Mainz.

Setzen Sie ein Lesezeichen auf unseren Veranstaltungs- und Nachrichtenseiten, um über das Geschehen in Ihrer Nähe auf dem Laufenden zu bleiben.

Übersetzt mit www.DeepL.com/Translator

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Make a donation using the form on the left or join our sustaining donors Margin of Victory Club.

Are you interested in joining the Democrats Abroad Margin of Victory Club and making a monthly donation? Would you like to use Paypal to make a donation? Contribute to Democrats Abroad through ActBlue. 

Every dollar you give supports our work to elect Democrats who will fight - AND FIGHT BACK - to make a better life for ALL Americans.   Join us by making a donation today.

Julia Bryan, Chair - Democrats Abroad

We need Democrats like you to commit to Democrats Abroad - your Democratic Party for overseas Americans. Contribute to Democrats Abroad today and help us fight back against the Trump agenda, register Americans all over the world for upcoming elections, reach out on issues that concern you and build a brighter future for our country and the world. With your help, we can make the difference. We did it all over the country in 2018! And we are already working on 2020!

If you are unable to contribute online, send us a US Dollar check with this form to the following address.

Democrats Abroad
PO Box 15130
Washington DC 20003
USA

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To get in touch with the Press Team at Democrats Abroad Germany, please fill out the contact form below with your press inquiry. All other inquiries, contact info-Germany@democratsabroad.org

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Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus adds its voice to those of the NAACP, Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Newport News), former Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia House Democrats and the Virginia Black Caucus, among many many others, calling for the immediate resignation of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

On February 1st, a right-wing online outlet run by former Breitbart staff published a 1984 photo from Gov. Northam’s Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. The picture features two men, one in blackface, one in full KKK robe and hood. Initially, Northam took responsibility for the ugly, disturbing picture, apologizing for the image taken at age 24. He acknowledged his actions in a written statement and on video but then held a press conference and reversed course. He is now claiming that he does not recall taking the photo and that he isn’t one of the two men pictured.

A week later, after admitting to wearing blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson, and while still leaving unexplained how the racist photo was on his yearbook page in the first place, Gov. Northam has dug in and is refusing to step down. This is unacceptable. Blackface is unacceptable. As the director of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson said February 6, on the Rachel Maddow Show, the history of the KKK and the history of blackface, which is one of many vile social customs used to mock, shame, and oppress African Americans is the history of domestic terrorism. Every African American knows and recognizes this. It’s a history which school administrators, the editors of the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook, and Ralph Northam knew and recognized in 1984. They were all in on the joke. It’s unacceptable.

The Black vote, specifically the Black woman vote---91%---put Northam in the Governor’s mansion. Gov. Northam cannot even bring himself to admit if he was the one in blackface or Klan regalia. Virginians nor the Democratic party continue to support him. He must resign immediately.

Written by GBC Contributor KC Washington in cooperation with the GBC steering committee.

Click below to receive periodic updates from the GOTV and Voting Rights teams regarding our voting rights work.  We will message you when there are important updates and developments to report.

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GBC Chair’s Pick: I loved this book. It provided me with a much needed view of the history of the United States. After you finished you will wish the book was longer.

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist

Paperback: 560 pages

Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (October 25, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0465049664

ISBN-13: 978-0465049660

Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institution--the nation's original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America's later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffered in bondage of their full legacy. As historian Edward E. Baptist reveals in The Half Has Never Been Told, the expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States. In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton empire, and the United States grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Told through intimate slave narratives, plantation records, newspapers, and the words of politicians, entrepreneurs, and escaped slaves, The Half Has Never Been Told offers a radical new interpretation of American history.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany by Hans J. Massaquoi

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 6, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060959614
ISBN-13: 978-0060959616

An astonishing true tale of how he came of age as a black child in Nazi Germany. The son of a prominent African and a German nurse, Hans remained behind with his mother when Hitler came to power, due to concerns about his fragile health, after his father returned to Liberia. Like other German boys, Hans went to school; like other German boys, he swiftly fell under the Fuhrer's spell. So he was crushed to learn that, as a black child, he was ineligible for the Hitler Youth. His path to a secondary education and an eventual profession was blocked. He now lived in fear that, at any moment, he might hear the Gestapo banging on the door -- or Allied bombs falling on his home. Ironic,, moving, and deeply human, Massaquoi's account of this lonely struggle for survival brims with courage and intelligence.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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On the Pleasures of Owning Persons: The Hidden Face of American Slavery by Professor and Chair Volney Gay (Author)

Publisher: Ipbooks; . ed. edition (July 31, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 099654819X

ISBN-13: 978-0996548199

The real reason Americans owned slaves was not just financial. They did it because they liked it. For the first two centuries of American history, starting with the colonists, slavery was a part of the social, economic, and governmental order. Looking back, many of us find it more comfortable to view slave owners as evil or sociopathic. The startling truth is that many were otherwise admirable.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback

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The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson

Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (February 2, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 054438766X

ISBN-13: 978-0544387669

Michael Eric Dyson explores the powerful, surprising way the politics of race have shaped Barack Obama’s identity and groundbreaking presidency. How has President Obama dealt publicly with race—as the national traumas of Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott have played out during his tenure? What can we learn from Obama's major race speeches about his approach to racial conflict and the black criticism it provokes?

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (1963)

Hardcover: 192 pages

Publisher: HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON; 1 edition (October 17, 2000)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 003055442X

ISBN-13: 978-0030554421
We are living through something of a Baldwin renaissance, in large part thanks to Raoul Peck’s brilliant documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Any number of Baldwin’s books might earn a place on this list, but The Fire Next Time stands out. Consisting of two essays, one addressed to Baldwin’s nephew, it is a passionate and visceral plea to black and white America. It is the only document I know of that expresses the civil rights case as eloquently as the speeches of Martin Luther King.

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Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire (1950)

Paperback: 102 pages

Publisher: Monthly Review Press (2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1583670254

ISBN-13: 978-1583670255

Published in 1955, when most of Africa was still the colonial possession of one or other of the European powers, Césaire’s masterwork argues that the European empires were, like all empires, run for the profit of the colonizing powers, rather than the benefit of the colonized peoples. More controversially, Césaire hypothesized that the roots of Nazism could be found in the toxic soil of imperialism.

Available Formats: Paperback

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The Black Atlantic by Paul Gilroy (1993)

Paperback: 280 pages

Publisher: Harvard University Press; Reissue edition (March 8, 1993)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0674076060

ISBN-13: 978-0674076068
It was in this book that Gilroy laid out his concept of the “Black Atlantic”, the idea that black culture is essentially a hybrid, a product of centuries of exchange, slavery and movement across the Atlantic. Exploring everything from the lives and work of African American philosophers such as WEB DuBois, to black popular music, Gilroy demonstrates that black culture is both “local” and “global”, and cannot be constrained within any single national culture. It flows across the black Atlantic of the book’s title. The influence of Gilroy’s work can be felt not only in modern scholarship but even in the work of the visual artist John Akomfrah.

Available Formats: Hardcover and Paperback

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Roots by Alex Haley (1976)

Hardcover: 704 pages

Publisher: Wings; Reprint edition (September 5, 2000)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0517208601

ISBN-13: 978-0517208601
What turns a great book into a great political book is its impact, as much as its content. Both on the page and later on the television screen, Alex Haley’s masterpiece was a phenomenon. For African-Americans, whose familial links to Africa had been severed by slavery and racism, it was a revelation. Although Haley’s methodology has been criticized, the cultural impact of Roots remains undeniable.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback

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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (2010)

Hardcover: 290 pages

Publisher: The New Press; 1 edition (January 5, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1595581030

ISBN-13: 978-1595581037
Lists of great books tend to focus on works that are old enough to have become firmly established as classics. Michelle Alexander’s book, published just seven years ago, earns its place and already seems prescient. Controversially and passionately, it exposes the crisis that is the mass incarceration of African-American men in post-civil rights America.
Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter (2010)

Hardcover: 512 pages

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (March 15, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0393049345

ISBN-13: 978-0393049343
I’m sometimes nervous of books that use the phrase “white people”, as if all “white people” or all “black people” can be categorized as being a single group. But Painter’s book is a clever history of the idea of “whiteness”. It demonstrates that a number of ethnic groups, whom we today automatically regard as being “white”, were once regarded as being outside of the white race.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Race Matters by Cornel West (1993)

Hardcover: 128 pages

Publisher: Beacon Press; Anniversary edition (December 5, 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 080704122X

ISBN-13: 978-0807041222
Race Matters is to be re-issued later this year to mark its forthcoming 25th anniversary. The timing is grimly pertinent. Across a series of interweaving essays, West argues that racism is so much a part of American history and culture that it can only be addressed and confronted if that reality is confronted – and by Americans of all races.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain by Peter Fryer (1984)

Paperback: 648 pages

Publisher: Pluto Press; 2 edition (November 6, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 074533072X

ISBN-13: 978-0745330723
In June 1948, Peter Fryer, then a young reporter, was dispatched to Tilbury docks to report on the arrival of the Empire Windrush and the 492 West Indian migrants on board. That led, 36 years later, to the publication of Staying Power. At a time when little on the subject was written, Fryer created an encyclopedic panorama of the black presence in Britain.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback

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The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley (1976)

Hardcover: 528 pages

Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reissue edition (September 29, 1992)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0345379756

ISBN-13: 978-0345379757
Co-authored by Alex Haley and based on a series of interviews with Malcolm X, this is one of the greatest biographies of the last century. Through his own life story, and that of the key figures of his troubled years in the underworld of New York, Malcolm bore witness to the racism of 1930s and 40s. It’s impossible to believe he would occupy the cultural position he holds today had the book never been written.

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Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)

Hardcover: 507 pages

Publisher: HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON; 1 edition (September 22, 2000)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0030565812

ISBN-13: 978-0030565816
I was in Tanzania when the news of Mandela’s death was announced. I rushed out and bought the only copy of Mandela’s 1994 biography I could find in the book shops of Dar es Salaam – others had evidently felt the same urge to re-read the book. If apartheid was the most perfected and methodically applied system of racial oppression ever devised the Long Walk to Freedom is the ultimate denouncement of it. It is a statement of the obvious that Mandela was one of the great figures of our age. To fully understand how great you have to read his account of the infamous Rivonia trial.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback

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Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany by Hans J. Massaquoi

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 6, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060959614
ISBN-13: 978-0060959616

An astonishing true tale of how he came of age as a black child in Nazi Germany. The son of a prominent African and a German nurse, Hans remained behind with his mother when Hitler came to power, due to concerns about his fragile health, after his father returned to Liberia. Like other German boys, Hans went to school; like other German boys, he swiftly fell under the Fuhrer's spell. So he was crushed to learn that, as a black child, he was ineligible for the Hitler Youth. His path to a secondary education and an eventual profession was blocked. He now lived in fear that, at any moment, he might hear the Gestapo banging on the door -- or Allied bombs falling on his home. Ironic,, moving, and deeply human, Massaquoi's account of this lonely struggle for survival brims with courage and intelligence.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions by Dhoruba Bin Wahad,‎ Jamal Joseph,‎ Sekou Odinga

Paperback: 648 pages
Publisher: PM Press (August 15, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1629633895
ISBN-13: 978-1629633893

In 1969, 21 members of the militant New York branch of the Black Panther Party were rounded up and indicted on multiple charges of violent acts and conspiracies. The membership of the NY 21, which includes the mother of Tupac Shakur, is largely forgotten and unknown. Their legacy, however—reflected upon here in this special edition—provides essential truths which have remained largely hidden.

Available Formats: Kindle and Paperback

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Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America by Peniel E. Joseph

Paperback: 432 pages

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; Reprint edition (July 10, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0805083359

ISBN-13: 978-0805083354

Was the black power movement part of the civil rights movement, or something separate? Joseph, a leading figure in the new black power studies, makes the case for its singularity in the most comprehensive overview of the topic published to date. Rather than seeing black power as a series of unconnected iconic episodes and images – Black Panthers toting guns, the clenched fist salutes at the 1968 Olympics, Angela Davis's loud and proud Afro – Joseph presents a picture of a coherent movement with its own distinct politics and sensibilities.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution by C.L.R. James

Paperback: 448 pages

Publisher: Vintage; 2 edition (October 23, 1989)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0679724672

ISBN-13: 978-0679724674

This powerful, intensely dramatic book is the definitive account of the Haitian Revolution of 1794-1803, a revolution that began in the wake of the Bastille but became the model for the Third World liberation movements from Africa to Cuba. It is the story of the French colony of San Domingo, a place where the brutality of master toward slave was commonplace and ingeniously refined. And it is the story of a barely literate slave named Toussaint L'Ouverture, who led the black people of San Domingo in a successful struggle against successive invasions by overwhelming French, Spanish, and English forces and in the process helped form the first independent nation in the Caribbean.

Available Formats: Hardcover and Paperback

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Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times by Harriet A. Washington

Paperback: 528 pages

Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (January 8, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 076791547X

ISBN-13: 978-0767915472

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches

From the era of slavery to the present day, the first full history of black America’s shocking mistreatment as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment. Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge—a tradition that continues today within some black populations. It reveals how blacks have historically been prey to grave-robbing as well as unauthorized autopsies and dissections. Moving into the twentieth century, it shows how the pseudoscience of eugenics and social Darwinism was used to justify experimental exploitation and shoddy medical treatment of blacks, and the view that they were biologically inferior, oversexed, and unfit for adult responsibilities. Shocking new details about the government’s notorious Tuskegee experiment are revealed, as are similar, less-well-known medical atrocities conducted by the government, the armed forces, prisons, and private institutions.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America by Peniel E. Joseph

Paperback: 432 pages

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; Reprint edition (July 10, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0805083359

The Black Power movement is one of the most misunderstood movements in history. Decades of negative media coverage and stereotypes have contributed to that. Here Peniel Joseph dives in deep and shows where and how the Black Power movement diverged from and overlapped with other racial equality movements, from its inception with Stokely Carmichael at the helm to the rise of the Black Panther Party.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide Paperback – by Carol Anderson

Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; Reprint edition (September 5, 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1632864134

ISBN-13: 978-1632864130

From the Civil War to our combustible present, White Rage reframes our continuing conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America--now in paperback with a new afterword by the author, acclaimed historian Carol Anderson.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books; unknown edition (November 1, 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1556520743

ISBN-13: 978-1556520747

On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that had claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder. This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and the works of Maya Angelou.Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides."

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, and Paperback

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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Paperback: 640 pages

Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (October 4, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0679763880

ISBN-13: 978-0679763888

From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves. With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, George Starling, and Robert Foster. Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis

Paperback: 288 pages

Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books edition (February 12, 1983)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0394713516

ISBN-13: 978-0394713519

A powerful study of the women's liberation movement in the U.S., from abolitionist days to the present, that demonstrates how it has always been hampered by the racist and classist biases of its leaders. From the widely revered and legendary political activist and scholar Angela Davis.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover and Paperback

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Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis

Paperback: 464 pages

Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (January 26, 1999)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0679771263

ISBN-13: 978-0679771265

From one of this country's most important intellectuals comes a brilliant analysis of the blues tradition that examines the careers of three crucial black women blues singers through a feminist lens. Angela Davis provides the historical, social, and political contexts with which to reinterpret the performances and lyrics of Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday as powerful articulations of an alternative consciousness profoundly at odds with mainstream American culture.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover and Paperback

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Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South by E. Patrick Johnson

Paperback: 592 pages

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press; 2 edition (September 1, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0807872261

ISBN-13: 978-0807872260

Giving voice to a population too rarely acknowledged, Sweet Tea collects more than sixty life stories from black gay men who were born, raised, and continue to live in the South. E. Patrick Johnson challenges stereotypes of the South as "backward" or "repressive" and offers a window into the ways black gay men negotiate their identities, build community, maintain friendship networks, and find sexual and life partners--often in spaces and activities that appear to be anti-gay. Ultimately, Sweet Tea validates the lives of these black gay men and reinforces the role of storytelling in both African American and southern cultures.

Available Formats: Kindle, Paperback and Audiobook

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Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension Of American Racism by James W. Loewen

Hardcover: 562 pages

Publisher: New Press, The; 1st, First Printing edition (September 29, 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 156584887X

ISBN-13: 978-1565848870

In this groundbreaking work, bestselling sociologist James W. Loewen, author of the national bestseller Lies My Teacher Told Me, brings to light decades of hidden racial exclusion in America. In a provocative, sweeping analysis of American residential patterns, Loewen uncovers the thousands of “sundown towns”—almost exclusively white towns where it was an unspoken rule that blacks could not live there—that cropped up throughout the twentieth century, most of them located outside of the South. These towns used everything from legal formalities to violence to create homogenous Caucasian communities—and their existence has gone unexamined until now. For the first time, Loewen takes a long, hard look at the history, sociology, and continued existence of these towns, contributing an essential new chapter to the study of American race relations.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook

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God's Other Children - A London Memoir by Vernal W Scott

Paperback: 606 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 22, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1482741172

ISBN-13: 978-1482741179

Black LGBTQ people have long been an integral part of black history. A crucial part of their more recent history has been captured in this essential non-fiction book, which has won rave reader reviews and recommendations by WH Smith and notables such as Peter Tatchell and Lord Paul Boateng. Born in early 1960s London to Jamaican parents, Vernal has written the only self-published title to be shortlisted for the 2014 Polari First Book Prize. Featuring text and photos over 600 pages, it is a quite astonishing account of Black culture and sexuality, ‘coming out’, the ‘AIDS war years’, gay fatherhood, politics, ‘damaging religion’, hate, love, and more.

Available Formats: Kindle and Paperback

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The Black Calhouns: From Civil War to Civil Rights with One African American Family by Gail Lumet Buckley

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (February 2, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0802124542

ISBN-13: 978-0802124548

In The Black Calhouns, Gail Lumet Buckley—daughter of actress Lena Horne—delves deep into her family history, detailing the experiences of an extraordinary African-American family from Civil War to Civil Rights.

Available Formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback and Audiobook