African American Almanac

February 1, 2012

The opening chapter of Bracks's (arts & languages, English, Fisk Univ.; Writings on Black Women of the Diaspora: History, Language, and Identity) concise almanac examines the arrival of the first Africans to the Americas and the rise of black nationalism after the Civil War. Subsequent chapters cover topics such as civil rights, politics, education, religion, literature, sports, and the military. Each chapter begins with a history of major associated events and people and ends with a series of biographies, some of which lack sufficient detail. For example, the entry on Ida B. Wells-Barnett provides too little about her antilynching campaign. The piece on Charles Drew doesn't mention that Drew resigned as director of the U.S. National Blood Bank program during World War II because he objected to the segregation of blood donations from whites and African Americans. BOTTOM LINE This mostly excellent overview of African American contributions to the United States will be a welcome addition to school, public, and community college libraries.--Diane Fulkerson, Univ. of South Florida Polytechnic, Lakeland

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2012
Bracks chronicles the African American experience from the arrival of the first Africans to North America in the early 1600s to the present day. The almanac is organized into 12 chapters: Africans in America; Civil Rights; Politics; Education; Religion; Literature; Business Entrepreneurs/Media; Performing and Visual/Applied Arts; Music; Science, Technology, Inventors, and Explorers; Sports; and Military. Each chapter includes an essay and a collection of biographies of individuals who have made progress and positive change possible. Black-and-white photographs and illustrations are found throughout. The essay portions of each chapter are excellent primers. Bracks also gives context to less documented areas of African American history. In her chapter on civil rights, for example, the author begins with the Free African Society movement of the late 1700s, thoroughly covers the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and carries readers through the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006. The biographies are succinct and informative. They average two to three paragraphs and include dates, education received, and major milestones. Appropriate attention is given to larger-than-life personalities, like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Martin Luther King Jr. Women are well represented throughout, including progressives, like Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Mabel Staupers, a nurse and activist who worked to integrate African American nurses into mainstream medicine. For simplicity's sake, it may have been better to have the biography sections organized only alphabetically and not also by subcategory, but users can easily find people by last name in the comprehensive index. This is an affordable, concise, and overall first-rate resource for high-school, public, and academic libraries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)