New York: Morrow, (1996.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Studies of both well-known African Americans like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, etc, and less well-known - Bass Reeves, Peter Salem, Joseph Cinque and Lewis H. Latimer. Foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. Photographs, bibliography, Index. xxiv, 232 pp. ISBN: 0-688-130976.

New York: Liberty - Time, Inc, (2016.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A book of essays in which Abdul-Jabbar "uses his unique blend of erudition, street smarts and authentic experience on the country's seemingly irreconcilable partisan divide - both racial and political, parenthood, and his own experiences as an athlete, African-American, and a Muslim. . . he also offers keen assessments of and solutions to problems such as racism in sports while speaking candidly about his experiences on the court and off." SIGNED by Adbu-Jabbar on the title page. Index. 242 pp. ISBN: 978-1618931719.

New York: Sheed and Ward, 1942. dj. Hardcover first edition - The autobiography of a young African American woman who was born in Santa Barbara, California to a family in "comfortable circumstances" although she grew up during the Depression, and who converted to Catholicism after her graduation from high school. This book attempts to reconcile both her sense of herself as a "new Negro" and her spiritual life as a Catholic who eventually became a Franciscan Tertiary. She recounts not only her spiritual awakening, but also the necessity to overcome racial prejudice even within the Church itself.

Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1991. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - INSCRIBED by the author on the half title page, and dated in the year of publication ('To Deedee, with best wishes and thanks for your contribution to a wonderful event.') A study based on the lives of the women in her own family - neither black nor white, affluent nor impoverished, enslaved nor truly free, they lived and died in a shadowy realm. Photographs, charts, extensive notes and references, index. 268 pp. ISBN: 1-557282145.

New York: Grand Central Publishing, (2015). First edition - A beautifully written and very moving account of the sudden death of her husband by this noted African American poet - and also a picture of a rich and loving marriage. Ficre Ghebreyesus, born in Eritrea and a refuge from the war there, was known both as a gifted artist and a creative chef, when he died at just 50. 209 pp.

New York: Harmony, (1996) dj. Hardcover first edition - In 1954 four black women met at Talladega College and began a friendship that has lasted more four decades. Although they all lived in different parts of the country, they formed a 'working circle' friendship and wrote letters to each other, letters in which they explored their thoughts and feelings about their current and future life experiences. This book is a compilation of some of those letters. "Sharing these experiences, which range from raising children to approaching retirement to discussing sex and race issues, has helped these women find a truer, deeper meaning in their lives." 223 pp. ISBN: 0-517708345.

New York: Vintage Books, (1999). More than just a biography of Muhammad Ali, this shows how revolutionary his role was in the world of sports. Cassius Clay grew up in the segregated South but became a beloved figure in American life. Illustrated with photographs. Notes, index. 326 pp. ISBN: 0-375-702296.

New York: Random House, 1998. dj. Hardcover - More than just a biography of Muhammad Ali, this shows how revolutionary his role was in the world of sports. Cassius Clay grew up in the segregated South but became a beloved figure in American life. Illustrated with photographs. Notes, index. 326 pp. ISBN: 0-375-500650.

New York: Random House, 1981. dj. Hardcover first edition - The fourth volume in her autobiography. ISBN: 0-394-512731.

New York: Writers and Readers Publishing, (1992.). First edition - From the preface: "Today when it seems like most of the gains in the area of civil rights are being rolled back one by one, it is more important than ever to rediscover the impact of leaders like Malcolm X on our society. A graphic book written for young adults, illustrated throughout with the author's black and white drawings. ii, 186 pp. ISBN: 0-86316-146-4.

New York: Putnam, 1874. Hardcover first edition - Written by "two of its teachers." Includes "Fifty Cabin and Plantation Songs" arranged by Thomas P. Fenner. Illustrated with a four-fold engraved frontispiece, depicting several of the school's buildings as seen from the water, and many other engravings. An interesting account of the school, including a brief history of Virginia and of slavery and its aftermath in that state, and one of the earliest publications of slave music. 255 pp plus index to cabin songs.

New York: The New Press, (2008.) dj. Hardcover first edition - This sensitive and thoroughly researched study intertwines the life histories of a James Eastland, a rich cotton planter and staunch segregationist Senator and Fannie Lou Hamer, a former sharecropper who grew up desperately poor just a few miles from the Eastland home, and became the spirtual leader of the Mississippi civil rights movement. It explores the contradictions found in a county like Sunflower, Mississippi. Illustrated with photographs, notes, index. xvi, 368 pp. ISBN: 1595583327.

New York: Bloomsbury, (2016) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A year before Jackie Robinson integrated major league baseball in 1947, four men broke pro football's color line - Kenny Washington and Woody Strode with the Los Angeles Rams and Bill Willis and Marion Motley with the Cleveland Browns. This book traces the history of the color line
from the early 1930s--when NFL owners first instituted a ban on black players to the 1950 NFL Championship Game, which pitted the Rams and Browns against each other. SIGNED by the author on the title page. Photographs, notes, sources, index. 274 pp. ISBN: 978-1620406007.

Naperville, IL: Ebony Magazine / Sourcebooks, (2022). SIGNED hardcover first edition - Beautiful full color photographs by Augustus. Foreword by Forest Whitaker and afterword by Niecy Nash. List of actors with small photographs. Index. SIGNED on the title page with "love always." Large square format. 227 pp. ISBN: 978-1728258393.

New York: Doubleday, (1989.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Illustrated with photographs. 270 pp. ISBN: 0-385-262027.

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - Second book by this African American actress and singer. ISBN: 0-15-1879907.

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - Second book by this African American actress and singer. ISBN: 0-15-1879907.

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Second book by this African American actress and singer. INSCRIBED on the page between the half title and the title page 'To Mr.... Love is truly the answer.' (Note: This book has also a printed inscription and signature on the dedication page, which is often mistaken for a real signature.). ISBN: 0-15-1879907.

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971. dj. Hardcover first edition - Second book by this African American actress and singer. ISBN: 0-15-1879907.

New York: Doubleday, 1989. dj. Hardcover first edition - Biography of the singer and dancer who became renowned in Paris in the 1920's - but who also did undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II, adopted 12 children, spent many years in poverty, and had a gratifying comeback just before her death. Illustrated, notes, bibliography, index. 321 pages. ISBN: 0-385-248911.

New York: Doubleday, 1989. dj. Hardcover first edition - Biography of the singer and dancer who became renowned in Paris in the 1920's - but who also did undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II, adopted 12 children, spent many years in poverty, and had a gratifying comeback just before her death. Illustrated, notes, bibliography, index. 321 pages. ISBN: 0-385-248911.

New York: Doubleday, 1989. dj. Hardcover first edition - Biography of the singer and dancer who became renowned in Paris in the 1920's - but who also did undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II, adopted 12 children, spent many years in poverty, and had a gratifying comeback just before her death. Illustrated, notes, bibliography, index. 321 pages. ISBN: 0-385-248911.

New York: Doubleday, 1989. dj. Hardcover first edition - Biography of the singer and dancer who became renowned in Paris in the 1920's - but who also did undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II, adopted 12 children, spent many years in poverty, and had a gratifying comeback just before her death. Illustrated, notes, bibliography, index. 321 pages. ISBN: 0-385-248911.

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992. dj. Hardcover first edition - The story of Collis Phillips, who became a successful boxer in New Orleans during the height of Jim Crow, and of his family, of the triumphs and the tragedies. Before writing this moving book, Bates spent 10 years with the Phillips family from Collis down thru his great-great grandson, as a friend and biographer. 421 pp plus a section of glossy photographs.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. dj. Hardcover first edition - The autobiography of a remarkable woman, as well as the story of three generations of an African-American family. "The seventh of eight children, Freddie Mae Baxter was born in 1923 in rural South Carolina. When her father left the family, her mother had to raise the children alone, and Freddie Mae went to work - first picking cotton, then cooking for the white families in town. At seventeen, she decided to go up North in search of new horizons and a better life." In Harlem she played saxophone in an all-girls' band - and through good times and bad, she remained optimistic. Frontispiece. 223 pp. ISBN: 0-375406204.