Washoe County Library System

An account of the previously unheralded but pivotal contributions of NASA's African-American women mathematicians to America's space program describes how they were segregated from their white counterparts by Jim Crow laws in spite of their groundbreaking successes.

"One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who...

Profiles ten black women from Canada and the United States, including Jackie Shane, Rosa Pryor, and Mary Miles Bibb.

The program director of #BeyondPrisons shares how her abuse-marked childhood complicated her pursuit of healthy relationships before falling in love with then-inmate Shaka Senghor, the author of the memoir, "Writing My Wrongs."

A deeply personal memoir spanning three generations of women, this is the intimate autobiography of Emmy Award winning actress Debbi Morgan, best known as Angie Hubbard on the long-running soap opera All My Children.

A cultural commentator presents this memoir-in-essays in which she provides a deeply personal, razor-sharp critique of white fragility, respectability politics, and all the places where fear masquerades as progress.

Stitching together girlhood memories with the finest threads of innocence, feminist intellectual bell hooks presents a powerfully intimate account of growing up in the South. A memoir of ideas and perceptions, Bone Black shows the unfolding of female creativity and one strong-spirited child's journey toward becoming a writer. She learns early on the roles women and men play in society, as well as the emotional vulnerability of children. She sheds...

Washington Post writer Liza Mundy paints a revealing and intimate portrait of the most dynamic couple in politics today: Michelle, the highly organized, sometimes intimidating, list-making pragmatist; and Barack, the introspective political charmer who shoots for the stars. Michelle's story carries all the achievements and lingering pain of the post-civil rights era. She grew up on the south side of Chicago, in a neighborhood rocked by white flight....

"Ida B. Wells was a powerful churchwoman and witness for justice and equity from 1878-1931. Born enslaved, her witness flowed through the struggles for justice in her lifetime, especially in the intersections of African-Americans, women, and those who were poor. Her life is a profound witness for faith-based work of visionary power, resistance, and resilience for today's world, when the forces of injustice stand in opposition to progress. These are...