An enthusiastic, informative, and essential ode to Black American history.
Inspiring profiles and portraits of pioneering figures in Black history.
In this vibrant, inclusive collection, McCalman honors the legacies of 145 Black Americans whose societal contributions cannot be overstated. His profiles and watercolors are wonderfully diverse, including both live and deceased; recognizable and lesser known; contemporary and historic. Among them are early-19th-century mixologist Cato Alexander, a former enslaved person who “invented the word cocktail”; Mary McLeod Bethune, a single mother who founded educational institutions and empowerment councils for Black women in the early 20th century, including what became Bethune-Cookman College; Ralph Bunche, “the first African American and the first person of color to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” in 1950; legendary choreographer Katherine Dunham; and Harlem jazz singer Baby Esther Jones, “the embodiment of cultural appropriation and what that does to the sense of self.” The author also highlights many household names, including basketball legend and lifelong activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, iconic poet Maya Angelou, activist and author James Baldwin, Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, and trailblazing artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Romare Bearden. Collectively, McCalman spotlights these remarkable Black luminaries for their accomplishments and “to see the hardships and sacrifices, but also hear the laughter” [and] “feel the inner definition of self-reliance.” In addition to these portraits, McCalman includes inspiring essays from such distinguished writers as journalist and human rights activist Emil Wilbekin and James Beard and NAACP Image Award–winning chef and author Bryant Terry. The author’s inclusion of former neurosurgeon and controversial politician Ben Carson may be a questionable choice for some, but he fair-mindedly calls out Carson’s medical successes alongside the contentious political decisions that have undermined his reputation. Accessible, important, and germane to the very fabric of American life, this moving collection of illustration and biography artistically reflects struggle, achievement, and perseverance. Some of McCalman’s other subjects include Octavia Butler, Shirley Chisholm, Claudette Colvin, Althea Gibson, and Dick Gregory.
An enthusiastic, informative, and essential ode to Black American history.Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-291323-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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