Books published by publisher African American Images

Intended for educators, parents, and social workers, this comprehensive analysis of contemporary America outlines the challenges faced by young black men today and provides more than 50 solutions to such problems. More than 40 years ago, Claude Brown published Manchild in the Promised Land, his landmark autobiography of teen life on the mean streets of Harlem amidst poverty, violence, and drug addiction. Many of the social ills portrayed then remain surprisingly relevant today and nearly all of them have intensified. As a response to the classic text, these discussions cover miseducation and dropout rates, illiteracy, crime, drugs, unemployment, and fatherlessness, bringing each issue forward to the present day and into the future while incorporating more modern challenges, such as the threat of AIDS. Just as Claude Brown captured the zeitgeist of urban America in the 1950s, this important examination encapsulates the state of society for African American males today.

Alex Haley's Roots popularized the study of one's ancestral history. Children share in the thrill of such discovery in the story of Malik, a third-grader who is given a school assignment of developing a family tree. Malik becomes excited about tracing his family heritage and past and begins his journey with a series of interviews with his relatives. Malik's grandmother not only tells him about their family, but she also gives him a very sacred and ancient Ashanti cloth from one of his ancestors. This book teaches the importance of family, of ancestral history, and of self-esteem.