African American Almanac

Courage, resilience and triumph! Celebrating the African American experience, the extraordinary people, and their profound influence on American history!


African Americans helped build the United States. Their contributions, deeds, and influence are interwoven into the fabric of the country. Celebrating centuries of achievements, the African American Almanac: 500 Years of Black Excellence provides insights on the impact and inspiration of African Americans on U.S. society and culture spanning centuries and presented in a fascinating mix of biographies, historical facts, and enlightening essays on significant legislation and movements.




Covering events surrounding African American literature, art and music; the civil rights movement; religion within the black community; advances in science and medicine; and politics, education, business, the military, sports, theater, film, and television, this important reference connects history to the issues currently facing the African American community. The African American Almanac also honors the lives and contributions of 800 influential figures, including ...



Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker, Amiri Baraka, Daisy Bates, Reginald Wayne Betts, Simone Biles, Bisa Butler, George Washington Carver, Ray Charles, Bessie Coleman, Gary Davis, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Michael Eric Dyson, Duke Ellington, Margie Eugene-Richard, Medgar Evers, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Amanda Gorman, Eric H. Holder, Jr., Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Ketanji Brown Jackson, LeBron James, Mae C. Jemison, Nicole Hanna-Jones, Gayle King, Martin Luther King, Jr., Queen Latifah, Jacob Lawrence, Kevin Liles, Thurgood Marshall, Walter Mosley, Elijah Muhammad, Barack Obama, Gordon Parks, Rosa Parks, Richard Pryor, Condoleezza Rice, Smokey Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Betty Shabazz, Tavis Smiley, Dasia Taylor, Clarence Thomas, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Ross Tubman, C. Delores Tucker, Usher, Denmark Vesey, Alice Walker, Booker T. Washington, Denzel Washington, Reggie White, Justus Williams, Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Malcolm X, and many more.




Completely updated and revised for the first time in over a decade, the African American Almanac looks at the recent challenges—from the Black Lives Movement to Covid-19—and ongoing resilience of our nation, and it shines a light on our momentous and complicated history, the individual accomplishments and contributions of the celebrated and unsung—but no less worthy—people who built our country and who continue to influence American society.




Comprehensive and richly illustrated, it thoroughly explores the past, progress, and current conditions of America. This seminal work is the most complete and affordable single-volume reference of African American culture and history available today, and it illustrates and demystifies the emotionally moving, complex, and often lost history of black life in America!