Herb Boyd (born November 1, 1938) is an awarding winning author and journalist and has published 22 books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. Brotherman:The Odyssey of Black Men in America: An Anthology (One World/Ballantine, 1995), co-edited with Robert Allen of the Black Scholar journal, won the American Book Award for nonfiction. In 1999, Boyd won three first place awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for his articles published in the Amsterdam News. Among his most popular books are Black Panthers for Beginners (Writers & Readers, 1995); Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told By Those Who Lived It (Doubleday, 2000); Race and Resistance: African Americans in the 21st Century (South End Press, 2002); The Harlem Reader (Crown Publishers, 2003); We Shall Overcome: A History of the Civil Rights Movement (Sourcebooks, 2004); and Pound for Pound:The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson (Amistad, 2005).
In 2006, Boyd worked with world music composer Yusef Lateef on
his autobiography The Gentle Giant which was published by Morton Books
of New Jersey. In 2008 he published Baldwin's Harlem: A Biography of
James Baldwin, and is working with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp on several
projects. Boyd has been inducted into both the Literary Hall of Fame for
Writers of African Descent and the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame as
a journalist.
Along with his writing, Boyd is national and international correspondent
for Free Speech TV. A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit,
Boyd teaches African and African-American History at the College of New
Rochelle in the Bronx, and is an adjunct instructor at City College in
the Black Studies Department.
Reach Herb Boyd directly at herbboyd47@gmail.com
Any Means Necessary - Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented
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Edited by Herb Boyd, Ron Daniels, Maulana Karenga and Haki R. Madhubuti, critical conversations on Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm X
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Third World Press (January 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883783363
ISBN-13: 978-0883783368
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Compiled as a response to
Manning Marable’s
controversial new biography of Malcolm X, more than 30 noted scholars
from the African American community offer their opinions on Marable’s
portrayal of the man whose short life still inspires speculation of what
might have been.
Contributors include: Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, Mumia Abu-Jamal,
Abdul Alkalimat, Molefi Kete Asante,
Rick Ayers, Bryonn Bain, Amiri Baraka, Aslaku
Berhanu, Amir Bey, Todd Steven Burroughs,
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
William Jelani Cobb, Karl Evanzz,
Iyaluua and Herman Ferguson, Bill Flectcher, Jr., Glen Ford, Rhone Fraser,
Wil Haygood, Kelly Harris, Errol A. Henderson, Fred Hord, Peter James
Hudson, Ezra Hyland, Regina Jennings, Peniel E. Joseph, Clyde Ledbetter Jr.,
Fred Logan, Kevin McGruder, Starla Muhammad,
Nell Irvin Painter, Imani Perry,
Gregory J. Reed, Sonia Sanchez, Diane D. Turner,
Ilyasah Shabazz.
Simeon's Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till
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Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books; Reprint edition (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1569768196
ISBN-13: 978-1569768198
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
No modern tragedy has had a greater impact on race relations in America than
the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till. A 14-year-old black boy from
Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955, Till was taken from his
uncle's home by two white men; several days later, his body was found in the
Tallahatchie River. This grotesque crime became the catalyst for the civil
rights movement.
At age 12, author Simeon Wright saw and heard his cousin Emmett whistle at a
white woman at a grocery store; he was sleeping in the same bed with him
when Emmett was taken; and he was at the sensational trial. This is his
gripping coming-of-age memoir.
Simeon Wright is a popular public speaker at schools, churches, and cultural
institutions throughout the country.
Civil
Rights, Yesterday & Today
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by Herb Boyd, and Todd Burroughs
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: West Side Publishing (October 15, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1450810306
ISBN-13: 978-1450810302
Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 1 x 9.9 inches
Civil Rights, Yesterday & Today explores the story of the African American struggle for freedom, addresses the array of issues facing today's African Americans, and examines the impact of Barack Obama's presidency on African American society. The book includes hundreds of photos from the 19th to 21st centuries, and a foreword written by U.S. Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis.
Civil Rights, Yesterday & Today covers the notable people and events of the Civil Rights Movement. Here is a sampling:
Abolitionists and freedom fighters such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Frederick Douglass.
The Ku Klux Klan, white nationalism, and racism.
Critical events of the 1950s and 1960s, including Woolworth's sit-ins; the Montgomery bus boycott; "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama; the Little Rock Nine; Ruby Bridges; and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
The birth of the NAACP; the March on Washington and MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech; and Freedom Riders and Freedom Summer.
Important legislation such as Brown v. Board of Education; the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, James Meredith, and Whitney Young.
Malcolm X, Black Power, and the Black Panthers.
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Thurgood Marshall, and Louis Farrakhan.
Baldwin's Harlem: A
Biography of
James
Baldwin
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Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Atria (January 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 074329307X
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
"Herb Boyd's study of Baldwin and Harlem features vivid literary portraits of a powerful writer in sometimes controversial dialogue with other major figures of his era. It also centers Baldwin's Harlem in a memorable, necessary way. Boyd's book is fascinating and authoritative on a subject that he knows well and writes about with insight and sympathy." -- Arnold Rampersad, author of Ralph Ellison: A Biography
Baldwin's Harlem is an intimate
portrait of the life and genius of one
of our most brilliant literary minds:
James Baldwin.
Perhaps no other writer is as synonymous with Harlem as James Baldwin
(1924-1987). The events there that shaped his youth greatly influenced
Baldwin's work, much of which focused on his experiences as a black man
in white America. Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time, Notes
of a Native Son, and Giovanni's Room are just a few of his classic
fiction and nonfiction books that remain an essential part of the
American canon.
In Baldwin's Harlem, award-winning journalist Herb Boyd combines
impeccable biographical research with astute literary criticism, and
reveals to readers Baldwin's association with Harlem on both
metaphorical and realistic levels. For example, Boyd describes Baldwin's
relationship with Harlem Renaissance poet laureate Countee Cullen, who
taught Baldwin French in the ninth grade. Packed with telling anecdotes,
Baldwin's Harlem illuminates the writer's diverse views and impressions
of the community that would remain a consistent presence in virtually
all of his writing.
Baldwin's Harlem provides an intelligent and enlightening look at one of
America's most important literary enclaves.
We
Shall Overcome
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by Herb Boyd, Ruby Dee (Narrated by), Ossie Davis (Narrated by)
ISBN: 140220213X
Pub. Date: September 2004
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
We Shall Overcome is a dramatic evocation of the forever poignant and courageous struggle of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, when African Americans, often accompanied by whites, fought to end the racial segregation in the North and South. In twenty-three chapters, Herb Boyd brings to life the stories and struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Stokely Carmichael, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer and many more who battled for social justice and equality.
The book begins with the boldness of returning black Americans who had served in World War II and refused to accept second class citizenship, demanding an end to Jim Crow laws. It continues with the murder of Emmett Till, the story of Rosa Parks (who sparked the end of the rule, "if you're black you sit in the back") and goes on to the rise of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, to the tragic bombing of the Birmingham church, which led to the death of four young black girls, to "Freedom Summer," the march on Selma and above all, the heroic story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who brought Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence to America.
The text is accompanied by two audio CDs that evoke the immediacy of these historical events, from the march on Selma to the march on Washington, the "barking dogs" of "Bull" Connor and the KKK, to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.
In the tradition of Poetry Speaks, We Shall Overcome is a classic that one will want to read and hear and pass on to generations to come.
Pound for Pound A Biography
of Sugar Ray Robinson
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ISBN: 0060934387
Pub. Date: January 2006
Format: Paperback, 313pp
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Hailed by Muhammad Ali as "the king, the master, my idol," Sugar Ray Robinson
was the greatest boxer America had seen since Joe Louis and is considered by
many today to be, pound for pound, the best boxer the sport has ever known. A
world welterweight and five-time middleweight champion, he had a career that
spanned three decades. With his graceful yet powerful style and Hollywood looks
' which he would use to his advantage upon his final retirement from boxing ' he
embodied the very essence of the "sweet science." Before he finally hung up his
boxing gloves in 1965, at the age of forty-four, Sugar Ray Robinson won 125
consecutive fights, including victories over Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan,
Carmen Basilio, Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano, Gene Fullmer, and Randy Turpin.
His successes were not his alone, however. They belonged to his family as well,
though those relationships would be marked by neglect and abuse.
At a time still characterized by discrimination, his victories, like those of
Jackie Robinson, represented victories for all black America. And they were all
the more symbolic because of the place he chose to call home ' Harlem.
Co-written with Robinson's son, Ray Robinson II, and thoroughly researched by
Amsterdam News reporter Herb Boyd, Pound for Pound is not only a definitive
portrait of an emotionally complex man and his family, it is also a portrait of
Harlem at the apex of its creativity, a time when Miles Davis was playing at
Minton's, Langston Hughes was writing his divine poetry, and a boy from Georgia
originally named Walker Smith Jr. would take on the moniker "Sugar."
|
Audio CD (October 25, 1990) |
The
Gentle Giant: The Autobiography of Yusef Lateef
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with Yusef Lateef
ISBN: 1929188129
Pub. Date: October 2005
Format: Paperback, 355pp
Publisher: Morton Books
The autobiography of a musical genius and poet, Yusef Lateef. Dr. Lateef's work combines images that delight the aesthetic senses and provoke the intellect. This is his story in his words.
First Sentence:
At the dawn of my life, I was born William Emmanuel Huddleston, Oct. 9, 1920 in
Chattanooga, Tennessee, not too far from the neighborhood where blues singer
Bessie Smith was born in 1894 and raised.
Autobiography of a People:
Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It
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ISBN: 0385492790
Pub. Date: December 2000
Format: Paperback, 576pp
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Benjamin Banneker on Thomas Jefferson's hypocrisy * Old Elizabeth on
spreading the Word * Frederick Douglass on life in the North * Sojourner Truth
on black women's rights * W.E.B. Du Bois on the Talented Tenth * Matthew Henson
on reaching the North Pole * and many more.
"It has been said, 'He who does not know history is doomed to repeat it.' We as
African Americans must put forth a concerted effort to know and to write our own
history...We have the knowledge, the know-how, the resources, and we were
there."
--Rev. Bernice A. King
Celebrating the spirituality, courage, and intellectual achievements of African
Americans, Autobiography of a People is the first anthology to
effectively trace the history of the African American experience--from the
Middle Passage to Emancipation, from the Civil War to Vietnam, from the Little
Rock Nine to the Million Man March--by telling the story in the words of the men
and women who lived it.
Editor Herb Boyd has combined a powerful chorus of voices from the past and
present to create a compelling portrait of how African Americans have
survived--and shaped--some of the most important events in United States
history. The misery of slavery, the bloodshed of war, and the struggle for civil
rights are just some of the pivotal experiences described in vivid detail
throughout the book. Many of the most revered historical and intellectual
figures, writers, religious leaders, and activists appear within these pages,
such as Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey,
Malcolm X, Elaine Brown, Margaret Walker, and General Colin Powell. Yet this
remarkable collection also includes riveting scenes from the lives of ordinary
men and women whose accomplishments may not have been recorded in the history
books, but whose experiences are equally important to the African American
story.
Offering a wealth of historical detail and emotion, Autobiography of a People
is a stunning accomplishment that brings African American history to life, in
all its tragedy and triumph, in a brilliant testament to the black experience in
America.
The book boasts an astounding roster of important historical and intellectual
figures, writers and religious leaders, such as Phyllis Wheatley, Frederick
Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
General Colin Powell, and Angela Davis, as well as a generous selection of
riveting accounts from ordinary people. The misery of slavery, the bloodshed of
several American wars, and the struggle for civil rights are just some of the
pivotal experiences described in vivid detail throughout the book. Linked by
editor Herb Boyd's informative narrative bridges, these powerful voices from the
past and present combine to create a compelling portrait of how African
Americans have survived-- and shaped--some of the most important events in U.S.
history.
A monumental achievement, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEOPLE brings African-American
history to life in all its tragedy and triumph, in a brilliant testament to the
black experience in America.
Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America--an Anthology
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by Herb Boyd, Robert Allen
ISBN: 0345383176
Pub. Date: January 1996
Format: Paperback, 922pp
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
In 1995, with co-editor Robert Allen, Boyd received the American Book Award for Brotherman
The powerful opening excerpt by Frederick Douglass evokes his boyhood as a
slave, and the collection closes with an eloquent discussion of the race problem
today by Cornel West. A distinguished addition to black studies."
'Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The purpose of this extraordinary anthology is made abundantly clear by the editors' stated intention: "to create a living mosaic of essays and stories in which Black men can view themselves, and be viewed without distortion." In this, they have succeeded brilliantly. Brotherman contains more than one hundred and fifty selections, some never before published--from slave narratives, memoirs, social histories, novels, poems, short stories, biographies, autobiographies, position papers, and essays.
Brotherman books us passage to the world that Black men experience as adolescents, lovers, husbands, fathers, workers, warriors, and elders. On this journey they encounter pain, confusion, anger, and love while confronting the life-threatening issues of race, sex, and politics--often as strangers in a strange land. The first collection of its kind, Brotherman gathers together a multitude of voices that add a new, unforgettable chapter to American cultural identity.
The Harlem Reader: A
Celebration of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood, from the Renaissance Years
to the 21st Century
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ISBN: 1400046815
Pub. Date: May 2003
Format: Paperback, 336pp
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
There is no neighborhood in America as famous, infamous, and inspiring as Harlem. From its humble beginnings as a farming district and country retreat for the rich, Harlem grew to international prominence as the mecca of black art and culture, then fell from grace, despised as a crime-ridden slum and symbol of urban decay. But during all of these phases there was writing in Harlem'great writing that sprang from one of the richest and most unique communities in the world. From Harlem's most revered icons (like Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Ann Petry, and Malcolm X) to voices of a new generation (including Willie Perdomo, Mase, Grace Edwards, and Piri Thomas), The Harlem Reader gathers a wealth of vital impressions, stories, and narratives and blends them with original accounts offered by living storytellers, famous and not so famous. Fresh and vivid, this volume perfectly captures the dramatic moments and personalities at the core of Harlem's ever-evolving story.
Race
and Resistance: African Americans in the Twenty-First Century
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Herb Boyd (Editor)
ISBN: 0896086526
Pub. Date: August 2002
Series: African-American Studies
Format: Paperback, 250pp
Publisher: South End Press
In Race and Resistance: African Americans in the Twenty-First Century, leading African-American scholars and activists discuss the state of Black America today, and strategies for achieving full civil rights and equality. This broad, inclusive anthology makes a vital contribution to our understanding of racism and how it can be overcome. Essays on "e-black studies;" spirituality and activism; wisdom and cultural expression; the continuing impact of AIDS in the African American community; race and globalization; the anti-enforcement violence movement; black feminism; the history of the reparations movement in the US; environmental justice; the media; and others.
Contributors
Amiri Baraka, Salih Booker, Todd Burroughs, Yvonne Bynoe, Ron Daniels, Angela Y.
Davis, Bill Fletcher, Jennifer Hamer, bell hooks, Joy James, Clarence Lang,
Julianne Malveaux, Manning Marable, Sonia Sanchez, Paul Scott, Johnita Scott-Obadele,
Charles Simmons, Alice Tait, Phill Wilson
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Pablo Marcos (Illustrator)
ISBN: 1596792582
Pub. Date: January 2005
Series: Heroes of America Series
Format: Hardcover, 240pp
Publisher: ABDO Publishing Company
Age Range: 12 and up
This book tells of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the civil rights movement and sought freedom and respect for African Americans.
&
African
History for Beginners
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Black Panthers for Beginners
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Lance Tooks (Illustrator)
ISBN: 0863161960
Pub. Date: August 1995
Format: Paperback, 192pp
Publisher: Writers & Readers Publishing, Inc.
Throughout the text, Herb Boyd takes great care in presenting the facts about the Black Panther Party as objectively as possible. His rendering of this dramatic episode in American history is expertly written and very well organized. Lance Tooks's illustrations are lively and, in many instances, extremely moving. 'Amazon
Annotation
Boyd examines the legacy of the Black Panthers, assessing the tangible and the
intangible contributions of these young militants, as well as where they went
astray. Contains profiles of Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Elaine Brown, David
Hilliard and others. Illustrations throughout.
From the Publisher
A crowd of onlookers gawked from the sidewalk as four young black men dressed in
black leather jackets and berets leaped from a Volkswagen, each of them wielding
shotguns with bandoliers strapped across their bodies. The young men surrounded
two white police officers who had accosted a black man and had him spread-eagled
against a building. The young men did not say a word as the police officers
watched them nervously, their eyes fixed on the shotguns. One of the young men
held a large law book in his hand... This was the Black Panther Party in ideal
action. The real story - the whole story - was both more and less heroic. So
begins Herb Boyd's Black Panthers For Beginners. The late 1960s, when the
Panthers captured the imagination of the nation's youth, was a time of
revolution. While their furious passage was marked by death, destruction, and
government sabotage, the Panthers left an instructive legacy for anyone who
dares to challenge the system.
Down the Glory Road: Contributions of African
Americans in United States History and Culture
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ISBN: 0788198580
Pub. Date: June 2001
Format: Paperback, 340pp
Publisher: DIANE Publishing Company
Herb Boyd presents the first comprehensive African American history book that reveals the vast contributions African Americans have made to the shaping of our culture and the building of our nation--from the first slaves brought here in 1619 to the Los Angeles Riots of 1992.
Related Links
From Ike to Mao and beyond: My Journey from Mainstream America to
Revolutionary Communist
Book Review Written by Herb Boyd
http://aalbc.com/reviews/fromiketomao.htm
Herb Boyd is the national editor of TBWT and is the originator/professor
of the web site's online black history course
http://www.tbwt.org
