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In Our Own Image: Rituals, Journeys, and Traditions of Contemporary African America

Authors Patrik Henry Bass and Karen Pugh

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Format: Hardcover, 192pp., 9-3/4 x 10-7/8 inches
ISBN: 0762410752
Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
Pub. Date: August 2001
Illustrations: More than 160 color and black-and-white photographs

Patrik Henry Bass is books editor of Essence, and has written and edited for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly.

Karen Pugh, who was the first African American Creative Director of the Polo/Ralph Lauren Women’s Design team, is a well-known artist and photographer, who has designed and illustrated for Revlon, Old Navy, and Celine in Paris.

The first visual document of black social and cultural history in America from World War II to the present, In Our Own Image is also a fascinating scrapbook that recounts simple, eloquent stories about home life, family reunions, worship, weddings, funerals, barbeques, barbershops, beauty parlors, nightclubs, civic organizations, and celebrations.

The unique recollections of African-Americans from a variety of backgrounds and age groups accompany more than 160 images from personal and archival collections, with such poignant ephemera as programs from cotillions and fashion shows, restaurant menus, movie posters, even ticket stubs. The authors have woven material from university and museum collections in Detroit, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Atlanta into a narrative photo book that forms a warm, loving record of African-American community, traditions, and family life in the latter half of the twentieth century.