Founded in 1909, the NAACP has since been the major civil rights group in the United States, and it's still around. Next year, the organization celebrates its centennial in conjunction with the publication of NAACP: Celebrating 100 Years 1909–2009 in February, Black History Month. Also, at this historic time, with our first African American president, there are three books here showcasing Barack Obama. He's seen in campaign photographs, as an essayist, and as profiled by journalist Gwen Ifill. Other authors reveal their struggles with racism and drugs; entertainers Quincy Jones and the late James Brown are here, too. In addition, we've included three classics, from Ed Bullins, James Weldon Johnson, and LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka). These titles will play an essential role in enhancing your collections for years to come.

Taken by professional photojournalists, volunteers, young supporters, and others, these 150 photographs represent the public and private moments of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Photographer Willis (Reflections in Black) and Merida, an associate editor at the Washington Post, have captured impressive images of the senator with political leaders, educators, religious figures, and others.

In this powerful memoir, Bandele (The Prisoner's Wife) reveals how she fell in love with and married a prisoner serving a 20-to-life sentence for his role in a gangland murder. She details what it was like to raise a child on her own, as her husband was denied parole and eventually deported to Guyana.

Baszile, the first black female professor to join Yale University's history department, writes of her life as a victim of racism at the young age of six at her predominantly white elementary school, where she was the only African American in her class. She also reflects on integration and her family's struggles (when they moved to a wealthy white neighborhood, they were told by some to "go home") and triumphs.

Wells (1862–1931) was a women's rights advocate, journalist, and public speaker who was active in the Women's Suffrage Movement. In this account, Bay (history, Rutgers Univ.) focuses on Wells's childhood in Mississippi, fight for justice, legal challenge to Jim Crow, and international crusade against lynching.

Reminiscent of Edward Ball's Slaves in the Family, this work by novelist and motivational speaker Berry (Redemption Song) reveals the bonds that unite whites and African Americans. She traces their joint history from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement and to the present day.

In this memoir, Harmon (Crabs in a Barrel), a senior executive producer at CNN International, reveals how he followed in his father's footsteps by gambling, smoking, and using drugs but managed to turn his life around and succeed against the odds. He has traveled all over the world and fought for his country, winning combat medals in the first Gulf War.

The first African American to win a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, Locke (1886–1954) was considered the father of the Harlem Renaissance. In this moving portrait, professors Harris and Molesworth focus on the philosopher's childhood, his undergraduate years at Harvard University, and his long tenure at Howard University in Washington, DC, where he helped lead the adult education movement of the 1930s.economics

Harris, managing director of global capital markets at Morgan Stanley and one of Essence magazine's "50 Women Who Are Shaping the World," shares her secrets to success, particularly as a woman of color working on Wall Street. Setting your own agenda, taking risks, and being authentic are a few of her survival tools.

Seals-Allers, former senior editor at Essence magazine and now owner of the Mocha Manual Company, offers practical advice to African American women who want to start a small business and take greater financial control of their lives. She also includes real-life stories and personal anecdotes of women who have built million-dollar enterprises from scratch.Fiction

Revenge appears to be the motive in this mystery from Cox (Vigil), in which a teenager is killed by a group of thugs after he witnesses a murder. One year later, the young man's sister sets out to avenge her brother's death by blowing away a notorious drug dealer and all those connected to him.

In this latest from the authors of Gotta Keep on Tryin,' Thomasina "Tee" Hodges, a fortysomething executive assistant for a cosmetics firm, is fired after her boss suffers a fatal heart attack. She's determined to reverse her situation, so she eventually starts her own business. (LJ 11/1/08)

The final novel in Dickey's recent trilogy (following Sleeping with Strangers and Waking with Enemies), this installment features contract killer Gideon, who's ready to retire. His employer has other plans, sending a hitman after him, but he takes out the hitman instead.

A long-distance marriage turns sour in this urban love tale from Dow (Caught in the Mix) and Poole (All I Want Is Everything). While living in Florida, Dwight and Tracey are happy together with their children, but when Dwight is offered a promotion and has to commute to Maryland, he meets and falls for another woman.

It's been 15 years since Duplechan's last novel, Captain Swing, and once again he is featuring Johnnie Ray Rousseau, a 48-year-old gay black man of Louisiana Creole stock. Now, Johnnie is having a midlife crisis and falls for a much younger man.

In this latest from Harris (Just Too Good To Be True), Aldridge James and longtime lover Dray are on the downlow and must keep their relationship hidden because of Dray's status as a famous NBA star. To quell rumors, Dray decides to get married, but someone finds out his secret and tries to blackmail him.

Jenkins (The Edge of Midnight), a historical romance writer, departs from that genre with this tale of Bernadine Brown, who wins a multimillion-dollar divorce settlement and decides to buy and rebuild Henry Adams, KS, a town settled by African Americans in the 1880s.

This third novel in Mink and Diamond's "Bentley Manor" series (after Desperate Hoodwives and Shameless Hoodwives) opens with the story of Tavon, a pimp who prostitutes his own mother. Other characters featured are a killer named Demarcus, the drug-dealing Kaseem, and Rhakmon, a "playa," all struggling with their respective professions.

In this prequel to Beloved, a Catholic plantation owner satisfies a debt by offering Anglo-Dutch trader Jacob Vaark a young slave girl—whose mother hopes she will find a better life. What follows is a tale of love, disease, and the brutality of slavery. (LJ 10/15/08)

Pynk, aka Marissa Monteilh, a former model, has written a steamy novel set in Atlanta, with sexy swingers who can't wait to shed their clothes once they enter Milan Kennedy's exotic club. But Milan has her hands full as she tries to run her business and deal with her boyfriend's crazy ex-girlfriend.

Center stage in this continuing saga of the Rev. Curtis Black and his family is daughter Alicia, an unemployed shopping addict who's married to her dad's assistant pastor. What follows is the tale of a woman whose love of money destroys her marriage.

In this novel, 28-year-old playboy Darrin, a freelance writer, moves to Atlanta to investigate a famous television bishop whom he believes is a fraud. After joining the minister's church, he becomes friendly with the man's daughter, leaving him conflicted about his mission.

This collection of photographs and documents highlights the history of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the oldest civil rights organization in the world. This work reflects the group's pursuit of social justice and fair play, through marches and lawsuits, and its aim to end an asssumption of racial inferiority inflicted by others.

Journalist Newkirk (Within the Veil) presents correspondence from men and women who lived through the tumultuous events of the 18th through the 21st century, from slavery to the war in Iraq. Politicians, entertainers, slaves, and many more define their struggles and triumphs.

Fisk University professors Smith and Wynn cover arts and entertainment, education, journalism, religion, and more in a guide that highlights pivotal events in black history. Among those profiled are community organizer Ella Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King, activist Rosa Parks, and artist Romare Bearden, all instrumental in making a difference.

Editor Wright (Drifting Toward Love) presents inspiring works from political leaders (Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson), literary giants (Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Alice Walker), scholars (Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates), and other luminaries in a collection covering more than four centuries of black history and culture, which begins with slavery and ends with current events.

In these first two volumes of a new annual series, Early (English, Washington Univ.) and his guest editors Dickerson (The End of Blackness) and Harris (Just Too Good To Be True) have selected the most outstanding works published in 2007, with a few pieces from 2006. The essay collection offers strong views from a number of luminaries (Walter Mosley, Jamaica Kincaid, and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama), who speak of friends and family, entertainment and sports, and activism and political thought. The fiction collection includes short stories and novels for both adults and young adults, with an excerpt from a historical novel, a story about domestic violence, a tale set in Nigeria, and more from familiar names like Samuel R. Delany and newcomers like Tiphanie Yanique.

Renaissance man Jones celebrates his 75th birthday with this intimate look into his life and career. Among his many achievements are coproducing the Tony Award-nominated Broadway play The Color Purple and, more recently, serving as an artistic adviser to the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Recently reunited after breaking up in 1994, New Kids on the Block was a white teen group created and managed by Maurice Starr, an African American who wrote, produced, and arranged their albums. Here, Rose, a former music producer and friend of Starr, chronicles that collaboration, which would not have happened without the African American community in Boston's Roxbury. (See Q&A, p. 84.)

The godfather of soul, Brown died in 2006. This snapshot of his personal and public lives focuses on his concert in Boston following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Sullivan, a contributor to the Boston Globe, also addresses Brown's later years, which included arrests, affairs, domestic violence, and tax evasion.

In a powerful debut suffused with a sense of music, a Cave Canem winner who has served as speechwriter for the mayor of New Orleans captures painful private moments as well as bittersweet triumph.

A painter as well as a prolific novelist, Everett creates arrestingly brief, sharp-edged poem-pictures that relentlessly draw readers into "the gaze, the gaze, the gaze." (See review, p. 70).

Cave Canem winner Wilson offers a series of stark, visceral prose poems chronicling the fraught and unequal relationship of the title. "The black boy is afraid, because he can't tell, exactly, what his work is"—but Wilson's work is clearly writing.

Moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, Ifill focuses on young African American male politicians who have benefited from the Civil Rights Movement, offering compelling profiles of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and many others.

Jones (English, Wright State Univ.) here focuses on the life and legacy of Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God), a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance who died penniless in 1960.

Love comes in many forms—romantic, familial, and sacred—as evidenced by this impressive collection of stories, poems, and essays compiled by Golden (After) and written by such notables as Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, and Jill Nelson.

Sociologist Lawrence-Lightfoot (I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation) focuses on men and women between the ages of 50 and 75, all well educated and affluent, who are currently engaged in new learning adventures. Her motive? To discover what motivates them to learn something new.

Born Cassius Clay, former heavyweight boxing champion Ali now suffers from Parkinson's, a debilitating disease resulting from years of beatings in the ring. Ezra examines the boxer's prechampionship bouts, opposition to the Vietnam War, conversion to Islam, legacy, and much more.

Originally published in 1971, these short stories from celebrated dramatist Bullins (In the Wine Time) explore loneliness and despair.

Best known for writing the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the black national anthem, Johnson (1871–1938) was the master of many genres—fiction, drama, poetry, and essays. This anthology highlights his many contributions to the canon.

Written in the 1960s, these social and political essays by Jones (Tales of the Out & the Gone) reflect the progressive changes in his life after he witnessed the Cuban Revolution, the Birmingham bombings, and the assassination of Malcolm X.