The Book of African-American Women: 150 Crusaders, Creators, and Uplifters (Hardcover)

by Tonya Bolden (Author) "In late summer of 1619 two vessels-a British ship, the Treasurer, and a Dutch man-o'-war-bullied up on a Spanish frigate and stole its human cargo..." (more)
Key Phrases: colored women, New York, United States, South Carolina (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
This collection of brief biographies (most only a few hundred words long) begins in 1619 with a slave known only as Angela, one of 20 African captives brought to Jamestown, Virginia. A host of other women follow: actresses, entertainers, politicians, teachers, businesswomen, and historians. Tonya Bolden recounts their lives in clear (but often tart) prose. Although Bolden includes many justly famous women, one strength of this book is the number of profiles about largely unknown women, such as former slaves who in the 1930s recalled their bondage for interviewers.

Review
"Tonya Bolden has compiled a treasure chest of information about African-American women. Many of the names in this book will be new to the general reader. Bolden has provided us with wonderful documentation of people who are no longer invisible, The Book of African-American Women is not a reference book but instead a gift of love." -- E. Ethelbert Miller, Director, African-American Resource Center

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation; 1st edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558506470
• ISBN-13: 978-1558506473
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,340,438 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOD bless the African American woman, December 3, 2001

By	Beverly C. Sanders (USA, Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN--cradle of civilization-- BOW when you enter her circle. O mightly spirit, direct her path and bless her every footstep for the world is beholding to her. The lesser informed among us would have you believe differently, but, research would prove my characterization of the Black Woman.

The 150 great women mentioned in this book did not include your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, etc, but it could have if you are of African American decent. Please know that this author could only write about a limited number of women who have left an indilible impact on society. In 1619, only the" biggest and baddest" Africans survived the death-trap journies across the Atlantic Ocean in those filthy slave ships. They arrived here with their African names--no wonder some of the women were identified as unknown by name because their slavers had't forced them to adopt another European name by that time. The slavers surly were not going to call them by their rich African names. Those barbaric slavers were skilled in dismanteling one another as they only knew barbaric behavior. Culture existed only in Africa in 1619 and not in Europe or Asia- -which is the homeland of the slavers.

Bolden has done an outstanding job with this book and, if you are smart, you will surly put this book on your "must read" list.

It was a joy and pleasure to read about some of the women of a bygone era that I already knew about or learned about for the first time.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Much too shallow an attempt, April 11, 2004

By A Customer

Really, this is barely a service to African American women who fell through the cracks. Please!