Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Womens Speeches from the Civil War to the Twenty-first Century

(Hardback)

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An uplifting collection of speeches by African American women, curated by the civil and human rights activist, scholar, and author

, a soaring new collection of African American womens speeches, gorgeously packaged to make it the perfect gift.

Gathering an array of recognized names as well as some new discoveries, in this stunning compilation Bell curates two centuries of stirring public addresses by Black women, from Harriet Tubman and Josephine Baker to Barbara Lee and Barbara Jordan. These magnificent speakers explore ethics, morality, courage, authenticity, and leadership, and Bells substantive introductions provide rich new context for each womans speech, highlighting Black women speaking truth to power in service of freedom and justice.

With an expansive historical lens, Blackbirds Singing celebrates the tradition of Black womens political speech and labor, allowing the voices and powerful visions of African American women to speak across generations building power for the world.

Author Bio

Janet Dewart Bell is a social justice activist with a doctorate in leadership and change from Antioch University. She founded the Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society series at the New York University School of Law and is the author of Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement and Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Womens Speeches from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century and the co-editor (with Vincent M. Southerland) of Carving Out a Humanity and Race, Rights, and Redemption (all published by The New Press). An award-winning television and radio producer, she lives in New York City.