American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama
by Rachel L. Swarns
Amistad
Hardcover, $27.99
400 pages, Illustrated
ISBN: 978-0-06-199986-4

"On November 4, 2008, Michelle Obama stood before a crowd of thousands of roaring, singing and weeping supporters in Chicago's Grant Park... It was Election Night and her husband had just become the first African-American President of the United States...

Race, Power & Politics:
Memoirs of an ACORN Whistleblower
As told by Marcel Reid
to Michael McCray, Esquire, CPA
Foreword by Tom Devine
American Banner Books
Paperback, $19.99
364 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9846906-7-1

"There is a lot to learn from this book. If you are feeling cynical and discouraged that you can't fight the powerful, read it! If you want to learn the tactics of effective guerilla activism, read it!

“The American Dream is in dire need of a wake-up call… If only Uncle Sam could see us now. He’d roll up his sleeves, ball his hands into fists, and knock some sense into this nation of ours… But he’s not around. So some other proud American has to tell this country what it needs—not wants—to hear…

Help Me to Find My People
The African-American Search for Family Lost in Slavery
by Heather Andrea Williams
University of North Carolina Press
Hardcover, $30.00
264 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8078-3554-8   

“This is a book about slavery and family and loss and longing… It is about the forced separations of African-American families, about their grief and their determined hope to someday see each other again… It takes courage to look at the humiliation they suffered…It is worth saying that this is a book about separation, resilience and survival, and about the texture and contours of despair… In the end, it is a journey into their feelings... The stories I recount are raw, emotional and dramatic... That’s what these people’s lives were.”
-- Excerpted from the Introduction (pgs. xiii-xiv)