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In the Matter of Black Lives: Womanist Prose. Available NOW on Amazon and IngramSpark in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.
In the Matter of Black Lives: Womanist Prose unabashedly and unapologetically takes the humanity of Black people for granted. In these essays, presented in the order in which they were originally published (with added postscripts where updated information is available), I examine how structural racism underscores issues of gender, education, colonialism/neocolonialism, the environment, gun control, human rights, mental health, patriotism, protest, and religion to demonstrate that the struggle for Black liberation continues in this very hour.
This is a book that is necessary for anyone who cares about this country, its past, and especially its future.”—Marita Golden
That the Blood Stay Pure: African Americans, Native Americans, and the Predicament of Race and Identity in Virginia; A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2014. Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats (updated).
That the Blood Stay Pure traces the history and legacy of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s effort to maintain racial purity and its impact on the relations between African Americans and Native Americans, Arica L. Coleman tells the story of Virginia’s racial purity campaign from the perspective of those who were disavowed or expelled from tribal communities due to their affiliation with people of African descent or because their physical attributes linked them to those of African ancestry. Coleman also explores the social consequences of the racial purity ethos for tribal communities that have refused to define Indian identity based on a denial of blackness. This rich interdisciplinary history, which includes contemporary case studies, addresses a neglected aspect of America’s long struggle with race and identity.
“[T]this tremendous book, wisely honing in on one state, one set of political agendas, and a chronological view of the phenomenon of negotiated ethnicity, is the most thorough treatment of the topic this reviewer has read. A pure joy! . . . Essential.” —Choice