Examines the life and career of the jazz composer, bandleader, and pianist.

Profiles African American writer Langston Hughes, who worked to promote a better understanding of people of different racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds through his poetry and lectures.

The day Walter White was buried in 1955 the New York Times called him "the nearest approach to a national leader of American Negroes since Booker T. Washington." For more than two decades, White, as secretary of the NAACP, was perhaps the nation's most visible and most powerful African-American leader. He won passage of a federal anti-lynching law, hosted one of the premier salons of the Harlem Renaissance, created the legal strategy that led to Brown...

"Explores the life of Jesse Owens, including his childhood and family, his rise to excellence in track and field, his 1936 Olympic triumph, and his death and legacy"--Provided by publisher.

Author David Aretha explores the lives of nine influential musicians in this volume. From Chuck Berry, "the father of rock 'n' roll," to James Brown, "the godfather of soul," these musicians impacted music from their earliest hits, and their influences are still felt today. Each short biography ends with a brief timeline of the person's life and achievements.