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Seen around the world, John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s Black Power salute on the 1968 Olympic
podium sparked controversy and career fallout. Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconic
images of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the men
behind the salute, lifelong activist John Carlos.
John Carlos is an African American former track and field athlete, professional football player, and a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. He won the bronze medal in the 200 meters race at the 1968 Olympics, where his Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy. The John Carlos Story is his first book.
Dave Zirin is the author of four books, including Bad Sports, A People’s History of Sports in the United States, and What’s My Name, Fool? He writes the popular weekly online sports column “The Edge of Sports” and is a regular contributor to SportsIllustrated.com, SLAM, Los Angeles Times, and The Nation, where he is the publication’s first sports editor.

May 15, 2011
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Years in the making-the definitive biography of the legendary black activist.
Of the great figure in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins’ bullets at age thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man. In death he became a broad symbol of both resistance and reconciliation for millions around the world.
Manning Marable‘s new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement. Filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties. Reaching into Malcolm’s troubled youth, it traces a path from his parents’ activism through his own engagement with the Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the never-before-told true story of his assassination. Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of the most singular forces for social change, capturing with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.
Viking Adult
Available April 4, 2011 in Hardcover
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February 12, 2011
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Last Bus Out is the true story of Courtney Miles, a boy who stole a bus and rescued over 300 people from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. While government officials posed for cameras, Courtney stepped up and showed what “drive” is all about. Even though he had no driver’s license and very little driving experience, he risked arrest and imprisonment to save his neighbors. Despite raising himself while his mother was in jail, Courtney stayed out of trouble and is now playing basketball on scholarship at a college in California.
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Last Bus Out
by Beck McDowell
Kirkland & Fort
Available November 7, 2010 in Paperback
Available August 21, 2010 as a Kindle Edition
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February 12, 2011
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An in-depth look at the business behind Jay-Z’s hip-hop empire.
Jay-Z is one of the most recognizable names in entertainment. He’s been called one of the greatest rappers of all time, but music may end up as just a small part of a brilliant career. His combination of intelligence, instinct, and swagger have earned him a chain of nightclubs, a stake in the New Jersey Nets, and the status of a media mogul. Amazingly, he honed his business philosophy not at a fancy B school, but on the streets of Brooklyn, New York as a crack dealer in the 1980s.
Empire State of Mind is the story behind Jay-Z’s rise to the top as told by the people who lived it with him-the childhood friend who got him into the drug trade, the DJ who convinced him to stop dealing and focus on music, Damon Dash, Fab Five Freddie, and other hip-hop and business innovators.
Jay-Z’s story is compelling not just because of his celebrity, but also because it is a blueprint for success in any setting-a classic rags-to- riches American dream.
Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office
by Zack O’Malley Greenburg
Portfolio Hardcover
Available March 17, 2011 in Hardcover
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