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She Was the First!

2020

by Katheryn Russell-Brown and Eric Velasquez

"A timely, inspiring picture book biography of the dynamic twentieth-century educator, activist, and politician Shirley Chisholm. Even as a young child growing up in the 1920s, Shirley Chisholm was a leader. At the age of three, older children were already following her lead in their Brooklyn neighborhood. As a student at Brooklyn College, Shirley could outtalk anyone who opposed her on the debate team. After graduating, she used her voice and leadership to fight for educational change. In community groups, she stood up for the rights of women and minorities. Her small stature and fiery determination often took people by surprise. But they listened. In 1964, Shirley took her voice and leadership to politics, becoming the first Black woman elected to the New York State Assembly, and in 1968, the first Black woman elected to Congress. Then in 1972, she became the first Black woman to seek the presidency of the United States. She pushed for laws that helped women, children, students, poor people, farm workers, Native people, and others who were often ignored. She fought for healthcare. She spoke up for military veterans. She spoke out against war. Shirley Chisholm, a woman of many firsts, was an unforgettable political trailblazer, a candidate of the people and "catalyst of change" who opened the door for women in the political arena and for the first Black president of the United States.A timely, inspiring picture book biography of the dynamic twentieth-century educator, activist, and politician Shirley Chisholm." -- publisher

Biography

Champion

2018

by James Haskins and Eric Velasquez

Muhammad Ali was one of the most electrifying, inspiring, and confrontational athletes of his generation. At the height of his boxing career, Ali was as despised as he was adored. Loud and aggressive as well as confident and dedicated, he was the quintessential showman, the undeniable champion of his sport, and one of the most recognizable faces in the world. He was challenged at every turn: faced with racial discrimination in his everyday life, mocked by the sports media as his career began, ridiculed for adopting a new religion, and stripped by the U.S. government of his very livelihood for refusing to go to war. Muhammad Ali faced the obstacles in his life the way he faced his opponents in the ring, brashly and with all the force at his command. In his private life, he was also deeply spiritual, committed to standing up against social injustice, and steadfast in his beliefs. Featuring stunning illustrations and covering his entire life from childhood through his professional career to his end of life battle with Parkinson's Syndrome, this is a moving tribute to the legacy of this impressive figure

Biography Oppression & Resilience

Schomburg: The man who built a library

2017

by Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez

Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked. Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk's life's passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg's collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world

Biography Cross Group Informational

Some Kind of Love

2013

by Traci. Dant and Eric Velasquez

"Every summer, relatives (old and young, big and small) come together from all over the country for a reunion. All have one thing in common: their love for each other. They sleep wherever there is room. They eat and laugh and tell stories and remember. And a nine-year old boy captures it all in his words. This beautiful, inspirational collection of poems by newcomer Traci Dant is matched with the extraordinary paintings of acclaimed illustrator Eric Velasquez. Some Kind of Love is a book for every family to treasure." -- publisher

Beautiful Life

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