Biographies and Ex-Patriates

Reading about great people through their self-examination or observation is one of the real treats of reading. In this list we developed one of our most fascinating reading lists incorporating the experiences of the Black ex-patriates. They are comprised of artists and writers who chose to live outside their native U.S.A. They did this to receive what they perceived would be parity in their chosen profession and equality in life. This list offers a variety of views on how these complex dreams matched up to the realities.

  • ANOTHER COUNTRY by James Baldwin
  • BALM IN GILEAD by Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot
  • TUMBLING by Diane McKinney Whetstone
  • JOSEPHINE BAKER by Jean Claude Baker
  • DAEMONIC GENIUS by Alice Walker
  • WHY I LEFT AMERICA & OTHER ESSAYS by Oliver W. Harrington
  • WALKING WITH THE WIND by John Lewis
  • DUST TRACKS ON THE ROAD by Zora Neale Hurston
  • THE HORNES: AN AMERICAN FAMILY by Gail Lumet Buckley
  • THE PICTURE TAKING MAN by Jim Haskins
  • REMEMBERING SLAVERY by Ira Berline, Marc Favreau and Steven E. Miller
  • CRUSADE FOR JUSTICE by Ida B. Wells