Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events, 2nd Edition
"A superb historical study of black achievement."
Houston Chronicle
"This authoritative work, with its brief biographies of many accomplished and famous African-Americans, is one that writers, researchers, and libraries will want to keep close at hand for its valuable information."
Richmond Times-Dispatch
"This is a must-have reference."
St. Paul Pioneer Press
"...comprehensively catalogs the achievements of everybody from Hank Aaron to Bruce Yuille..."
Syracuse Post-Standard
Black Firsts is a testament to a rich but often overlooked part of our history.
Jessie Carney Smith, William and Camille Cosby Professor of the Humanities at Fisk University, expands this new edition with more than 1,000 new stories of a people overcoming adversity to emerge triumphant. Dr. Smith has revised and extended entries capturing remarkable episodes of discipline, will, transcendence, and belated recognition.First published in 1994, Black Firsts sold more than 60,000 copies, inspiring readers of all ages. An epic record of African American achievement, it testified to a rich but often overlooked part of our history. Jessie Carney Smith, William and Camille Cosby Professor of the Humanities at Fisk University, greatly expands the new edition with more than 1,000 new stories of a people overcoming adversity to emerge triumphant, including the recent successes of modern-day pioneers like Suzan-Lori Parks (winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for drama and Vonetta Flowers, the first African American to be awarded the Winter Olympic gold medal. Dr. Smith has revised and extended existing entries, capturing more of the remarkable episodes of discipline, will, transcendence, and belated recognition.
"For people who have been systematically excluded from the mainstream of a society," wrote educator Johnnetta B. Cole in the foreword to the first edition, "it is especially important to remember and celebrate those who have won personal victories against the forces arrayed against them." A vital collection of amazing scholarship, Black Firsts, is proof that the celebration is ongoing.
Readers will revel in the stories of barrier-breaking pioneers in all fields-arts, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, inventing, journalism, religion, science, sports, and more. And they will rejoice in their triumphs. With hundreds of illustrations and a daily calendar of firsts, Black Firsts is the culmination of many hours of work, courage, and perseverance, the exact qualities represented within.
For an interview with Jessie Carney Smith on Black History Month: A Time to Rejoice, click here.
About Jessie Carney Smith
Jessie Carney Smith, born in Greensboro, North Carolina, is a noted author, biographer, and black studies scholar. She is William and Camille Cosby Professor in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, where she also serves as the university librarian. Dr. Smith was educated at North Carolina A&T State University, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Illinois. Her work includes Black Firsts and Black Heroes, both published by Visible Ink Press, as well as Notable Black American Women (Book I and II) and Notable Black American Men. Among Dr. Smith's numerous awards are the National Women's Book Association Award, the Candace Award for excellence in education, and Sage magazine's Ann J. Cooper Award for her published works on African American Women.
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
