Black History Month: Reference books online

African American Writers examines a multitude of black cultural leaders from the 18th century to the present.

Six volumes, over 2700 pages.

Covers the role and influence of African-American cultural leaders, from all walks of life, from the 17th century to the present.

Spanning nearly 400 years from the early abolitionists to the present, this guide book profiles people, places, and events that have shaped the history of the black struggle for freedom.

2nd Edition, provides critical information and context on the underlying social, economic, geographical, and political conditions that gave rise to, and continue to foster, racism. Religion, political economy, social activism, health, concepts, and constructs are explored. Given the increasingly diverse population of the United States and the rapid effects of globalization, as well as mass and social media, the issue of race in world affairs, history, and culture is of preeminent importance.

Three volumes, over 1400 pages, from 2009.

Provides the historical background and etymology of a wide range of words related to race, ethnicity and culture from a broadly multicultural perspective.

This encyclopedia explores the many long-standing influences of Africa and people of African descent on the culture of the Americas, while tracing the many ways in which the Americas remain closely interconnected with Africa.

Brings together cultural, social and political leaders—both historical and contemporary—of the sub-Saharan region.

Covering the entire continent from Morocco, Libya, and Egypt in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south, and the surrounding islands from Cape Verde in the west to Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles in the east, the eEncyclopedia is an A-Z reference resource on the history of the entire African continent.

Five volumes, over 3000 pages, originally published 2008.

This authoritative, comprehensive reference work covers South Africa's history, government and politics, law, society and culture, economy and infrastructure, demography, environment, and more, from the era of human origins to the present.

A critical study of South African literature, from colonial and pre-colonial times onwards.

This authoritative work examines 500 years of interaction between the races in a country that during the apartheid era became a byword for racial disharmony.