Name: TRAILBLAZERS Vol. 2
SKU: TBW202102
Availability: InStock

TRAILBLAZERS Vol. 2

Black Women Who Helped Make America Great
American Firsts/American Icons, Volume 2
JUL. 2023

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Meet The Author

TRAILBLAZERS, Black Women Who Helped Make America Great, American Firsts/American Icons, Volume 2 by Gabrielle David is a six-volume series that examines the lives and careers of over 400 brilliant women from the eighteenth century to the present who blazed uncharted paths in every conceivable way. The lives profiled herein include recognizable figures alongside some women that readers will be discovering for the first time, as well as those women who are shaping the era we live in today.

Each TRAILBLAZERS volume is organized into three to four sections. Besides providing biographical information written in a warm and welcoming tone, replete with powerful photographs, David provides a historical timeline for each section written from the viewpoint of Black women that maps out the significance of the featured women that follow. TRAILBLAZERS honors the Black women who have made a special mark in their communities and in doing so, inspired the next generation.

In Volume 2 features women who are visual artists, women who served their country as elected officials or working in government, and composers, songwriters and conductors. We learn about the first nationally-known Black woman artist, sculptor Edmonia Lewis, the first Black woman cartoonist Jackie Ormes, photographer Carrie Weems, and a new generation of artists such as Kara Elizabeth Walker and Tschabalala Self. We realize that before notable politicians like Lori Lightfoot and Stacey Abrams, women like Crystal Bird Fauset, Velvalea “Vel” Phillips and Shirley Chisholm paved the way, and shine a light on the handful of Black women who served on presidential cabinets like Patricia Robert Harris, Condeleeza Rice, and Loretta Lynch. And as we venture into the world of music, we celebrate classical composers like Nora Holt and Florence Beatrice Price, choral conductor Eva Jessye, highly acclaimed singer-songwriters like Valerie Simpson and Missy Elliot, conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson, award-winning film and TV composer Kathryn Bostic, and breakout songwriter rapper Brittany “Starrah” Hazzard. Their personal achievements reveal the best qualities of Black women in America.

With painstaking research, David has created an affordable and visually appealing accessible reference book. From the foremothers who blazed trails and broke barriers, to the women who follow in their footsteps, TRAILBLAZERS offers powerful and inspiring role models for women and girls from all cultural backgrounds, and for the intellectually curious. TRAILBLAZERS is a clarion call for recognition of the transformative work Black women have done and continue to do. Written in accessible prose that contains personal reflections for a broad audience, TRAILBLAZERS also serves as a vital reference guide for use in schools and libraries.

Contributors

Edited by Carolina Fung Feng

CAROLINA FUNG FENG was born and raised in Costa Rica to Chinese parents, and grew up speaking Span-ish and Cantonese before she learned English. Her interest in linguistics led her to study translation, and she earned a BA in Spanish-English translation and interpretation, and English Language Arts from Hunter College (CUNY). She also holds Cambridge CELTA certification and has taught ESL to adult immigrants, and has worked as an activist for several nonprofit organizations in New York City. Hey Yo! Yo Soy! was her first literary translation, and Fung Feng has continued to serve as copy editor and translator for 2Leaf Press, and currently serves as the editor of the TRAILBLAZERS series.

Introduction by Chandra D. L. Waring

CHANDRA D. L. WARING is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Her research focuses on the growing multiracial population. Her work decenters the shortsighted, yet convenient narrative that the increasing multiracial population is evidence of a less racially contentious and more racially harmonious society. Her interest in race stems from being raised in a multiracial family in a three very different contexts: Germany, Georgia, and Connecticut. Her work has been published in Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Sociological Perspectives, Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, Social Identities, Feminist Teacher, Race, Gender & Class and Sociological Imagination. Waring earned her PhD in sociology from the University of Connecticut, where she was a Multicultural Fellow.

Foreword by Lyah Beth LeFlore

LYAH BETH LEFLORE is a television and film producer, author, and music supervisor. LeFlore has worked at Nickelodeon; Uptown Records/Entertainment; Wolf Films/Universal; Anthony Hemingway Productions; and Alan Haymon Development, where she helped broker major talent deals under the company’s lucrative partnerships with powerhouse companies like Sony Television Studios and Live Nation. LeFlore is also the author of eight critically-acclaimed books, two of which are National Bestsellers. Her novels include: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (2006), and Wildflowers (2009). She is the co-author of non-fiction books, The Strawberry Letter: Real Talk, Real Advice, Because Bitterness Isn’t Sexy (2012) with Shirley Strawberry; and I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship (2007), with R&B music legends, Eddie Levert Sr. and Gerald Levert. She currently has various TV and film projects in development, including a limited series entitled “Ferguson,” based on her book Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown (2015) co-authored with Lezley McSpadden, mother of slain Ferguson teen, Michael Brown. LeFlore is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the literary arts-based nonprofit, The Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation, which honors LeFlore’s late mother, St. Louis Poet Laureate Emeritus, and 2Leaf Press author, Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore.