african american politicians

Contains profiles of African Americans who have made valuable contributions in U.S. governmental leadership.

Discusses the history of African American people in American politics.

"An original and consequential argument about race, crime, and the law Today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics -- and their impact on people of color -- are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime. As Forman shows, the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges, and police chiefs took office around the country amid a surge in crime. Many came to believe that tough measures -- such as stringent drug and gun laws and "pretext traffic stops" in poor African American neighborhoods -- were needed to secure a stable future for black communities. Some politicians and activists saw criminals as a "cancer" that had to be cut away from the rest of black America. Others supported harsh measures more reluctantly, believing they had no other choice in the face of a public safety emergency. Drawing on his experience as a public defender and focusing on Washington, D.C., Forman writes with compassion for individuals trapped in terrible dilemmas -- from the young men and women he defended to officials struggling to cope with an impossible situation. The result is an original view of our justice system as well as a moving portrait of the human beings caught in its coils. "--.

"A picture book biography of John Roy Lynch, one of the first African-Americans elected into the United States Congress"--Provided by publisher.

Presents biographical sketches of more than twenty African Americans who have served in either elected or appointed positions in the national government during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

An exploration of the qualities of leadership as displayed in prominent African Americans, including interviews with L. Douglas Wilder, Governor of Virginia; Marian Wright Edelman, founder and director of the Children's Defense Fund; and Dr. James P. Comer, director ofthe Yale University Child Study Center.

Alphabetically arranged entries profile more than 185 African-American political leaders, with entries concentrating on the events in each person's life related to his or her accomplishments in politics and including a list of further readings.