This is part of a biographical series on African Americans co-written by the recently deceased Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson. Haskins, a former teacher and the most prolific African-American author of nonfiction for young people, wrote on many subjects but focused particularly on histories and biographies.
This book contains brief biographical profiles of influential African-American religious leaders from U.S. history, as well as several contemporary leaders still active today. Most of these leaders are, or were, Christians (and most ministers); but they also have been political activists, theologians, orators, journalists and writers representing a wide variety of political philosophies.
Haskins and Benson not only describe the contributions of these individuals but explain the historical circumstances to which each responded. This book gives useful information difficult to find elsewhere. Parents, share this with your children aged 10 and up and make sure it is in your church library.
John Wiley and Sons, 2008, 162 pp., $24.95
