Illustrated Black history Honoring the iconic and the unseen

Review by Booklist Review

Art director and graphic designer McCalman's illustrated guide to Black pioneers began as a Black History Month challenge: to research, write, and paint a portrait of one important figure from Black history per day. His research expanded his horizons and exposed for him the gaps in what is considered American history. The original 28 portraits eventually became 145, each rendered in a style and palette informed by the life and personality of their subjects. Presented alphabetically, they run the gamut of Black experience, including famous and lesser-known artists, activists, entrepreneurs, athletes, and others, from Octavia Butler and Tarana Burke to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Cato Alexander. Many profiles include McCalman's own reflections and stories from his life; in addition, extended essays by five guest authors are interspersed throughout. As such, the book is not intended as a scholarly or definitive reference; instead, it provides a unique and engaging entry point into Black history that will no doubt inspire further research into extraordinary figures from the past and present.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Graphic designer McCalman expands on his project to paint one "Black history pioneer" every day for a month in this vibrant and stylish portrait collection. The book's 145 subjects include basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, poet Maya Angelou, and essayist James Baldwin, as well as lesser-known figures like abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who refused to give up her seat in the "colored" section of a Philadelphia trolley car in 1858; James Hemings, who was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson and became the "first American to be trained as a chef in France"; and Baby Esther Jones, the Harlem jazz singer whose "boop-boop-a-doop" was appropriated for the cartoon character Betty Boop. Each pioneer gets a full-page illustration and an accompanying biographical sketch highlighting their achievements; civil rights attorney Eva Jefferson Paterson, for example, "deftly summarized the violent history of American politics" in a televised debate with Vice President Spiro Agnew when she was student government president of Northwestern University. There are also essays from James Beard Award winner Bryant Terry, journalist Patrice Peck, and others about their influences. The portraits, which range from brisk line drawings to saturated watercolors, complement the diversity and unruliness of the people profiled. This vivid survey of Black history leaps off the page. (Sept.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Crafted by award-winning designer McCalman, this celebration of Black Americans ranges from Frederick Douglass, Nina Simone, and Audre Lorde to Dr. Eliza Ann Grier, born into slavery and the first Black woman to practice medicine in America, and Guion S. Bluford, the first Black person to travel into space. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Inspiring profiles and portraits of pioneering figures in Black history. In this vibrant, inclusive collection, McCalman honors the legacies of 145 Black Americans whose societal contributions cannot be overstated. His profiles and watercolors are wonderfully diverse, including both live and deceased; recognizable and lesser known; contemporary and historic. Among them are early-19th-century mixologist Cato Alexander, a former enslaved person who "invented the word cocktail"; Mary McLeod Bethune, a single mother who founded educational institutions and empowerment councils for Black women in the early 20th century, including what became Bethune-Cookman College; Ralph Bunche, "the first African American and the first person of color to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," in 1950; legendary choreographer Katherine Dunham; and Harlem jazz singer Baby Esther Jones, "the embodiment of cultural appropriation and what that does to the sense of self." The author also highlights many household names, including basketball legend and lifelong activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, iconic poet Maya Angelou, activist and author James Baldwin, Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, and trailblazing artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Romare Bearden. Collectively, McCalman spotlights these remarkable Black luminaries for their accomplishments and "to see the hardships and sacrifices, but also hear the laughter" [and] "feel the inner definition of self-reliance." In addition to these portraits, McCalman includes inspiring essays from such distinguished writers as journalist and human rights activist Emil Wilbekin and James Beard and NAACP Image Award--winning chef and author Bryant Terry. The author's inclusion of former neurosurgeon and controversial politician Ben Carson may be a questionable choice for some, but he fair-mindedly calls out Carson's medical successes alongside the contentious political decisions that have undermined his reputation. Accessible, important, and germane to the very fabric of American life, this moving collection of illustration and biography artistically reflects struggle, achievement, and perseverance. Some of McCalman's other subjects include Octavia Butler, Shirley Chisholm, Claudette Colvin, Althea Gibson, and Dick Gregory. An enthusiastic, informative, and essential ode to Black American history. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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