This laugh-out-loud guide will introduce readers to the offbeat people, places, and events of the Old Line State.

The presence of Blacks in a number of European societies has drawn increasing interest from scholars, policymakers, and the general public. This interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary collection penetrates the multifaceted Black presence in Europe, and, in so doing, complicates the notions of race, belonging, desire, and identities assumed and presumed in revealing portraits of Black experiences in a European context. In focusing on contemporary intellectual currents and themes, the contributors theorize and re-imagine a range of historical and contemporary issues related to the broader questions of blackness, diaspora, hegemony, transnationalism, and "Black Europe" itself as lived and perceived realities.

Contributors are Allison Blakely, Jacqueline Nassy Brown, Tina Campt, Fred Constant, Alessandra Di Maio, Philomena Essed, Terri Francis, Barnor Hesse, Darlene Clark Hine, Dienke Hondius, Eileen Julien, Trica Danielle Keaton, Kwame Nimako, Tiffany Ruby Patterson, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, Stephen Small, Tyler Stovall, Alexander G. Weheliye, Gloria Wekker, and Michelle M. Wright.

Now in paperback

Blacks in the Dutch World
The Evolution of Racial Imagery in a Modern Society

Allison Blakely

Examination of the development of racial attitudes and color prejudice.

"In Blacks in the Dutch World Blakely provides scholars with a valuable record in word and image of the complex interaction between Dutch history and black history even as it examines, sensitively and persuasively, some of the intricate combinations of factors which are involved in color bias and its cultural expression." Catherine Levesque, New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids

..". provocative and exceptionally well written a significant contribution to the history of Dutch overseas expansion." Johannes Postma, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"This is a very interesting, well-written, and thoroughly researched study based on a great variety of sources." Choice

Blacks in the Dutch World examines the interaction between Black history and Dutch history to gain an understanding of the development of racial attitudes. Allison Blakely reveals cracks in the self-image and reputation of Dutch society as a haven for those escaping intolerance. Pervasive images of "the Moor" and "the noble savage" appear in Dutch art and popular culture; and "Black Pete" is a servant to Santa Claus in Dutch Christmas tradition. These and many other cultural artifacts reflect the racial stereotyping of Blacks that existed in the Dutch world through the time of slavery and servitude, and then freedom.

Blakely weighs the proposition that factors unique to the modern period have contributed to the creation of this racial imagery in Dutch folklore, art, literature, and religion. By viewing evolving images of Blacks against the backdrop of Western expansion, the agricultural, scientific, and industrial revolutions, and the advent of modern secular doctrines, Blakely discovers that humanism and liberalism, hallmarks of Dutch society since medieval times, have been imperfect guardians against racial bias.

Allison Blakely, Professor of European History and Comparative History at Howard University, is author of Russia and the Negro: Blacks in Russian History and Thought, winner of an American Book Award.

Blacks in the Diaspora Darlene Clark Hine, John McCluskey, Jr.,
David Barry Gaspar, general editors

March 2001 (cloth 1994)
352 pages, 119 illus., intro., notes, index, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
cloth 0-253-31191-8 $45.00 L / 34.00
paper 0-253-21433-5 $22.95 s / 17.50 "

A musician might start by playing guitar in their teenaged bedroom, but the machinery behind their career is significant. Songwriters, composers, singers, all levels of musicians, and conductors train with individual teachers and often attend arts and music schools. Performance spaces managers and booking agents, sound engineers, promoters, and traveling crews are all crucial in bringing live performances to their audiences. On the business side, talent and business managers guide careers, and entertainment attorneys review contracts. The evolving recording business hosts a variety of careers as vinyl recording reemerge, and streaming platforms take the place of live performances due to the pandemic. Musicians in recording and digital media can also work on a range of projects such as recording radio and TV commercials or video game and film scores. Career options in the music industry are more varied than ever before, and technology just expands the field.

Bookended by remarks from African American diplomats Walter C. Carrington and Charles Stith, the essays in this volume use close readings of speeches, letters, historical archives, diaries, and memoirs of policymakers and newly available FBI files to confront much-neglected questions related to race and foreign relations in the United States. Why, for instance, did African Americans profess loyalty and support for the diplomatic initiatives of a nation that undermined their social, political, and economic well-being through racist policies and cultural practices? Other contributions explore African Americans' history in the diplomatic and consular services and the influential roles of cultural ambassadors like Joe Louis and Louis Armstrong. The volume concludes with an analysis of the effects on race and foreign policy in the administration of Barack Obama.
Groundbreaking and critical, African Americans in U.S. Foreign Policy expands on the scope and themes of recent collections to offer the most up-to-date scholarship to students in a range of disciplines, including U.S. and African American history, Africana studies, political science, and American studies.

Once again, travel writer and longtime maryland resident Allison Blake surveys the Chesapeake Bay area and its distinctive lodgings, aquatic adventures, and tucked-away towns. In Explorer's Guide Baltimore, Annapolis & The Chesapeake Bay: A Great Destination, the new version of her well-loved guidebook The Chesapeake Bay Book, Blake has also thoroughly explored from Baltimore (the colorful old port city that anchors the northern end of the Bay), to Maryland's 300-year old capital, Annapolis (known as America's Sailing Capital), south to the Potomac River and the Eastern Shore and onto the Virginia border. This is Maryland's Chesapeake Bay plus iconic Tangier Island, located in Virginia. This expansive guide will give visitors and residents alike all the information they need to fully explore and enjoy the thousands of miles of shoreline, the towns and cities, and the adjoining countryside of this lovely and historically significant area. Whether you're interested in urban or outdoors adventures, oysters in a chic bistro of famous Maryland blue crabs on a paper-covered picnic table, pursuits like hiking, biking, boating, museum-hopping, or relaxing on a beach, Maryland's Chesapeake Bay has everything you're looking for. As in every Explorer's Great Destinations title, you ll find helpful information for lodging, dining, shopping, transportation, recreational activities, and special events. The focused and very helpful "If Time Is Short" advice, historical notes, and many maps and photographs make this an indispensable guide. Use it to help you discover all the Chesapeake region has to offer. Includes: history, lodging, dining, culture, recreation, shopping, transportation and more Previous editions of this guide were published under the title The Chesapeake Bay Book."