Sharne algotsson biography template

African American Voices:
Sixty-One New Titles for Black History Month in February

By Ann Burns with Emily Joy Jones

Ann Burns is Associate Editor, LJ Book Review, and Emily Joy Jones is Assistant Editor, LJ

Black History Month has become an important event in U.S. cultural life, one that allows us all to celebrate the contributions African Americans have made to this country. With so many books published each February to honor the event, librarians are also given an opportunity to enrich their multicultural collections -- hence this annual listing of major titles in the area. Drawing on the theme of the 2001 celebration, established by the Association for the Study of African American Life & History, the writers featured on this year's expansive list can be seen "creating and defining the African American community" through "family, church, politics, and culture." These 61 books will not only meet readers' needs today but enhance library shelves for years to come.

Agriculture

» Gilbert, Charlene & Quinn Eli. Homecoming: The Story of African-American Farmers. Beacon, dist. by Houghton. Nov. 2000. c.240p. permanent paper. photogs. bibliog. index. LC 00-008995. ISBN 0-80700962-8. $30. AGRI

A tie-in to independent film maker Gilbert's 1998 PBS documentary, this book tellingly relates the history of black farmers, who have faced systematic discrimination in their efforts to secure financial assistance. Flavored with stories from Gilbert's own family, this work begins with Reconstruction and ends with a recent class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (LJ 10/15/00)

Arts

» Adelman, Bob & others (photogs.) & Charles Johnson (text). King: A Photobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Studio: Viking. Nov. 2000. c.288p. photogs. ISBN 0-670-89216-5. $40. PHOTOG

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Denys Davis swore that if she saw one more piece of kente cloth, she was going to use it to strangle somebody.

Kente cloth. That's all she heard when she'd ask people about their concept of African design. Kente cloth. And masks.

But Davis knew African design was much more than that. She knew it back in the mid-1970s, when her vacationing grandmother sent her postcards from the African continent _ rich, colorful images of textiles, jewelry and furniture. She still has them posted in her office.

She knew it when she caught the King Tut exhibit during her college days at what was then Hampton Institute in Hampton, Va., and marveled at the ornate Egyptian tombs.

She knew it from the energetic African artwork that caught her eye in relatives' homes in her hometown of Newark, N.J.

And she knew that the African influence was everywhere _ on everything from layettes and evening wear to wallpaper and china. But she didn't know exactly what it was.

So Davis, 41, set out to find the answer with partner Sharne Algotsson, 45. Davis directs the design service at the Ikea furniture store in a Philadelphia suburb. Algotsson is a designer who owns Inside Design, a Philadelphia product and design business.

That answer is in The Spirit of African Design (Crown Publishers, $35), an informative, vividly photographed design book that explores the history, function and appeal of the African aesthetic as a decorating motif.

African design, says Davis, is a base style, like French provincial or American traditional.

"For something to be a style, it has to have elements," Davis said. "And African design has all the elements _ furnitures, textiles, accessories, art and objects. It's not a trend. It's a style that is deep-rooted in tradition and continues to go in different directions."

Davis' home, a 100-year-old Tudor that she shares with her husband, Tony, and sons Ahmad, 16, and Malik, 14, in Wynnefield, Pa., embodies