On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus in order to make room for a white passenger. This act of defiance led to her subsequent arrest. This sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a key event in the civil rights movement. Although it has been almost fifty years since Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his immortal "I Have a Dream" speech, the rich history of African-Americans is often overlooked in history courses today. Explore the vibrant African-American past with these books and DVDs from our collection.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user U.S. Embassy New Delhi