A new book coming out Jan. 2 might be ideal warm-up reading for the new Hunter Museum exhibit opening in February, “African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond.”
“How It Feels to Be Free: Black Women Entertainers and the Civil Rights Movement” by Ruth Feldstein explores the impact of six female entertainers in the ’50s-’70s: Lena Horne, Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln, Diahann Carroll and Cicely Tyson.
Each woman contributed significantly, yet each did it in a unique way and with a different voice. Feldstein does an excellent job of illuminating the significance of their often-overlooked participation in a crucial time in history.
Oxford University Press, $29.95
— Staff