Africa First

Canoeing the Congo narrates the journey of Phil Harwood, who undertook an epic five-month solo attempt to canoe the Congo River in war-torn Central Africa. It was a historic 'first descent' from the true source in the highlands of Zambia. Just short of 3,000 miles long, the Congo River is the eighth longest in the world and the deepest river in the world, with a flow rate second only to the Amazon. Along the way, Phil encountered numerous waterfalls, huge rapids, man-eating crocodiles, hippos, aggressive snakes...

David Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and one of the greatest European explorers who ever lived. He fought all his life against slavery, and is remembered as a national hero for opening up the interior of the so-called "Dark Continent"; his expeditions had a tremendous influence on the colonization of Africa and the relation between Europeans and Africans. The son of a Christian missionary himself, Livingstone felt a spiritual calling to reach people in the interior of Africa in order to find new commercial routes and thus free the Africans from the plague of slavery.

It was in the nature of Belgium’s withdrawal from Africa that power was essentially handed over to the first in line to receive it. Very little of the careful preparation that characterized the British withdrawal from Africa was evident in Congo. As it turned out, the first in line to take power was a tall, stern-featured ideologue by the name of Patrice Lumumba. This audiobook looks at one of the most important African leaders of the 20th century.

Confession: I like being frisked by rough, sexy, crooked cops because they are always excited to find my BIG surprises. Arnold is a straight college frat boy with a criminal past that desires to be manhandled by muscular, sexy police officers. He has one in mind, Officer Stuart. Arnold fantasizes about Officer Stuart pinning him against the wall, frisking his body, and finding a surprise so big he made him his boy toy for the night. He gets butterflies in his stomach, and his little friend between his legs inches down his basketball shorts at the thought of him. He wants Officer Dennis ...

Take the bribe, and I’ll let you slide deep inside. I’m Officer Landon, a straight police officer who fantasizes about being with men. My weakness is black men. I desire to be with them intimately and romantically, but I never indulge because I’m straight, shy, and have a girlfriend who would kill me if she found out. I’m tempted daily because my colleagues and the criminals we arrest are mostly men with some of the most amazing physiques I’ve ever seen. I take my job seriously, follow all the rules, and never mix business with pleasure, even though it’s tough. One morning, my ...

After Tripoli declared war on the United States in 1801, Barbary pirates captured 300 U.S. sailors and marines. President Jefferson sent navy squadrons to the Mediterranean, but he also authorized a secret mission to overthrow the government of Tripoli. He chose an unlikely diplomat, William Eaton, to lead the mission, but before Eaton departed, Jefferson grew wary of the affair and withdrew his support.

The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was the first and only all-black Ranger unit in the history of the United States Army. Edward Posey's The US Army's First, Last, and Only All-Black Rangers is the first complete history of this elite all-volunteer unit. As a member, Posey bases his account on firsthand experience, official records, interviews with survivors, and other material to produce a rich and worthy addition to the growing literature on the Korean War. Now the world will learn the true story of the United States Army's first, only, and last all-black Ranger unit.

I’m a Straight Police Officer, but I’m falling for a 19-year-old JOCK. Officer Landon Never in a million years did I imagine that stopping a speeding car one morning would thrust me into a wild encounter that would change the trajectory of my entire life. When I pulled over Trent, a 6'9 African American college basketball player who also happened to be a rich bad boy who had no regard for the law, I didn’t anticipate that his muscular frame that oozed sex appeal and deep voice would have me weak in the knees and questioning my sexuality. His flirtation and bribe to perform a naughty ...

“Get the White House or Die Tryin’” dives into the raw, unfiltered rise of Kamala Harris—from a young girl growing up with big dreams to breaking through every barrier in her way. Raised by a single mother in Oakland, Kamala fought her way up, from the halls of Howard University to the highest echelons of power. A hundred years after women first won the right to vote—and generations after slavery—she’s hustling to become the first Black woman to lead the nation. This is the story of Kamala’s grind, her resilience, and her mission to rep the people who’ve been counted out ...

Most scientists believe the evolution of humans has a history as long as life itself. Anatomically modern humans and all other life that has existed on the planet first came about from the single-celled microorganisms that emerged approximately 4 billion years ago. Through the processes of mutation and natural selection, all forms of life developed, and this continuous lineage of life makes it difficult to say precisely when one species completely separates from another.

The half-century before the Civil War was beset with conflict over equality as well as freedom. Beginning in 1803, many free states, claiming the authority to maintain the domestic peace, enacted laws that discouraged free African Americans from settling their boundaries and restricted the rights to testify in court, move freely from place to place, work, vote, and attend public school. But over time, African American activists and their white allies, often facing mob violence, courageously built a movement to fight these racist laws.

The Great War's East Africa campaign was, and remains, of huge importance. A 'small war', consisting of a few 'local affairs', was all that was expected in August 1914 as Britain moved to eliminate the threat to the high seas of German naval bases in Africa. But two weeks after the Armistice was signed in Europe, British and German troops were still fighting in Africa after four years of what one campaign historian described as 'a war of extermination and attrition without parallel in modern times'.

More Than Grateful follows First Lady Rachel Tate as she faces the most challenging trial of her life. Married to Pastor Jonas Tate, the charismatic leader of Rise Church, Rachel is determined to make her mark by organizing her first women’s conference, aptly named More Than Grateful. But the journey is anything but smooth. As Rachel steps into her new role, she encounters resistance from the women in the congregation, particularly from Allison, who once hoped to marry Jonas herself. The tension between Rachel and Allison spills over, straining Rachel’s relationship with her husband and...

Highlighting forgotten Black and White civil rights pioneers and weaving in the story of the author's own great-grandfather's crimes as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Freedom on Trial tells a gripping story of a moment pregnant with promise when race relations in the United States might have taken a dramatically different turn.

In Behold, America, Sarah Churchwell offers a surprising account of 20th-century Americans' fierce battle for the nation's soul. It follows the stories of two phrases - the "American dream" and "America First" - that once embodied opposing visions for America. Starting as a Republican motto before becoming a hugely influential isolationist slogan during World War I, America First was always closely linked with authoritarianism and white supremacy. The American dream, meanwhile, initially represented a broad vision of democratic and economic equality.

The Space Age began just as the struggle for civil rights forced Americans to confront the long and bitter legacy of slavery, discrimination, and violence against African Americans. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson utilized the space program as an agent for social change, using federal equal employment opportunity laws to open workplaces at NASA and NASA contractors to African Americans while creating thousands of research and technology jobs in the Deep South to ameliorate poverty.

The Civil War brought to a climax the country's bitter division. But the beginnings of slavery's denouement can be traced to a courageous band of ordinary Americans, black and white, slave and free, who joined forces to create what would come to be known as the Underground Railroad, a movement that occupies as romantic a place in the nation's imagination as the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Pastor Elmore has been a Pastor for over 30 years and married to the same woman for that same amount of time. Years of conniving and manipulation has gotten him a council seat and head pastor appointment, not by his hands but at the hands of his wife. Henrietta is determined to maintain her clout and status by any means necessary. She is no stranger to doing what and who she has to do to get what she wants. On the verge of losing her husband and her status due to her husband's affair, she is thrown into a whirlwind that may leave her exposed. Henrietta is not the type to take things lying ...

“If her mother ever finds out what I want to do to her daughter, she’s going to kill me. Crazy Religious Mom from Carrie style.” I have a can’t say no problem. I can’t say no to a beautiful face, a banging body and a pretty smile. And when that body is attached to a girl like Neisha? Resisting temptation is damn near impossible. Neisha is the full package: Thick, beautiful, young… 18… And ready to learn. She and her mom stay right next door to me. Her mom is an over the top religious zealous bigot who is on the main line with Jesus DAILY. The last thing I need to be thinking ...

Have you ever said to yourself, "wouldn’t it be nice to be a detective"? This is the story of an African girl who says just that. Her name is Precious. When a piece of cake goes missing from her classroom, a traditionally built young boy is tagged as the culprit. Precious, however, is not convinced. She sets out to find the real thief. Along the way she learns that your first guess isn’t always right. She also learns how to be a detective.