Join Us in Celebrating Black History Month

We’re back, For Beginners fans. Today, we’d like to pay tribute to some courageous men and women who played a very important part in our nation’s (and the world’s) history.

One man echoed America’s workers, specifically the UFW, when he made “Yes We Can” the slogan of the first African American President of the United States. When the world watched and wondered if it could still be done, if the American dream could still be dreamed, if equality was a concept not consigned to but lifted from the words on our founding documents, America answered by electing an African American not because of the color of his skin but because of the power of his message. Many men were behind him in transforming America, including the first African American Harvard graduate with a Doctorate, a prominent sociologist and co-founder of the NAACP. Down to the simplest acts of bravery, a decision as simple as one woman’s refusal to vacate a seat on a bus made history. 

Do you recognize here the lives of President Barack Obama, W.E.B. DuBois, and Rosa Parks? If not, maybe it’s time to pick up Black History For Beginners, one of six For Beginners titles focusing on black history, and, as one famous Supreme Court Justice said, “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”

Ayn Rand in HD

It’s official.  Ayn Rand’s magnum opus, Atlus Shrugged, is finally going to become a film after years of speculation and attempts to secure rights and funding.  The trailer was released earlier this week.  We think it looks amazing.

The film will follow Rand’s story about Dagny Taggart, powerful railroad executive, in her fight to keep her company alive.  All around her, society begins falling apart.  Lights go out.  Cities become cold.  The cause, she believes, is one genius, John Galt, who has once claimed he would stop the motor of the world.  Those who have read Rand’s novel need not hear more, and for those of you who have not, we have a particularly useful tool to allow you to get into the mind of the great novelist and thinker.

Get ready for the movie with Ayn Rand For Beginners, or check out some of the other titles in the series for illustrated explanations of topics from Philosophy to Zen, from Chomsky to Rand, here.