curated by Dr. Tamara Pizzoli & illustrated by Desire Cesar “El’Cesart” Ngabo

Each beautiful, bold set of pages in this book share an inspirational quote and a brief explanation of the quote in context for these 50 trailblazers. Highlighted men in the book come from many fields: politics, music industry, film, sports, the arts, and civil rights activists. I am not a black man (or woman), but most of the quotes spoke to me as a human and I could relate to most of the inspirational thoughts. They address resiliency, self-awareness, inspiration, and many more very human needs. I found the artwork throughout gorgeous, bright swashes of color emphasizing a portrait of each man. Illustrations by Desire Cesar “El’Cesart” Ngabo make this book a treat to read cover to cover or just browse a few page. This book begs to be on display, perhaps opening to a different set of pages each day, until some intrigued patron scoops it up to read cover to cover! While it does not give much biographical information on each person, I think it will motivate readers to investigate more and exposes them to a nice breadth of modern & historic personalities.