Invincible Fathers and Mothers of Black America

This lyrical picture book explores the birth of Black America, focusing on the little-known men and women who fought for justice and for an America where freedom truly rang for all.

We’re familiar with the founding fathers of white America, but who are the founding fathers (and mothers!) of Black America?

In a poetic narrative of the origins of Black America, acclaimed Black author and publisher Wade Hudson teaches us about the little-known men and women who had a profound effect on the history of the nation. Black America was built by brave pioneers—men and women taken from Africa, who suffered and struggled to build a country, a culture, and institutions. Emphasizing that freedom didn’t ring for all when the United States gained its independence from Great Britain, Hudson shows the slow process by which Black Americans fought for justice over the course of many generations.

Ending with a call to consciousness and to action, Invincible is a powerful, informative, and inspiring account of a history that deserves to be better known.

Wade Hudson is the author of numerous books for children, including the memoir Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South, and is also the co-editor of the critically acclaimed collection Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life. He and his wife Cheryl are not only frequent co-authors, but also the co-founders and publishers of Just Us Books, a company dedicated to publishing books geared toward Black children.

The recipient of a Caldecott Honor and an Orbis Pictus Award, along with many others, E. B. Lewis is the illustrator of more than seventy books for children. His recent titles include Seeking Freedom by Selene Castrovilla and Lizzie Demands a Seat by Beth Anderson, which won Bank Street College of Education's Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for excellence in nonfiction, along with many other honors.