African Americans

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead does extensive background research whenever he works on a book. For his latest novel, Harlem Shuffle, that meant learning how stolen items get "fenced."

In 2008, Williams told Terry Gross the story behind the scar on his face. In 2016, he reflected on his troubled past and his lucky breaks. Williams was found dead in his apartment Sept. 6.

In her new book, All That She Carried, historian Tiya Miles tells the story of an enslaved woman who, upon hearing her child was to be sold off, hastily packed her a bag with a few personal items.