Award for Book on Black Panther Medical Discrimination

The Association of Black
Women Historians (ABWH) presented the 2012 Letitia Woods Brown Book Award to Dr. Alondra Nelson for Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination. The award was presented at the 32nd Annual Luncheon held Saturday, September 29th at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh, PA. In the spirit of Letitia Woods Brown, your book employs activist scholarship through re-imagining the activities and aims of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
Vilified by the news media of their day, romanticized by Hollywood images - Nelson rescues an element of the BPP as a corrective and call to action in the age of under-insured Americans and the war over Obamacare. She completely upends the story of the BPP in important ways while also placing these activists on a continuum of struggle.  This text is valuable on multiple levels and an outstanding scholarly achievement.  The Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize is awarded annually by ABWH for the best book, anthology, and article about
African American women's history or by an African American women scholar. Books can include those written by members and non-members of ABWH.

With a career that spanning four decades, Letitia Woods Brown (1915 – 1976) left an indelible mark on the field of African American history. She obtained a bachelor's degree from Tuskegee in 1935, a master's degree from Ohio State University in 1937, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1966. A teacher, consultant, instructor, professor, and Fulbright lecturer, Brown’s work in Washington, D.C. was also renowned as she worked to preserve local and national sites through her work with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other organizations.  During the course of her professional career, she also wrote several books on Washington, D.C.  

Founded in 1979, the Association of Black Women Historians is a dynamic network of scholars representing every region of the country. The organization's goals are to support black women in the historical profession, disseminate information by, for and about black women and promote scholarship by and about black women.