10 Book Recommendations for this Black History Month

I put this list together as a resource for people looking to read more black literature. This list is some of my favorites. I tried to create a succinct list for a diverse readership.

Enjoy!

1)Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates — Genre: Autobiography — Published: 2015

This book is a letter from the author, to his son about what being black means in America. Coates shares his life experiences: growing up in West Baltimore, his years at Howard University, and New York City. His personal narrative is shared within a re-examination of US history

This book is an honest, beautiful account of the unique burdens and joys of being a black parent in America. I would agree with literary treasure Toni Morrison, “This is required reading.”

2) Beloved by Toni Morrison — Genre: Historical Fiction; Magical Realism; Novel — Published:1988

Want to read more? I suggest you start with books that have been banned. They’re the best, and this one is the top of the list. “Beloved” is the latest victim in the anti-critical race hysteria/moral panic. (Fortunately, censors never seem to understand the Streisand Effect banning books has. Copies of this 1988 Pulitzer Prize Fiction winner have been flying off the shelves.) This chilling ghost story is Morrison’s examination on black motherhood, black community — both during slavery and contemporary life.

In this post-civil war novel, Sethe a free/formerly enslaved person, is haunted by her time at “Sweet Home,” a failed escape from the plantation, as well the unimaginable decision Sethe has to make resulting in the loss of her one of her children. Beloved is the tale of the literal and figurative haunting of this decision, a parable for America’s most wretched horror story: slavery.

3) On Beauty by Zadie Smith — Genre: Novel — Published: 2005

Loosely based on E.M. Forster’s Howards End, this is the story of a biracial British/American family in Boston Academia (Harvard, but not). Through this stunning cast of characters, Smith examines the cultural differences between various black, British and American cultural groups, black conservatism and liberalism, and of course, the nature of Beauty. Arguably, this book changed the world.”

4) Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde — Genre: Biomythography — Published: 1982

This experimental book is Aurdre Lorde’s coming out story. In Zami, Lorde creates a genre, combining history, biography, and myth. It’s an examination of herself, growing up as a black immigrant, becoming politically active in the 50s, and her coming to terms with her lesbianism, with the support of various community members friends, and lovers.

5) The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander — Genre: Thesis; Law Material — Published: 2010

This is a dense text, but I assure you it is life-changing and necessary. Michelle Alexander examines the new ways systematic racism manifests throughout history, and in this new era of color-blind racism and mass incarceration.

6) What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah — Genre: Short stories; literary fiction — Published: 2017

Arimah’s debut book is a delightful collection of short stories. Some stories include: a woman making a child out of yarn, former child soldiers sharing war stories, a mother coming back from the dead, and of course, a man falling out of the sky.

7) Becoming by Michelle Obama — Genre: Autobiography — Published: 2017

Follow Michelle Obama’s life from growing up in the south side of Chicago, Harvard, years as a lawyer, directing nonprofits, and mentoring the new intern Barack Obama’s all the way through the looking glass of his presidential run and into the White House. This is the story of the first descendant of enslaved people making it to the white house. It is a must read.

8) A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James — Genre: Historical Fiction — Published: 2014

This is a re-examination of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley, its impact on Jamaica and US Cold War politics. If you like mystery, CIA conspiracies, ghost stories, and the oral tradition this book is for you.

9) Passing by Nella Larson — Genre: Novella; Psychological Fiction; Historical Fiction — Published: 1929

This novella, now also a Netflix film starring Tessa Thompson takes place during the Harlem Renaissance. It’s a wildly entertaining story of black women who pass for white during segregation.

There also some A+ queer undertones in this novella. This makes all the more sense give this story takes place during the most bisexual decade of the century.

10) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall

Not much of a reader? Try this graphic novel. Join historian Rebecca Hall, an historian on an excavation of slave revolts and the unique role black women played them. The biggest foe? The erasure of history.