Black History Month
Last updated: April 17, 2024
We have an informative collection of books to read related to Black History month. Black History month is celebrated in February in the United States. While many would agree African-American history shouldn't have just one month devoted to it and Black history is American history, the idea has grown significantly from its origins in the 1970s and in 2023 much of corporate America is involved in the celebration, including Coca Cola and Google.
If you’re looking to start reading yourself in to the contribution of African-Americans to the cultural and political life of the United States, then this is a good place to start. The cultural and legal historian, Imani Perry, professor of African-American studies at Princeton University, chooses her top African American history books. She talks about the challenges of writing the history of people who have lived a marginalised existence and explains that her work is not an act of dry academic scholarship, but driven by a desire to bring to life past suffering and find the roots of a more just society.
Farah Jasmine Griffin, Professor of English and Comparative literature and of African-American studies at Columbia University, chooses the best African American literature and discusses the scope of African-American literature, defining it as “literature about the limitations and possibilities of Black life in a nation where white supremacy still reigns.”
We have a number of interviews with academics discussing the best books on slavery. We also have books for kids to read during Black History month, including books on Black icons for children and the best antiracist books for kids.
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1
Black Reconstruction in America
by W E B Du Bois -
2
Exodus: Religion, Race and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America
by Eddie S Glaude Jr -
3
Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression
by Robin D G Kelley -
4
Hands on the Freedom of the Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
Faith S. Holsaert, Martha Prescod, and others (eds.) -
5
Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present
by Nell Irvin Painter
African American History Books, recommended by Imani Perry
African American History Books, recommended by Imani Perry
Princeton Professor Imani Perry—a prolific scholar of African American Studies whose biography of Lorraine Hansberry, Looking For Lorraine, won the 2019 PEN Biography Prize—recommends five books she considers essential to an understanding of the history of black life in America.
The Best African American Literature, recommended by Farah Jasmine Griffin
An ever-growing body of authors are writing about the reality of what it means to be black in America, says Farah Jasmine Griffin, director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. Here she recommends five works of African American literature, from greats like Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison to lesser-known gems by Ann Petry.
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1
Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920
by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham -
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To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War
by Tera Hunter -
3
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
by Barbara Ransby -
4
Sojourning for Freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism
by Erik McDuffie -
5
Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom
by Keisha N. Blain
The best books on African American Women’s History, recommended by Keisha N. Blain
The best books on African American Women’s History, recommended by Keisha N. Blain
Black women’s stories are often untold, but their critical role in American society and politics is finally being broadly acknowledged. Black activists today are building upon the legacy of African American women who have been using every open avenue to seek social justice for centuries. And “no matter how many obstacles are erected to impede them,” says award-winning historian Keisha N. Blain, Black women “are unstoppable.”
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Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915
by Mitch Kachun -
2
Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery
by Barbara Krauthamer & Deborah Willis -
3
Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South
by Stephanie Camp -
4
To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War
by Tera Hunter -
5
A Black Women's History of the United States
by Daina Berry & Kali Gross
The Best Books for Juneteenth, recommended by Barbara Krauthamer
The Best Books for Juneteenth, recommended by Barbara Krauthamer
June 19th, or ‘Juneteenth,’ is a holiday commemorating the final end of slavery in the United States. Professor Barbara Krauthamer, a leading historian of African American slavery and emancipation, talks us through its significance down the decades and which books to read to get a better understanding of what it’s all about.
The best books on The Harlem Renaissance, recommended by William J. Maxwell
It was a golden age for American culture, a flourishing of Black literature, music and the arts that exploded in the 1910s and lasted through to the Great Depression. It was focused on Harlem, the area of New York City above Central Park, but its origins and its impact were much, much broader. William J. Maxwell, Professor of English and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, recommends some of the best books on the Harlem Renaissance.
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Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
by Carole Boston Weatherford & Euka Holmes -
2
Josephine: A Dazzling Life
by Christian Robinson & Patricia Hruby Powell -
3
The Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
by Vashti Harrison -
4
Firebird
by Misty Copeland -
5
Life Doesn't Frighten Me
by Jean-Michel Basquiat & Maya Angelou
Books on Black Icons for Children, recommended by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins
Books on Black Icons for Children, recommended by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins
Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins discuss books that that tell the stories of some of the greatest black icons in history – and explain why reading books that celebrate these extraordinary lives can be transformational for all children.
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In Your Hands
by Brian Pinkney (Illustrator) & Carole Boston Weatherford -
2
The Day You Begin
by Jacqueline Woodson & Rafael López (Illustrator) -
3
I Am Enough
by Grace Byers & Keturah Bobo (Illustrator) -
4
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale
by John Steptoe -
5
Milo's Museum
by Purple Wong (Illustrator) & Zetta Elliott
The Best Antiracist Books for Kids, recommended by Paula Young Shelton
The Best Antiracist Books for Kids, recommended by Paula Young Shelton
Understanding the African American experience is not just about learning about suffering, it’s also about celebrating a vibrant culture and its roots across the millennia. Paula Young Shelton, author of Child of the Civil Rights Movement, recommends the best antiracist books for kids.
