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Black History Month

Most Recommended Books

To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War by Tera Hunter

“To ‘Joy My Freedom is one of my favorite books. It centers Black working class women in the city of Atlanta. A lot has changed since Tera Hunter’s book, but labor history is still primarily the history of white men; oftentimes women, especially women of color, are excluded or marginalized…Reading this book crystalized my determination to become a historian focused on Black women.”

Keisha N. Blain,

Read more

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 2021 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.

    The best books on African American Women’s History, recommended by Keisha N. Blain

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    The best books on African American Women’s History - Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920 by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

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    Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920
    by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

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    The best books on African American Women’s History - To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War by Tera Hunter

    2

    To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War
    by Tera Hunter

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    The best books on African American Women’s History - Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby

    3

    Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
    by Barbara Ransby

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    The best books on African American Women’s History - Sojourning for Freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism by Erik McDuffie

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    Sojourning for Freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism
    by Erik McDuffie

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    The best books on African American Women’s History - Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom by Keisha N. Blain

    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

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.”

    The Best Books for Juneteenth, recommended by Barbara Krauthamer

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    The Best Books for Juneteenth - Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915 by Mitch Kachun

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    Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915
    by Mitch Kachun

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    The Best Books for Juneteenth - Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery by Barbara Krauthamer & Deborah Willis

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    Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery
    by Barbara Krauthamer & Deborah Willis

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    The Best Books for Juneteenth - Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South by Stephanie Camp

    3

    Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South
    by Stephanie Camp

  • Read
    The Best Books for Juneteenth - To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War by Tera Hunter

    4

    To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War
    by Tera Hunter

  • Read
    The Best Books for Juneteenth - A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Berry & Kali Gross

    5

    A Black Women's History of the United States
    by Daina Berry & Kali Gross

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.

    African American History Books, recommended by Imani Perry

  • Read
    African American History Books - Black Reconstruction in America by WEB Du Bois

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    Black Reconstruction in America
    by WEB Du Bois

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    African American History Books - Exodus: Religion, Race and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America by Eddie S Glaude Jr

    2

    Exodus: Religion, Race and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America
    by Eddie S Glaude Jr

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    African American History Books - Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression by Robin D G Kelley

    3

    Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression
    by Robin D G Kelley

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    African American History Books - Hands on the Freedom of the Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC Faith S. Holsaert, Martha Prescod, and others (eds.)

    4

    Hands on the Freedom of the Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
    Faith S. Holsaert, Martha Prescod, and others (eds.)

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    African American History Books - Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present by Nell Irvin Painter

    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

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

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    The Best African American Literature - Cane by Jean Toomer

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    Cane
    by Jean Toomer

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    The Best African American Literature - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    2

    Their Eyes Were Watching God
    by Zora Neale Hurston

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    The Best African American Literature - The Narrows by Ann Petry

    3

    The Narrows
    by Ann Petry

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    The Best African American Literature - Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    4

    Invisible Man
    by Ralph Ellison

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    The Best African American Literature - Beloved by Toni Morrison

    5

    Beloved
    by Toni Morrison

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.

    Books on Black Icons for Children, recommended by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins

  • Read
    Books on Black Icons for Children - Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford & Euka Holmes

    1

    Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
    by Carole Boston Weatherford & Euka Holmes

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    Books on Black Icons for Children - Josephine: A Dazzling Life by Christian Robinson & Patricia Hruby Powell

    2

    Josephine: A Dazzling Life
    by Christian Robinson & Patricia Hruby Powell

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    Books on Black Icons for Children - The Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison

    3

    The Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
    by Vashti Harrison

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    Books on Black Icons for Children - Firebird by Misty Copeland

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    Firebird
    by Misty Copeland

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    Books on Black Icons for Children - Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Jean-Michel Basquiat & Maya Angelou

    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

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.

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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