• The best books on The Civil Rights Era - Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights by Charles Marsh
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David J. Garrow
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle by Clayborne Carson, Darlene Clark Hine, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill & Vincent Harding
  • The best books on The Civil Rights Era - The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and assisted by Alex Haley, Laurence Fishburne (narrator)

The best books on The Civil Rights Era, recommended by Lerone Martin

The struggle for Black freedom in America has been going on since the first enslaved Africans were brought to the continent, but it was the civil rights era of 1954 to 1968 that finally resulted in a raft of legislation that gave equal citizenship to Black people in the United States. Here, Professor Lerone Martin of Stanford University recommends the best books to understand the American civil rights movement, with a focus on some of the individuals who were key to its success.

  • The best books on The Slave Trade - The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano
  • The best books on The Slave Trade - Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams
  • The best books on The Slave Trade - The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas by David Eltis
  • The best books on The Slave Trade - Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving Port 1727-1892 by Robin Law
  • The best books on The Slave Trade - American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia by Edmund S Morgan

The best books on The Slave Trade, recommended by William A. Pettigrew

In the 17th and 18th century millions of Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas as slaves. This trade took place at the same time as ‘liberal’ ideas about the importance of human freedom took root in Great Britain and North America. Here, historian William A. Pettigrew recommends five books to help understand the slave trade, how it was established, why it flourished and why it was eventually abolished.

  • The Best African American Literature - Cane by Jean Toomer
  • The Best African American Literature - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • The Best African American Literature - The Narrows by Ann Petry
  • The Best African American Literature - Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • The Best African American Literature - 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.

  • The best books on White Supremacy - What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America by Peggy Pascoe
  • The best books on White Supremacy - Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race by Matthew Frye Jacobson
  • The best books on White Supremacy - Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America by Alexandra Minna Stern
  • The best books on White Supremacy - From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America by Elizabeth Hinton
  • The best books on White Supremacy - The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas by Monica Muñoz Martinez

The best books on White Supremacy, recommended by Kathleen Belew

Defined by University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew, white supremacy is a “broad system of laws, norms and customs that create a society with unequal opportunities for people based on race”. It persists to this day, and has surprising intersections with issues of labor and women’s reproduction. Here, she recommends books for coming to grips with the history of this complex topic.

  • The Best Movies about Race - Gone with the Wind (Movie) by Victor Fleming (director)
  • The Best Movies about Race - In the Heat of the Night (Movie) by Norman Jewison (director)
  • The Best Movies about Race - Do the Right Thing (Movie) by Spike Lee (director)
  • The Best Movies about Race - 12 Years a Slave (Movie) by Steve McQueen (director)
  • The Best Movies about Race - Get Out (Movie) by Jordan Peele (director)

The Best Movies about Race, recommended by Greg Garrett

Movies are a big part of American cultural life and also one of the country’s biggest cultural exports. As a result, movies play an important role in how Americans see themselves, including in attitudes to race. Here Professor Greg Garrett of Baylor University—film historian, cultural theologian and author of A Long, Long Way: Hollywood’s Unfinished Journey from Racism to Reconciliation—talks us through five movies that best illustrate how Hollywood has evolved in terms of race over the past century, from Gone with the Wind to Get Out.