For Black History Month, we’ve compiled this list of books we love. From cookbooks to memoirs to science fiction, we celebrate the Black stories that connect us to our past, keep us rooted in the present, and help us envision our collective future. These selections will have something for everyone.
It is important to remember Black history is American history and shouldn’t be confined to one month of the year. Let's keep this enthusiasm for engaging with the work of Black authors beyond February.
Poetry
This is the honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets by Kwame Alexander
US(A) by Saul Williams
Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Black Nature Four Centuries Of African American Nature Poetry by Camille T. Dungy
Essential Nonfiction
The Black Ghost of Empire The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation by Kris Manjapra
The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture by Courtney Thorsson
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the Age of colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Crusade for Justice: Autobiography of Ida B. Wells
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
"Black Leopard, Red Wolf" by Marlon James
Collections
Black Punk Now by Chris L. Terry and James Spooner Spooner
Temple Folk By Aaliyah Bilal
The Black Joy Project by Kleaver Cruz
Novels of Note
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s by Garden Camille T. Dungy
How to say Babylon by Sayifa Sinclair
Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee
These Ghosts are Family by Maisy Card
Science Fiction and Fantasy
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents
by Octavia Butler
Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture by Ytasha L. Womack
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Cookbooks
Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking: A Cookbook by Toni Tipton Martin
Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen by Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, and Lester Walker with Osayi Endolyn
Bress ‘n’ Nyam Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation by Farmer Matthew Raiford
For The Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food: Interviews, Inspiration, and Recipes by Klancy Miller
Children’s Books
Schomburg: The Man who built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
I love my hair! by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
Beyond February: Teaching Black History Any Day, Every Day, and All Year Long by Dawnavyn James
I am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James
We hope you’ll join us in remembrance and celebration for the power, resilience, and creativity of Black Americans for February and all year long.
Read any of the books on this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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