black history biography books

Black History Month at NYPL: Biographies & Memoirs

The New York Public Library celebrates Black History Month throughout February with events and programs, recommended reading, blog posts, and a wide array of resources for all ages.

These biographies and memoirs uncover the life stories and enduring legacies of some of the most prominent and influential Black Americans in U.S. history, from the pioneering abolitionist Frederick Douglass to the first Black president of the United States, Barack Obama. Including both contemporaneous accounts and biographies written with a longer historical view of their subjects, these titles are a great place to start for those looking to find out more about major moments in American history and the people behind them.

Explore everything the Library has to offer for Black History Month , and discover more recommended reads with the Schomburg Center’s Black Liberation Reading List .

Some of these titles are also available in accessible formats including talking books (DB), braille (BR), and through Bookshare (BK), as indicated below. See The New York Public Library's Andrew Heiskell Library for more information.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

By martin luther king, jr. and clayborne carson (ed.).

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Accessible editions: BK

Drawing on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s unpublished writings and other materials housed in the archives of Stanford University, civil rights scholar Clayborne Carson assembles a continuous first-person narrative of King's life.

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X

By les payne and tamara payne.

Accessible editions:  BK

This epic new biography, which won the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction, draws on hundreds of hours of interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative.

Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching

By paula j. giddings.

Giddings traces the life and legacy of nineteenth-century activist and pioneer Ida B. Wells, documenting her birth into slavery, her career as a journalist and a pioneer for civil rights and suffrage, and her determination to counter lynching.

Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray

By rosalind rosenberg.

Accessible editions: DB

In this definitive biography, Rosenberg offers a poignant portrait of a figure who played pivotal roles in both the modern civil rights and women's movements.

Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry

By imani perry.

Accessible editions: DB | BK

A revealing portrait of playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry, best known for A Raisin in the Sun , focusing on how she used her prominence to support the civil rights movement and confront the romantic racism of the Beat generation.

My Bondage and My Freedom

By frederick douglass.

World languages: Deutsch

Former slave and pioneering abolitionist Frederick Douglass's second autobiography was written 10 years after his legal emancipation in 1846.

A Promised Land

By barack obama.

World languages: Español

This first of a projected two-volume memoir of the Obama presidency is a riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making.

Thurgood Marshall: A Life in American History

By spencer r. crew.

Through a study of the career of attorney and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who believed in the power of the law to change society, Crew introduces readers to the constant and multifarious battles for equity faced by Black Americans.

Up from Slavery

By booker t. washington.

Accessible editions: BR | DB | BK

World languages: 中文

In this memoir, Washington documents his struggle for freedom and self-respect and his fight to establish industrial training and educational programs for Black Americans.

W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography

By david levering lewis.

Du Bois, an architect of the civil rights movement in America, was a fiercely proud individual blessed with the language of the poet and the impatience of the agitator. Discover his life in this condensed and updated edition of Pulitzer Prize winner David Levering Lewis’s epic two-volume biography.

Discover Black History Month at NYPL

Browse book recommendations, the Schomburg Center’s Black Liberation Reading List, more than 100 free events, blog posts, research resources, and more as part of the Library’s Black History Month celebrations.

20 of the Most Essential Books on Black History

With the indomitable power of their words, Black writers have changed the world, battling the most pressing social justice issues of their time while also telling arresting stories about how Black people live and love.

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links.

Simply put—28 days does not cut it. Nor does any one list of books . To try and simplify the Black experience into one exhaustive list is as misguided as the notion that only one month should revere the wit, wisdom, and artistry of those Black trailblazers who have altered history. This list of essential books is by no means encyclopedic, but we’ve sought to include classic must-reads, as well as works by contemporary and emerging writers who are well on their way to reimagining the canon.

Dive into these books to enrich your understanding of the Black experience, in all its glorious intersections. And remember: Black history month is every month.

Algonquin Books Libertie, by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female physicians in the United States, this mesmerizing novel begins in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, where Libertie Sampson is expected to follow her mother’s path in the medical field, despite her musical calling. When a Haitian doctor proposes marriage, promising to live as her equal in Haiti, she elopes with him, only to discover that colorism and sexism reign supreme on the island. Freedom in all its forms comes under Greenidge’s powerful lens: freedom from oppression, freedom to choose one’s own destiny, freedom to love and forgive. What emerges from her careful study is a powerful, transporting story about self-determination in an oppressive world.

Little, Brown and Company How the Word Is Passed, by Clint Smith

One of the decade's most visionary works of nonfiction is this radical reckoning with slavery, as represented in the nation’s monuments, plantations, and landmarks. As he tours the country, Smith observes the wounds of slavery hiding in plain sight, from Confederate cemeteries to plantations turned tourist traps, like Monticello. As he considers how the darkest chapter of our nation’s past has been sanitized for public consumption, Smith explores how slavery has shaped our collective history, and how we might hope for a more truthful collective future.

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones

In this groundbreaking compendium of essays, poems, works of fiction, and photography, Hannah-Jones expands on her Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Magazine project about the “unparalleled impact” of chattel slavery on American life. These bracing and urgent works, by multidisciplinary visionaries ranging from Barry Jenkins to Jesmyn Ward, build on the existing scholarship of The 1619 Project , exploring how the nation’s original sin continues to shape everything from our music to our food to our democracy. This collection is an extraordinary update to an ongoing project of vital truth-telling.

Atria Books The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada in this blistering work of semi-autobiographical fiction about Nella, the lone Black employee at Wagner Books. The arrival of Hazel, another Black editorial assistant, seems like the answer to Nella’s prayers—but Hazel isn’t the ally she seems to be. When Nella begins to receive threatening anonymous notes demanding that she leave Wagner, she immediately suspects Hazel. The truth is far more sinister, exposing Nella to a dangerous conspiracy that alters her worldview forever. In this powerful story of racism, privilege, and gatekeeping’s damage to the Black psyche, Harris puts corporate America on blast.

Read an exclusive interview with Harris here at Esquire .

Crossing Press Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, by Audre Lorde

In this unforgettable meditation on women and love, Lorde pioneered the genre she called biomythography: an evocative blend of history, biography, and mythmaking. Lorde poignantly recounts moving through the world as an outsider, a queer Black woman longing for the unknown home of her West Indian parents. Tracing her youth in the bohemian lesbian bar scene circa 1950s New York, Lorde illuminates how the love of women saved her, chasing away her loneliness to leave a renewed wellspring of humanity, identity and community. In these lyrical pages, Lorde goes from lost to found, writing, “Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me.”

Vintage Jazz, by Toni Morrison

History is a living wound in Jazz , a sensuous masterpiece that hopscotches through time from the Great Migration to the Harlem Renaissance. The novel opens with a funeral where Violet, a middle-aged New Yorker, mutilates the corpse of teenaged Dorcas, the lover and murder victim of her unfaithful husband, Joe. From that inflection point of passion and brutality, Morrison looks backward into the past, exploring how the nation’s reprehensible inheritance of racism and colorism informs Black urban life. Morrison’s language, evocative and sensually stylized as ever, shapes the novel like a jazz arrangement, with the solo voices of ancillary characters blotting out the mysterious narrator, then coalescing to form a mellifluous symphony. Masterfully constructed from history, legend, and myth, Jazz locates humanity within tragedy, birthing a bittersweet love story from the ashes of suffering.

Harper Perennial Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

In her much-lauded masterwork, Hurston lyrically captures one woman’s lifelong search for independence and self-actualization, tracing her journey through three tumultuous marriages and an ultimate return to her Florida roots. In Janie Crawford, Hurston’s indomitable protagonist, we see the forebearer of Toni Morrison’s Sethe and Alice Walker’s Celie. Hurston’s prose approaches the sublime, blending luscious poetry with southern vernacular, earning her the title that has long stuck to her name: “Genius of the South.” Though Hurston’s work slid into obscurity for decades, Their Eyes Were Watching God now looms rightfully large in the American canon, enduring in the hearts of readers as an unforgettable story of a vibrant Black woman determined to choose her own destiny.

imusti Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

It’s impossible to overstate the significance of Between the World and Me , a lyrical, landmark meditation on Blackness in contemporary America, and the book that announced the arrival of Ta-Nehisi Coates as a once-in-a-generation talent. In a luminous epistolary voice, Coates shares painful, radical truths with his fifteen-year-old son, speaking powerfully about the racist violence baked into American culture. Ever since Between the World and Me , Coates’ status as a major writer and thinker—one of our last true public intellectuals—has been undeniable.

Vintage The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson

In this masterpiece of epic, Steinbeckian scale, woven in an ageless voice brimming with lyricism and folk wisdom, Wilkerson chronicles The Great Migration, a decades-long exodus of Black Americans from the Jim Crow South to the cities of the North and West. Drawing on a staggering volume of research, including over a thousand interviews and newly released public records, Wilkerson chronicles a national movement through the grueling journeys of three subjects, who risked everything to put down roots far from home. Through their food, faith, and culture, these migrants shaped American cities in their own image, transforming them into the vibrant places where we live today. In these towering, compulsively readable pages, Wilkerson makes visible the “unrecognized immigration” that has shaped our modern nation.

Scribner The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward

"’The world is before you,’ I want to tell my daughters,” writes Edwidge Danticat in this blistering collection, "’and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.’" In these galvanizing essays and poems, framed as a response to James Baldwin’s seminal 1963 collection, The Fire Next Time , some of the most preeminent Black intellectuals of Ward’s generation shine a light into the state of race in America. In her introduction, Ward tasks each writer with examining "the ugly truths that plague us in this country"; the writers anthologized here explore such subjects as white rage, walking while Black, public mourning, and national amnesia over slavery, among other topics. With searing new work from Claudia Rankine, Natasha Trethewey, Isabel Wilkerson, Kiese Laymon, and more, this anthology demands that the country confront the stains of racism baked into so much of American life.

Graywolf Press Don't Call Us Dead, by Danez Smith

“I spent my life arguing how I mattered until it didn’t matter,” writes Smith in this radiant, combustive collection of poems, wherein they confront the myriad forms of violence America visits on the bodies and souls of Black people. Don’t Call Us Dead opens with “summer, somewhere,” a gutting poem imagining an afterlife for the Black men murdered by police officers; Smith goes on to write about living with an HIV positive diagnosis, while also celebrating the joy and eroticism of queer love. Woven through with beauty, brutality, and heartbreak, this collection is an unmissable achievement from a singular poetic talent.

Scribner Heavy, by Kiese Laymon

In his searing, fearless memoir, Laymon tells the story of his body, from his adolescent obesity to his early experiences of sexual violence to the racist politicization of Black bodies in America. Writing to and for his mother, Laymon recounts his childhood in Jackson, Mississippi, where his brilliant but struggling single mother was the center of his world, embracing him with one arm and beating him with the other. Throughout his journey to become a college professor, Laymon wrestled with disordered eating and body dysmorphia; meanwhile, shame, confusion, and trauma inhibited his ability to form healthy relationships. These haunted pages illuminate how systemic failures give rise to personal traumas, yet all of it is threaded through with complicated, enduring tenderness for the places and people who made Laymon.

The Feminist Press at CUNY But Some of Us Are Brave, edited by Akasha (Gloria T.) Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, and Barbara Smith

Originally published in 1982, this indispensable volume revolutionized women’s studies; as Audre Lorde described the book’s impact, it was “the beginning of a new era, where the ‘women’ in women’s studies will no longer mean ‘white.’” But Some of Us Are Brave confronts the absence of Black feminist scholarship in women’s studies, demanding a more robust intersectional feminism, while also challenging racism and advocating for Black female scholars to have their rightful place in the social sciences. With contributions by Alice Walker, Michele Wallace, and dozens of other distinguished writers, But Some of Us Are Brave remains an invaluable resource, even decades after its publication.

Balzer & Bray/Harperteen Felix Ever After, by Kacen Callender

In this big-hearted young adult novel authored by last year’s winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, we meet a beguiling protagonist for the ages: Felix, an artistic transgender Black teen, who dreams of a great love story while fearing he’ll never meet The One. At a prestigious summer arts program, Felix is devastated when an anonymous bully publicizes pre-transition photos of him, captioned with his deadname. His catfishing revenge plot sends him down a path of questioning and self-discovery, all punctuated by falling in love for the first time. Overflowing with heartfelt teen firsts, like forgiveness, heartbreak, and self-discovery, Felix Ever After excavates the messy glories of love, both for others and for ourselves.

The University of North Carolina Press Remaking Black Power, by Ashley D. Farmer

In this comprehensive scholarly analysis, Farmer challenges long-held misconceptions about the role of women in the Black Power movement, complicating the assumption that sexism routinely sidelined female activists. Farmer depicts the radical strides these women made in dismantling racism, sexism, and classism, while also illustrating how that radical activism has continued to reverberate in the decades since. Through a rigorous multimedia analysis encompassing artwork, political cartoons, and manifestos, Farmer illuminates just how essential the women of the Black Power movement were, tracing their efforts in decades past to the continued centrality of Black women in the fight for social justice.

Simon & Schuster How We Fight for Our Lives, by Saeed Jones

Written with the fierce, blistering sensuality characteristic of his poetry, this bracing memoir of Jones’ coming-of-age follows his serpentine journey of self-discovery, from unrequited lust to furtive sexual encounters to hurtful censure from loved ones. Jones recounts growing up as a queer Black boy in Texas, where his family preferred not to have its secrets spoken aloud, but where the influences of his mother and grandmother shaped him profoundly. In these laser-sharp pages, Jones examines the fraught intersection between race and queerness, making for a layered meditation on self-actualization that’s at once tender and brutal.

Bloomsbury USA Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward

In this National Book Award-winning novel, one of our finest storytellers unspools the miraculous story of Esch, a pregnant, motherless teenager living in generational poverty with her three brothers and her hard-drinking father. As Hurricane Katrina barrels toward their ramshackle home in coastal Mississippi, it’s the tender, sinewy bonds of family that rescue these characters from the storm. Viscerally crafted and soaked to its loamy bones in Southern Gothic sorrow, this novel is at once a poignant study of a dispossessed girl stepping into motherhood and a lyrical portrait of Black life in the rural south. Ward writes of Esch, “She made things happen that had never happened before.” The same could be said of Ward, who volcanically reinvents what the novel can do and be with her every publication.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Luster, by Raven Leilani

Raw, racy, and utterly mesmerizing, Luster marks the arrival of a major new voice in American letters. Twenty-something Edie is drifting ever closer to self-destruction; after losing her dead-end admin job in a publishing office rife with racism and misogyny, she turns to delivering takeout by bike in order to make the rent on her squalid Bushwick apartment, where she spends her nights growing in fits and starts in her development as a painter. Meanwhile, she’s sleeping with a much-older man in an open marriage, whose carefully constructed boundaries come crashing down when his enigmatic wife invites a destitute Edie to stay in their suburban home. There Edie meets Akila, the couple’s recently adopted Black daughter, to whom Edie grows close when she realizes that she may be the only Black woman in this young teenager’s life. Leilani brings painterly precision and biting humor to a feverish novel where each pyrotechnic sentence is a joy to experience. Dreamlike, tender, and big-hearted, Luster is a must-read from an immeasurably talented young writer.

Knopf Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi

In Homegoing , Gyasi masterfully maneuvered a multi-generational story through three hundred years of Ghanaian and American history; in her sophomore effort, Transcendent Kingdom , she narrows her narrative scope without sacrificing any of her storytelling heft. Gyasi’s inimitable protagonist is Gifty, a neuroscience PhD candidate studying depression and addiction. Gifty’s research hits close to home, as she’s seeking to solve the suffering in her own family, shattered by her brother’s fatal drug overdose and her mother’s subsequent bottomless depression. As she searches for meaning in meaningless tragedy, Gifty questions the evangelical faith she was raised in, making for a powerful novel about the push and pull between science and spirituality, as well as a heartbreaking meditation on the ties that bind.

VIKING What We Lose, by Zinzi Clemmons

This slim, spectacular novel, told in searing vignettes, is the story of Thandi, the Pennsylvania-born daughter of a South African mother and an American father, who moves through the world as “a strange in-betweener”—caught between Black and white, American and not. Clemmons masterfully traces Thandi’s becoming, from awakening to her privileges to grieving her mother’s death to becoming a mother herself. Through Thandi’s gripping, intimate thoughts, Clemmons shapes a masterful meditation on biracial identity, while also evoking bittersweet insights about the relationship between love and loss.

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History Books » American History

African american history books, recommended by imani perry.

May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem 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.

Interview by Eve Gerber

Black Reconstruction in America by W E B Du Bois

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

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

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

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

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.

A New York Times notable biography of the first black woman to write a Broadway play, a book on the politics and poetics of hip-hop, a schema of post-intentional racism, and a history of the black national anthem are four of your wide-ranging, recent contributions to the understanding of African American history. What call are you answering with your work?

Exposing the legacy of patriarchy and white supremacy is the undergirding impulse of my work. I move across fields quite a bit, writing about music, literature and case law, but my belief in finding the roots of a more just society persists.

Are African American historians affected by unique conceptual and methodological concerns, or burdens? 

When writing the history of any people who have been marginalized or oppressed, official archives are often unyielding, and so creative methodologies are called for. Every book I write offers its own methodological challenges. For instance, in May We Forever Stand , I used black newspapers, which were only recently digitized, a great deal. There was a lot of material about the anthem’s presence at organizational ceremonies and debates about the use of the anthem that hadn’t been drawn from before.

“Exposing the legacy of patriarchy and white supremacy is the undergirding impulse of my work”

Many of the methodological concerns are about omissions in the archives, but even the existing body of archival material presents challenges. Ideas about black inferiority and non-normativity impair archival documents, which often obscure the lives of black people.

Turning to the five books you selected, let’s begin with an author for whom history was clearly political: the first African American awarded a doctorate in history by Harvard, W.E.B. Du Bois. His book Black Reconstruction in America is your first choice.

W.E.B. Du Bois was the father of American sociology and one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. His classic text, The Souls of Black Folk , was published in 1903. Black Reconstruction in America came thirty years later.

Black Reconstruction in America is important for a number of reasons. One, it sets the stage for the field of reconstruction studies. Prior to its publication, the failure of post-Civil War reconstruction was cast as the inevitable result of the inadequacy of black people. Du Bois’s diligent scholarship and his political, economic and social analyses proved that image was wrong. He showed that freed people, together with Radical Republicans, created transformative political solutions to post-Civil War problems. He showed the promise of reconstruction ended ingloriously because government abandoned the cause of freed people.

It’s a dense book, but it’s filled with compelling narratives and analyses of the motivations, frustrations and aspirations of participants in the process of Reconstruction. He explores why disaffection exists between poor and working-class white Americans, how race is deployed to destroy the potential for class solidarity and the stark reality of antebellum black life in the South. It was a groundbreaking text, which remains widely influential to this day.

So Du Bois fused “scholarship and struggle . . . social analysis and social transformation,” as Brandon Byrd pointed out in an essay for the African American Intellectual History Society , citing the words of Manning Marable.

Next, you recommend Exodus: Religion, Race and Nation in Early Nineteenth Century Black America by your colleague at Princeton, Eddie Glaude.

Glaude is a groundbreaking scholar who writes beautifully. Exodus is an incredibly sophisticated, highly readable work. It’s a nice entry point to early nineteenth-century black life in the United States.

Exodus was widely acclaimed when first published in both literary circles and among academics, and by historians and those who study religion. Glaude provides us a narrative of the earliest stages of black freed people as they are imagining their political future. He does that through the document trail of the period’s intellectuals and the institutional documents of black religious organization. So, it’s an intellectual history, a political history and a religious history, beautifully written and filled with engaging figures from this period.

Glaude highlights the early nineteenth-century roots of black nationalism. Why is that important to understanding African American history?

Turning to the twentieth century, your next choice Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression by UCLA historian Robin Kelly.

The history of the black left is often a missing piece in the histories of how the civil rights movement grew. This is a foundational text for understanding the deep roots of the black left in the deep South, the lingering plantation economy and early southern industry. Many of the figures that Kelly treats in the book were early twentieth-century organizers who became mentors and teachers of civil rights leaders. Kelly shows the activists at work generations before the 1960s Civil Rights Revolution.

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It’s an adept Marxian analysis of Alabama, and an economic and sociopolitical analysis of the region that is at the core of black life in the United States. Even though it’s no longer the case that the majority of black Americans live in the Deep South, that is where most of the roots of black life lie. Its stories are wonderful. Kelly drew from archives to deliver a strong sense of what black life was like in agricultural Alabama. It’s both a beautiful book and an instructive one.

You point out in Looking for Lorraine , your look at the first black playwright to be produced on Broadway, Raisin in the Sun writer Lorraine Hansberry, that black cultural production in the twentieth century was nurtured by the left.

It frustrated Lorraine that figures in the theatre world looked down on ‘the social dramatist.’ She saw that all art is political, whether explicitly so or not. She didn’t subscribe to the idea that there’s something strange about artists engaging in the world that they’re trying to depict or change.

The political economy has always been a central aspect of racial domination in this country, so it makes sense that people who are thinking deeply about questions of injustice are drawn to the ideas of the left. That is the political reason for the link.

“Lorraine Hansberry saw that all art is political, whether explicitly so or not”

Hands on the Freedom of the Plow is your next choice.

So often the voices—and the work—of the folks who were not at the front of marches are left out of history books. While many wonderful civil rights histories have emerged in the past 30 years, I love Hands on the Freedom of the Plow because it conveys the voices of the women who volunteered to do the footwork for the movement, recalling how they got involved and their years of work in it.

These women—whose names we don’t know—were integral. They were registering voters, organizing door-to-door, showing incredible courage in the face of violent resistance. It’s a multi-racial group of women from various walks of life and from different regions. You get insight into how these women were called to the struggle for a most just society. And it’s a really engaging book as well.

Sounds like Hands on the Freedom Plow is backfilling women’s stories into civil rights history. Similarly, a recent spate of scholarship highlights the leading roles of African American women in the story of American feminism. At the same time, public debate is flaring up that highlights the points of tension between women’s rights and civil rights. The question I’m getting to is: how is the history of marginalized Americans intersecting in the academy?

I address this in my book Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation . Both the gender liberation and civil rights movements were struggles to make society more open, fair and just. But both movements tended to advantage those who were already relatively advantaged within the oppressed category. So, at times, the racial justice movement advances the advantages of elite African Americans and the feminist movements prioritizes concerns of upper-class white women. That tendency is an appropriate source of tension and conflict, in academic circles and in the political world, writ large.

Finally, you suggest Nell Irvin Painter’s Creating Black Americans .

Nell Painter is an incredibly prolific and influential scholar—and she knows how to craft a really compelling narrative history. Her prose is always clean.

This book gives you the broad picture of the history of a people in context. She looks at laws, events, and economics; she also is sensitive to cultural milestones and political organizing. When she writes about the racial politics of military during World War II, it’s rooted in what’s going on nationally and internationally.

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There’s a handful of books where you could say, if you want to know the story of black Americans, here you go. Her book is amongst the most meticulous. It’s hard to breathe life into narrative survey history; she does. She gives details, she draws you in, and she sends you off in other directions, with suggestions of other books that you should read.

Painter concluded a 2016 conference, “The Future of the African American Past,” by exhorting the gathered scholars to “do everything!” You are a central voice in the future of African American history. So my last question is, what is on the horizon?

It’s hard to think of myself as being central. I do think of myself as being part of a community of people who are seriously and creatively trying to take up the responsibility of filling in gaps in the American story and helping America understand how we got from then to now.

“Historians are always asking what parts of the past we need in order to imagine our future”

I like to think about the map as a metaphor. If you put every detail on a map, it wouldn’t be a usable instrument for navigation. For the map to be usable, cartographers must make choices about what parts of a map are necessary and what relationships they must show. Similarly, historians are always asking what parts of the past we need in order to imagine our future. African American historians are particularly focused on rethinking what we need to understand about our past. How do we build archives of information to help us make history useful?

One of the things that I like about emergent scholars is that their work is less bound by specialization. They have methodological training and rigor, but they move across disciplines and subject areas and types of research and types of writing. So I don’t think we’re “doing everything,” but we’re doing a lot of different things; we’re mixing methods. We’re inspired by people like Nell to see intellectual life as not just a scholarly endeavor, but a creative enterprise.

May 28, 2019

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

Imani Perry

Imani Perry is an American interdisciplinary scholar of race, law, literature, and African American culture and the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. She has published many books: May We Forever Stand , a history of the black national anthem; Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation ; and Looking For Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry , which won the 2019 PEN/Bograd Weld Award for Biography . Her recent book, South to America , won a 2022 National Books Award. She can be found on Twitter @imaniperry .

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10 books about Black history to read in 2022, per Goodreads members

To learn about events of the past and experiences unlike their own, people often turn to books. And with recent news about banning children’s books about racism and debating critical race theory , especially in education, some readers are interested in titles that explore different aspects of Black history in the U.S.

A plethora of books about these topics are published every year, which may make it hard to choose where to start the next time you’re looking for something to read. To help narrow down your options, we compiled recent books about Black history that were published within the last year, subjects ranging from women’s rights and systemic inequality to the Great Migration and anti-racism efforts led by advocates across the country. Some are more academic in nature, while others are histories interwoven with authors’ lived experiences. Some are written by first-time authors, and select options were inspired by or discuss recent events surrounding Black history in the U.S. The books are also all popular with Goodreads members, having earned high ratings from them.

Shopping 15 new novels by Black authors to know in 2022

‘ south to america ’ by imani perry.

Goodreads : 4.1-star average rating from 81 ratings

Growing up in the South herself, author Imani Perry shares her personal experiences while leading readers through lessons about the region’s history, culture and landscapes.

South to America

‘ how the word is passed ’ by clint smith.

Goodreads : 4.77-star average rating from 11,970 ratings

By examining different monuments and landmarks across America, Clint Smith explains how slavery is central to shaping the nation’s history. The book also discusses the legacy of slavery across centuries.

How the Word Is Passed

‘ four hundred souls ’ by ibram x. kendi and keisha n. blain.

Goodreads : 4.61-star average rating from 6,263 ratings

As told by 90 of America’s leading Black writers, this book contains 80 chapters about the history of Black America. It goes back 400 years in time and tells the story chronologically, working toward the present day.

Four Hundred Souls

‘ a little devil in america ’ by hanif abdurraqib.

Goodreads : 4.68-star average rating from 3,189 ratings

Hanif Abdurraqib researches and shares insights about Black performers and their impact on American culture. The author also personally reflects on Black performances in music, dance, movies and more.

A Little Devil in America

‘ the three mothers ’ by anna malaika tubbs.

Goodreads : 4.12-star average rating from 2,671 ratings

"The Three Mothers" focuses on the women who raised Malcolm X, James Baldwin and Martin Luther King, Jr. It addresses Black motherhood and the discrimination Black women faced as they taught, cared for and supported their sons.

The Three Mothers

‘ on juneteenth ’ by annette gordon-reed.

Goodreads : 4.22-star average rating from 4,254 ratings

Annette Gordon-Reed wrote a collection of essays about her family’s history and the end of legalized slavery in Texas. The book charts the United States’ road to Juneteenth through memoir-based portions and historical accounts.

On Juneteenth

‘ the black church ’ by henry louis gates jr..

Goodreads : 4.05-star average rating from 618 ratings

Through recounting his own time spent at church growing up, historical events and the Black community’s varying spiritual journies, the author reveals how the Black church is central to the American story. This book is a companion to the PBS series of the same name.

The Black Church

‘ buses are a comin' ’ by charles person with richard rooker.

Goodreads : 4.48-star average rating from 431 ratings

Charles Person details his experience as a Freedom Rider in the 1960s in this memoir. His commitment to the Civil Rights Movement began when he was a teenager, and he calls on young people today to create a more just and moral country through their own efforts.

Buses Are a Comin'

‘ america on fire ’ by elizabeth hinton.

Goodreads : 4.28-star average rating from 397 ratings

Historian Elizabeth Hinton delves into the history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. She points to how events from the past may have been precursors to issues America is facing today, specifically after the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests.

America on Fire

‘ wake ’ by rebecca hall.

Goodreads : 4.32-star average rating from 1,635 ratings

This book is part graphic novel and part memoir. It tells the story of women-led slave revolts and who was behind them. ‘Wake’ also documents the author’s journey to uncover the truth about these women, most of whom have been left out of historical records.

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32 books bestselling authors recommend to honor and celebrate Black history

This February, Black History Month is undoubtedly a time when history is being made.

Kamala Harris has taken office as the first Black woman to be our nation’s vice president, an achievement that comes amid a national reckoning on racism. So there’s never been a better time to celebrate the achievements and experiences of those who came before.

Bestselling author Kwame Alexander stopped by TODAY to share some of his favorite books celebrating Black history for people of all ages. Below, he's joined by Harris’s niece, Meena Harris , author Andrea Davis Pinkney , “Bookmarks” host Marley Dias and former NFL player Malcolm Mitchell in curating these suggestions that celebrate and reflect the Black experience for Black History Month 2021 and throughout the year.

Books seen on TODAY

Books by our panelists, black history books for children, black history books for tweens and teens, best classic books, best memoirs, best books from authors to watch, best books turned into a movie, "finish the fight" by veronica chambers and the staff of the new york times.

"Finish the Fight!"

Alexander's imprint, Versify, published this book about lesser known heroines of the women's suffrage movement. "What we get in this book is a much fuller, more inclusive portrait of the fight for women’s right to vote, for readers of any age," he says. "This book could be an origin story for Kamala Harris, and all the little girls who see themselves in her."

"Tristan Strong Destroys the World," by Kwame Mbalia

"Tristan Strong Destroys the World"

Alexander's choice for older kids is Mbalia's epic fantasy set in a world inspired by Black and African folk heroes. It was his family's last read aloud with his daughter, Samayah. "Your kid won’t be able to put these adventures down."

"Selected Poems of Langston Hughes," by Langston Hughes

"Selected Poems of Langston Hughes"

"We all got the chills when we listened to Amanda Gorman deliver that necessary and majestic poem at the inauguration," Alexander says. "That is the power of poetry in telling a story, and who better to comfort us in words, to humor us with rhyme, to make us dance to the rhythm of verse than the black bard, the Shakespeare of Harlem, Langston Hughes."

"Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption," by Bryan Stevenson

"Just Mercy"

"'Just Mercy' is a searing journey about a young lawyer defending a young man named Walter McMillian, who was wrongly condemned, and sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit," Alexander says. "We read the book, and Samayah was assigned to read the YA adaptation in her class, then we watched the movie as a family. It’s dramatic, it’s inspirational, it’s sad, it’s entertaining and ultimately it’s hopeful.

"The Dragons, the Giant, the Women," by Wayétu Moore

"The Dragons, the Giant, the Women"

"I met Wayétu Moore almost a decade ago when she was publishing books for children in her native country, Liberia, where she also opened the first bookstore focused on leisure reading," Alexander says. Her memoir follows her journey from war-torn Liberia to the United States. "It’s about the search for home. And her life-long commitment to finding her voice and helping young children find theirs."

"Heads of the Colored People: Stories," by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

"Heads of the Colored People"

Alexander said when he heard Thompson-Spires read from this debut short story collection, "I was knocked off my feet. And, I was sitting down. I’ve never laughed so much in my life." Thompson-Spires won the PEN Open Book Award and was longlisted for the National Book Award.

"Becoming Muhammad Ali," by Kwame Alexander and James Patterson

"Becoming Muhammad Ali"

Alexander, author of last year's Caldecott winner and Newbery honor "The Undefeated," teamed up with James Patterson for this book for young readers that combines poetry and prose, biography and novel to tell Ali's story to young readers.

"Ambitious Girl," by Meena Harris and Marissa Valdez

"Ambitious Girl"

Harris followed her debut picture book, "Kamala and Maya's Big Idea," with a story about a young girl who sees a strong woman labeled as "too ambitious" and discovers the ways girls and women "can reframe, redefine and reclaim words meant to knock them down," she says. "I wrote this book for anyone — of any age or gender — but particularly for women and black girls who have ever been underestimated or overshadowed."

"She Persisted: Harriet Tubman," by Andrea Davis Pinkney

"She Persisted: Harriet Tubman"

Davis Pinkney's inspiring chapter book biography for young readers is part of a new series that expands on Chelsea Clinton's "She Persisted" picture books .

"Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You," by Marley Dias

"Marley Dias Gets It Done"

Dias loves sharing this with kids to help them know what they can accomplish. “Oftentimes kids believe that they have to wait until they “grow up” to help others, but I use my story to challenge this notion,” Dias says.

"My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World," by Malcolm Mitchell and Michael Robertson

"My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World"

Mitchell, a former New England Patriot, wrote this book based on his belief that reading unlocks potential. "Henley, the main character, shares with us that while some words are too big, some sentences too long and some books too thick, overcoming reading obstacles equips children with the necessary tools to empower their future."

"Hair Love," by Matthew A. Cherry and Vashti Harrison

"Hair Love"

Harris says her family has read this book too many times to count, and it has helped expand their notions of who and what they consider to be beautiful. "Last year, we spotted 'Hair Love' at a local bookstore, and my daughter’s eyes lit up; the pride and excitement in her voice—the joy at seeing people like her not just represented, but celebrated—were unmistakable."

"I Am Enough," by Grace Byers

"I Am Enough"

Harris calls this picture book "beautiful, joyful and life affirming," especially for young Black girls. "'I am Enough' is a wonderful tool to teach all girls — or readers of any age — that you are perfect just the way you are."

"What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?" by Chris Barton and Ekua Holmes

"What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?"

"Talk about bold! The narrative and collage paintings in this book speak loud and clear — and beautifully," Pinkney says.

"Little Heroes of Color," by David Heredia

"Little Heroes of Color"

Pinkney says the trailblazers featured here "opened my eyes to notables that don’t appear in traditional history books — but should!"

"Brown Boy Joy," by Thomishia Booker, Jessica Gibson and Vicky Amrullah

"Brown Boy Joy"

"The title says it all. Brown boys are filled with goodness. It can’t be said enough," Pinkney says.

"Respect: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul," by Carole Boston Weatherford and Frank Morrison

"Respect"

"Thank goodness for this book," Pinkney says. "I can now show my kids that today’s pop stars owe their success to the r-e-s-p-e-c-t Queen Aretha earned as a soul singer who opened doors for so many.

"Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter?" by Shani Mahiri King; illustrated by Bobby C. Martin Jr.

"Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter?"

"The time has come to tell our kids the truth about greatness. This book does it," Pinkney says.

"All Because You Matter," by Tami Charles and Bryan Collier

"All Because You Matter"

Mitchell calls his choice "an important message for the world. Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, generation, religion beliefs and sexual orientation, YOU MATTER.”

"Stella by Starlight," by Sharon M. Draper

"Stella by Starlight"

Pinkney suggests this middle grade novel about a Depression-era girl who must be brave when the Ku Klux Klan returns to her segregated town.

"King and the Dragonflies," by Kacen Callender

"King and the Dragonflies"

"'King and the Dragonflies' reminds me of my childhood in Valdosta, Georgia," Mitchell says. "As a young African American boy searching for himself in sports and a plethora of poor decisions, I learned it was OK to be me."

"Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni," by Nikki Giovanni

"The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni"

Alexander chooses this specifically for the poem "Ego-Tripping."

"Tar Beach," by Faith Ringgold

"Tar Beach"

"As city dwellers, Faith Ringgold’s celebration of rooftop magic is something our family has enjoyed for decades," Pinkney says. "And this book appeals to anyone who can see the sky’s magic on a summer night."

"The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison

"The Bluest Eye"

Dias recently read this Read With Jenna pick , which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year . "It is easily one of the best books I have read and I want everyone to read this book. It gives insight into colorism, racism, sexism, economic inequality and the intersectional struggles of being an American Black girl."

"Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary," by Walter Dean Myers

"Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary"

"Malcolm X’s journey is one of complex twists and turns," Mitchell says. "His experience in poverty, and as a detainee and a cultural/religious icon, gives plenty of opportunities for judgment. For me, his defining moment came when he stared down wrongful doing and hypocrisy within his circle and said, 'No more.'"

"Parent Like It Matters: How to Raise Joyful, Changemaking Girls," by Janice Johnson Dias

"Parent Like It Matters"

"My mom wrote a book (and no it is not just about me). I am really proud of her and this book because it combines social science research with the work she does with girls at the GrassROOTS Community Foundation and with me into one place," Dias says. "She offers a way for parents to develop their own passions and provides assignments that parents and kids can do together to be joyful and to also make a difference in the world."

"Through My Eyes," by Ruby Bridges

"Through My Eyes"

Needless to say, Rudy Bridges is a hero and champion for the Black community. Her story is one of bravery and justice. "Through My Eyes" takes us on an uncensored journey through the lens of a woman full of courage.

"Friday Black," by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

"Friday Black"

Alexander also recommends Adjei-Brenyah's debut, which tackles racism and unrest with an arresting new voice.

"The Old Truck," by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey

"The Old Truck"

"Best read-aloud ever!" Pinkney says. "I love this book for sharing with the kids in my life. We jump into that truck again and again."

"Modern Herstory," by Blair Imani

"Modern HERstory"

Dias says Imani "highlights the experiences and contribution of amazing women and non-binary people who have made a difference in the world. Though I am also featured in the book, this book is really helpful to me because it teaches me more about the various kinds of work I could be doing to help others."

"Tiny Pretty Things," by Dhonielle Clayton and Sora Charaipotra

"Tiny Pretty Things"

I read this book several years ago and I love the author and her vivid storytelling. I’m including this book especially for those who love a good story but do not necessarily love to read. "Tiny Pretty Things" was recently made into a Netflix show! So, if you are a teen who doesn’t love to read, try to both watch the series and read this beautiful story.

"The Hate U Give," by Angie Thomas

"The Hate U Give"

"'The Hate U Give' is a powerful story that documents the joys and terrors of growing up in the Black community," Mitchell says. "Unfortunately, misunderstandings and neglect leads to chaos. This book shows that unjust chaos is not immune to unity, courage and justice."

For more book recommendations, check out:

• 5 books to read if you enjoyed 'Black Buck' by Mateo Askaripour
• Looking for an inspirational story? 10 feel-good books to read right now
• 6 books to read right now, according to a New York Times bestselling author

To discover more deals, shopping tips and budget-friendly product recommendations, download the TODAY app and subscribe to the Stuff We Love newsletter !

Lisa Tolin (she/her) is a contributor to TODAY. Her debut picture book, " How to Be a Rock Star,"  illustrated by Daniel Duncan, published in 2022. Previously, she was head of special projects for TODAY and supervising health editor for NBC News Digital, and held various roles for The Associated Press, including East Coast lifestyle and entertainment editor. 

10 Books to Read for Black History Month, All by Columbia Authors

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the remarkable achievements of Black Americans and to celebrate and learn about the influence of Black heritage and culture. These ten books, all by Columbia faculty and alumni, are a good place to continue that education.

A Promised Land

By Barack Obama ’83CC

It would be impossible to mark Black History Month without a deep dive into the legacy of America’s first Black president, whose election was a major milestone for many African-Americans. Barack Obama’s third book is a meditation on his first years in office and on many of the traumas and triumphs he experienced. 

Black Fortunes

By Shomari Wills ’13JRN

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with the shadow of slavery still hanging over the country, a small group of African-Americans managed to do something remarkable — become millionaires. Journalist Shomari Wills profiles six of them, including Robert Reed Church, a former slave who became the largest landowner in Tennessee, and Annie Turnbo Malone, a self-taught chemist who used her scientific knowledge to create a hair-care empire. It's an inspiring story of ingenuity and perseverance, but also of commitment to the common good: nearly all of Wills’s subjects donated a significant portion of their fortunes to civil-rights causes. 

  Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention 

By Manning Marable 

Manning Marable , a self-described “public historian and radical intellectual” and a professor of African-American studies, history, and public affairs at Columbia, had a lifelong fascination with Malcolm X, calling him “the most remarkable figure produced by 20th-century Black America.” Marable’s 2011 biography of Malcolm X was the result of years of scholarship and became a fitting capstone to a remarkable career. Marable died just after it was published and was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. 

To Free the Captives

By Tracy K. Smith ’97SOA 

Despite the burden of seemingly insurmountable generational trauma, Tracy K. Smith graduated from Harvard and Columbia and went on to become the twenty-second poet laureate of the United States. In this gorgeously rendered hybrid of memoir and family history , Smith seeks to understand and celebrate the “titanic” strength it took for her family to succeed in a world intent on seeing them fail.

#SayHerName

By Kimberlé Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum When we think about police violence, we generally picture its male victims, since those are the ones that have gotten widespread media attention. But as Columbia law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw makes clear in her new book , Black women and girls have also been harmed and killed by the police, and their stories deserve to be heard. Crenshaw, who coined the terms “critical race theory” and “intersectionality,” is a leading authority on civil rights and Black feminist legal theory, making her a fitting guide for this important topic. 

By Claudia Rankine ’93SOA 

Poet Claudia Rankine won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Citizen , a powerful exploration of the racial aggressions that she and other Black Americans face every day. Interweaving text — a book-length poem and several “lyric essays” — with images of paintings, drawings, and sculptures, as well as screen grabs from digital media, she uses the book to document the individual and collective impact of racism in contemporary society. 

Sister Outsider 

By Audre Lorde ’60LS

Audre Lorde was a poet, librarian, professor, and feminist icon who spent her life working against racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Sister Outsider , a collection of Lorde’s speeches and essays, has become a mainstay of Black, women’s, and queer studies. Lyrical and powerful, it’s an essential introduction to Lorde’s writing and a call to arms. 

Harlem Nocturne 

By Farah Jasmine Griffin 

Harlem is famous for its cultural Renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s. But Columbia literature professor Farah Jasmine Griffin argues that the war years that followed, when the neighborhood became a center of progressivism, were equally exciting. In Harlem Nocturne , she profiles three women artists — choreographer and dancer Pearl Primus, composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, and novelist Ann Petry — who were a key part of this important cultural and political moment. 

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments 

By Saidiya Hartman 

In her 2019 book , the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, Columbia literature professor Saidiya Hartman blends history and fiction to reimagine the lives of Black women in New York and Philadelphia at the beginning of the twentieth century. “The wild idea that animates this book is that young black women were radical thinkers who tirelessly imagined other ways to live and never failed to consider how the world might be otherwise,” writes Hartman. 

The Substance of Hope 

By Jelani Cobb

Columbia Journalism School dean Jelani Cobb, a prominent scholar of race, politics, and American history, first published this book, about the monumental significance of Barack Obama’s ascent to the Oval Office, in 2010. Cobb traces the factors that led to Obama’s rise and his hopes for the country that elected him. A decade-plus later, the country looks a little different than Cobb imagined, and in the latest edition , released in 2020 with a new introduction, he reflects on the way Obama’s historic presidency continues to shape America.  

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50 Outstanding Black History Month Books

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Get inspired and informed by the lives, experiences, struggles, achievements, and contributions of Black individuals throughout history to the present day. Teachers, parents, & librarians, you’ll find the best r ead-aloud Black History Month books with this list of picture book biographies for February and all year round.

Up until now, I haven’t written a post with a list of picture book biographies for kids to read for Black History Month because it worries me to think that there would be only one month out of the year in which we read biographies about amazing African Americans. The only reason I’m writing this list now is with the hope that this is not the case. Just like I review books year-round, this list will help teachers, parents, and librarians find excellent children’s book biographies to read any time of the year. Right?

That being said, let’s talk about Black History Month for a minute. It is celebrated during the month of February in the United States and was started by Black United Students. Black History Month was officially recognized month in February 1976. It’s a chance to stop and reflect, honor and celebrate.

I’ve organized the books into sections related to their impact on the world: scientists, artists, activists, leaders, athletes, and more . Also, the people in these books are mostly African Americans, but there are some international Black history biographies as well.

Many of these children’s books are about regular people who did amazing things. Some are famous. Most aren’t. I love that biographies like these teach children how we can all change the world. One person at a time is all it takes.

I hope these children’s books will give your preschool and elementary-age readers knowledge of the contributions of incredible folks as well as new ideas for ways that they can make a difference in the world, too!

Read the Black History Month books any time, ask questions, connect to your own life, and discuss!

Table of Contents:

Artists, Actors, & Writers

• Other Black Biographies and Biography Collections

Picture Book Biographies for Black History Month

George Washington Carver Loved Plants (Little Naturalists) by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Seth Lucas SCIENTIST A simple but informative biographical board book shares the inspiring story of George Washington Carver. Kids will learn how people called George “Plant Doctor” even as a boy , and that he went to college to study agriculture, taught at an all-black college, and helped people rotate crops and plant things like peanuts. Inviting earth-toned illustrations helps capture this man’s inspiring life story.

Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed, illustrated by Stasia Burrington SCIENTIST Beautifully illustrated and inspirationally written! Little Mae dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Her parents told her she could do it if she worked hard, taking Mae to the library to find information and encouraging her astronaut pretend play after dinner. Despite her teacher’s discouragement (“ Nursing would be a good profession for someone like you, “) Mae listened to her mom while sticking to her dream. Mae kept dreaming, believing, and working hard. Finally, she became the first African American female astronaut in space.

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, illustrated by Laura Freeman MATHEMATICIANS An essential book for Black History Month, learn about Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden who worked for NASA during a time when being women and black was a lot harder than in today’s world. It’s really cool to learn about the work they did, providing calculations that made a difference in the world and set a new standard for other black women.

The Doctor With an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath by Julia Finley Mosca, illustrated by Daniel Rieley SCIENTIST Read how Patricia, despite being a girl and African American, stood firm in her goal to become a doctor. She became a doctor and later invented the laser probe to heal eyes.

What Color is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld, illustrated by Ben Boos & A.G. Ford SCIENTISTS Twins, Herbie and Ella, move into a new house where they meet Mr. Mital, a handyman who surprises the kids with fascinating information about African-American scientists. Throughout the narrative are non-fiction lift-the-flap sidebars and two-page spread biographies of people like James E. West who invented a compact microphone used in race cars or Frederick McKinley Jones, Dr. Percy Lavon Julian, George Crum, Dr. Valerie L. Thomas, and many others. The large size of the book, the fold-out parts, and bright illustrations make it an appealing design for kids.

Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson NASA Mathematician by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by Raul Colon STEM You can’t help but be inspired by Katherine’s life story. Katherine, after zipping through her schooling early because she is so smart, finds a job as a teacher. But she’s most well known for her next job as a human calculator for NASA’s space program , helping the first American travel to space.

Activist Biographies

I am Martin Luther King, Jr.  by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos ACTIVIST This nonfiction picture book biography series for young readers is absolutely fantastic. The book about Martin Luther King, Jr. shows a white friend who wouldn’t play with Margin because he was Black and how it hurt his feelings. The biography does NOT end with his death but ends on a positive note of standing strong and facing struggles.

Wangari Maathai Planted Trees (Little Naturalists)  by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Seth Lucas ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST A board book biography perfect for preschool readers. Learn about environmentalist and Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai. While she studied at school in America, men cut down trees in her homeland. When she returned home, she wondered where all the birds and streams had gone so she asked other women of Kenya to help her plant new trees — and they planted 50 million trees. Lovely earth-toned illustrations.

The Escape of Robert Smalls A Daring Voyage Out of Slavery by Jehan Jones-Radgowski, illustrated by Poppy Kang ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY Don’t miss this heart-stopping, inspiring story of a daring escape from slavery on a Confederate ship . It’s a true story of a heroic man!

Let The Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson, illustrated by Frank Morrison ACTIVIST You’d be hard-pressed to find a more perfect historical picture book. The author shares the events leading up to a Birmingham, Alabama march with only of children and teens. The illustrations are dynamic, too, showing expressive children and passionate adults — each two-page spread evokes an emotion. I LOVE this book so much.

Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, illustrated by Jade Johnson ACTIVIST With captivating folk-art style illustrations, this biography narrates the story of an amazing woman named Clara who advocated for justice and equality during a time when Black people weren’t permitted the same rights as white people. As a teacher, she inspired her students to believe that change was possible. For example, Clara and her students went to the Katz drugstore and asked to be served — even though the store didn’t serve Black people.

Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights for Freedom by Gwendolyn Hooks, illustrated by Simone Agoussoye ACTIVIST Ona Judge’s life is captured in this picture book biography, introducing younger readers to Ona, the personal slave to Martha Washington, who eventually escaped to freedom . Not only will it give readers a sense of life as a slave, but it will also show that George Washington owned slaves who were treated like property and not paid.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Kadir Nelson ACTIVIST / LEADER I love this beautifully illustrated, lyrically written picture book biography book that shows how incredibly brave and determined Harriet Tubman was and how her faith in God was part of everything she did.

Lilian’s Right To Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Shane W. Evans ACTIVIST Blueish-tinted illustrations capture the somber mood of Lillian’s memories in this historical nonfiction picture book. Lilian’s memories begin with her great-great-grandparents who were slaves, sold, and separated from each other. As Lillian remembers all people who struggled to gain equal rights and all who have gone before her, she walks slowly up a steep hill to cast her vote. Gaining the right to vote was a journey, somewhat like her steep climb up the hill, and is an important part of Black History Month.

Chasing Freedom by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Michele Wood ACTIVIST This lovely picture book is about Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman — two women who changed the world — and are important in understanding black history in the United States.

Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko ACTIVIST You’ll find this to be a fascinating glimpse of two activists who are both fighting for their rights — one for women and one for black Americans.

Mambo Mucho Mambo the Dance That Crossed Color Lines by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Eric Velasquez ACTIVIST In 1940s New York, a dance called the Mambo helped to desegregate dance halls. When Machito and His Afro-Cubans brought the Mambo to New York, dancers from all backgrounds loved it. Their exuberance brought them together at the Palladium Ballroom which made a daring move to open to all races and ethnic groups who wanted to dance.

Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Eric Shabazz Larkin ACTIVIST Most people don’t have Will Allen’s vision. Instead of an abandoned city lot, he saw a farm. In fact, he figured out how to create an innovative urban farm despite huge obstacles. Very inspiring.

Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes by Tracey Baptiste, illustrated by Shauna J. Grant ACTIVISTS Learn more about the important contributions of women like Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, and Jo Ann Robinson to the Civil Rights Movement. Because before Mrs. Parks, there was a girl named Claudette Colvin who also refused to move to the back of the bus and was arrested. When Rosa Parks also got arrested for not moving to the back of the bus, another woman named Jo Ann Robinson thought of the bus boycott idea. The bus boycott dragged on and on — but through the actions of so many individuals who bravely stood up against injustice, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal.

Magic Trash   by J.H. Shapiro, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton ARTIST This is the true story of artist Tyree Guyton who made his own crime-ridden Detroit neighborhood into an urban canvas in the 1980s. His grandfather told him to “paint the world” and that’s exactly what Guyton did using houses, trash, found objects, and more. As a result, Guyton created magic and healing for the community. Read more at the Heidelberg Project website .

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet ARTIST Horace loved to draw. He liked to paint exactly what he saw. Even after a wound in WWI prevented him from using his right arm without help from his left, he began painting as an adult again, paintings that are now hung in museums. I adore the whimsy of Melissa Sweet’s illustrations in this inspiring biography.

Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Blade, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera POET Talk about a growth mindset! Gwendolyn loved words and poetry and from a young age, wrote poetry of her own. She never had monetary success but with persistence and dedication, she eventually found success as an adult with publications and winning the Pulitzer Prize.

Stitch by Stitch Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly Sews Her Way to Freedom  by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon  SEAMSTRESS & DESIGNER Stunning mixed-media illustrations add so much to this story of Lizzy who was born into slavery and worked as a successful seamstress to support her owners. A group of Lizzy’s patrons and friends in St. Louis helped Lizzy buy her own freedom for $1,200 and which Lizzy paid back, stitch by stitch. Once free, Lizzy’s clients grew and included the wives of Senator Jefferson Davis and President Abraham Lincoln, who she fit in elegant gowns that were admired by all.

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton  by Don Tate WRITER George loved words and even though he was a slave, he taught himself to read and began composing verses. When students at Chapel Hill began to pay George for his poetry, a professor helped him learn to write which led to his poems protesting slavery being published in the newspaper. But his owner would never sell George, no matter how what George’s fans and friends offered. It took until George was 66 years old to be freed from slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.

You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce by Chiquita Mullins Lee and Carmella Ven Vlett, illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins ARTIST I love this clever biographical format where the subject of the biography tells a boy about his life. When a boy’s dad takes him to a barber named Mr. Pierce, who is also a wood carver, Mr. Pierce tells the boy about how he learned to carve wood and how he tells stories with each carving. Notice how the illustrations look like wood carving folk art!

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe ARTIST This picture book biography won the Caldecott award for illustration in 2017. The illustrations are painted (and collaged) on found wood and are EPIC! You could frame every single page! The story is about the sometimes challenging young life of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat .

Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee! by Andrea J. Loney, illustrated by Keith Mallett PHOTOGRAPHER James VanDerZee got his first camera by winning a contest where he had to sell the most perfumed sachets. From that moment on, h e worked hard to be the best photographer he could be , even moving to New York City where he eventually opened his own photography studio. His story is fascinating, as are the people whom he captured in photographs during the Harlem Renaissance, many of which were displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a special exhibit.

Salt in His Shoes  by Deloris Jordan & Roslyn M. Jordan, illustrated by Kadir Nelson ATHLETE Mike wants to grow taller so he’ll be better at basketball. His mom tells him to put salt in his shoes and say a prayer every night. But his father also tells young Michael that it also takes hard work and patience. It’s an optimistic, growth mindset perspective.

Muhammad Ali: A Champion Is Born by Gene Barretta, illustrated by Frank Morrison ATHLETE Kids should all learn the story of Muhammad Ali because his determination and grit are so inspiring. And to think, it all started with a stolen bicycle! Read how a police officer got Ali into boxing as well as about his never-waning confidence and the grueling workouts. Superbly done. He’s a hero to many.

Marvelous Mabel by Crystal Hubbard, illustrated by Alleanna Harris Mabel’s early life was difficult, and sometimes she was homeless. She dreamed of ice skating despite the restrictions on where she could skate as a Black girl. Mabel skated and practiced and because of other shows’ racism, created her own touring show. Inspirational.

Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Kull, illustrated by David Diaz ATHLETE After having polio as a child, Wilma was told she wouldn’t walk again, let alone run.  But Wilma was determined. She worked hard, becoming the first American woman to win three gold medals at the Olympics. This is a favorite picture biography about an athlete.

Stephen Curry: The Boy Who Never Gave Up by Anthony Curcio ATHLETE People said Steph Currey was too short, too weak, and not good enough. But he followed his dreams and proved everyone wrong. This picture book biography will be popular with sports lovers.

Above the Rim How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Frank Morrison ATHLETE Elgin grew up during segregation which dictated where he was allowed to play basketball and attend college. Despite this, he was the top recruit for the NBA but traveling with his basketball team, he was often turned away from hotels because of the color of his skin. Eglin protested the discrimination by sitting out of basketball games. His activist actions worked. The NBA put out a statement that they would not give their business to hotels and restaurants that discriminated against Black people. Rich, evocative illustrations and lyrical writing perfectly capture the importance of Eglin’s life and impact.

Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews, illustrated by Bryan Collier MUSICIAN Growing up in New Orleans is a life filled with music. Troy sees his musician family members and follows the bands in parades. One day he finds an old trombone that he dedicates himself to learning. And as you might have guessed, that’s how he got his nickname, Trombone Shorty. Gorgeous Caldecott-winning illustrations! 

A Voice Named Aretha by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Laura Freeman SINGER This picture book shares the story of how Aretha used her pain and passion to become a world-known soul singer. After reading about this iconic, groundbreaking singer, listen to some of her greatest hits.

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Theodore Taylor III MUSICIAN Clive loved music. He really wanted to be a DJ. After moving to the Bronx from Jamaica, he eventually became DJ Kool Herc, known for playing records differently. He had two turntables so he could have breaks for hip-hop dancing. Because of this innovation, he is credited with helping start the movement of hip-hop.

Nina A Story of Nina Simone by Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Christian Robinson MUSICIAN Eunice, the daughter of a female minister, grew up immersed in music. Due to racism, she was denied entry to Julliard and she stopped playing music for a while. But not long. She started playing and then, singing in a bar but she gave herself a stage name so her mom wouldn’t find out– Nina Simone. Not only did Nina become a hugely popular singer despite the racism she faced, but she also used her music as activism. Beautiful artwork throughout.

Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge by Gary Golio, illustrated by James Ransome MUSICIANS Lyrical and poetic, the writing in this gorgeous picture book brings Sunny Rollins’s passion for his saxophone to life. Rollins, a man who believed in honing his craft, decided to forgo performing and spend his days playing more. With saxophone in hand, he walks to the Williamsburg Bridge where he plays anything and everything just as loud as he wants. He’s accompanied by the noises of the city like clanking clanging subway cars, bass notes from tugboats, and squeaking, squawking seagulls.

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn  Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison MUSICIAN Little Melba Doretta Liston was something special! She loved music and taught herself to play the trombone. Her gift led her to become a famous trombone player and arranger. A delightful musician picture book biography for black history month or anytime!

Rule the Music Scene Like Queen Beyonce Knowles  by Caroline Moss, illustrated by Sinem Erkas MUSICIAN You’ll zip through this impressive biography with information, history, conversation, and short chapters all accompanied by cool graphic illustrations.  You don’t have to be a Beyonce fan to enjoy this biography because it’s so well-written and appealing.

Black Leaders

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson Growing up in the prejudicial apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela faced horrible racism and a long time in prison. Despite all of this, his spirit continued to be strong. He eventually realized his dream to improve the country and give equal rights to all people by becoming a strong leader and president of his country. This isn’t an American Black History Month book but equally important in world history.

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson This moving, emotionally compelling poem celebrates the strong, unforgettable, hard-working black Americans who persevered through slavery, prejudice, war, civil rights, and who rise up, cool and unbending. The lush, realistic illustrations feel transcendent. A must-read for Black History Month or any time of year.

Lift Every Voice and Change: A Celebration of Black Leaders and the Words that Inspire Generation by Charnaie Gordon, illustrated by Aeron Cargill One page of biographical text plus an illustration features important Black leaders like Booker T. Washington, Jay-Z, James Baldwin, Katherine Johnson, and Ayo Tometi. Press the buttons in the back to hear the Black leader’s actual voice speaking — which is really cool. This book will educate and inspire you!

Anthologies & More Good Children’s Books (Black History Month)

The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez, illustrated by Lauren Semmer This book marches through the letters of the alphabet, giving children information about black history, black lives, and inspiration. Colorful and chock-full of information and inspiration!

How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNaolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison MacNolia spelled her way to the National Spelling Bee finals despite the challenges she faced, including discrimination at the host hotel and an unfair word given to her that wasn’t on the list and lost her the winning spot. Repetition of the phrase “How do you spell” grounds us in the spelling theme, and Frank Morrison’s beautiful, expressive illustrations add emotional resonance.

Young, Gifted, and Black, Too by Jamia Wilson, illustrated by Andrea Pippins Read about 52 black icons from the past and the present. Each biography includes a bold, graphic illustration. Well written, these short biographies will inspire and educate readers.

Bessie the Motorcycle Queen by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Charlot Kristensen Lyrical, poetic writing and lush, inviting illustrations tell about an independent Black woman named Bessie, a stunt-riding, long-distance motorcycle rider in the 1920s. Bessie loves traveling on her motorcycle throughout the U.S., where she meets mostly curious and kind people, except for in the south with its Jim Crow segregation, meaning she has to be careful about where to get gas and where to stop. Nevertheless, Bessie loves her life on the road and flips a coin to decide where to travel next.

A Black Woman Did That: 42 Boundary-Breaking, Bar-Raising, World-Changing Women by Malaika Adero, illustrated by Chante Timothy (ages 9 – 12) In this celebration of Black women, you’ll meet women and girls who will inspire you . Read the biographies about fascinating and admirable women who are scientists, models, athletes, politicians, dancers, and more. Fascinating writing and fascinating people with impactful, vivid illustrations.

Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison  (ages 8 – 12) Beautifully designed and illustrated, Little Ladies shares 40 one-page biographies of inspiring African-American women. This Black History (Month) book shares about women like Marcelite Harris, Mamie Phipps Clark, and Phillis Wheatley. It’s a superb, inspiring must-read book.

Tani’s New Home by Tanitoluwa Adewumi In this true story, Tani Adewumi lives in Nigeria with his family. But one day, terrorists threaten his father so the family escapes to the U.S. where they live in a homeless shelter. Tani doesn’t love his new home but when he discovers chess, it helps everything. He dedicates himself to the game and goes on to win the New York State Chess Championships.

For Black History Month activities, visit  Here We Read .

KEEP READING

Activism Biographies and Books for Kids

Valentine’s Day Books

Growth Mindset Picture Books

Women’s History Month Biographies

Favorite Children’s Books by Black Authors

Melissa Taylor, MA, is the creator of Imagination Soup. She's a mother, former teacher & literacy trainer, and freelance education writer. She writes Imagination Soup and freelances for publications online and in print, including Penguin Random House's Brightly website, USA Today Health, Adobe Education, Colorado Parent, and Parenting. She is passionate about matching kids with books that they'll love.

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Ten empowering books to read in celebration of Black History Month

Black History Month collection

Discover prize-winning authors and empowering scholarship from Oxford University Press.

• By Jo Wojtkowski
• February 22 nd 2021

Anna J. Cooper once said: “the cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class—it is the cause of human kind, the very birthright of humanity.”

In observance of Black History Month, we are celebrating our prize-winning authors and empowering scholarship spanning a variety of topics across African American history, the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter, the Harlem Renaissance, jazz, and more. Explore our reading list and update your bookshelf with the most recent titles from these eminent authors.

1. The Cause of Freedom: A Concise History of African Americans   by Jonathan Scott Holloway

Jonathan Scott Holloway considers how, for centuries, African Americans have fought for what the Black feminist intellectual Anna Julia Cooper called “the cause of freedom.” At a moment when political debates grapple with the nation’s obligation to acknowledge and perhaps even repair its original sin of slavery,  The Cause of Freedom  tells a story about our capacity and willingness to fully realize the country’s founding ideal: that  all  people were created equal.

2. The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rights   by Thomas C. Holt

Thomas C. Holt provides an informed and nuanced understanding of the origins, character, and objectives of the mid-twentieth-century freedom struggle, shining a light on the aspirations and initiatives of the ordinary people who built the grassroots movement. This groundbreaking book reinserts the critical concept of “movement” back into our image and understanding of the civil rights movement.

3. The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea, Updated Edition   by Christopher J. Lebron

In this updated edition, Christopher J. Lebron presents a condensed and accessible intellectual history that traces the genesis of the ideas that have built into the #BlackLivesMatter movement. In a bid to help us make sense of the emotions, demands, and arguments of present-day activists and public thinkers, this edition includes a new introduction that explores how the movement’s core ideas have been challenged, re-affirmed, and re-imagined during the white nationalism of the Trump years, as well as a new chapter that examines the ideas and importance of Angela Davis and Amiri Baraka as significant participants in the Black Power Movement and Black Arts Movement, respectively.

4. The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke   by Jeffrey C. Stewart

Jeffrey C. Stewart offers the definitive ,  Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award – winning biography of the father of the Harlem Renaissance, based on the extant primary sources of Locke’s life and on interviews with those who knew him personally. Stewart’s thought-provoking biography recreates the worlds of this illustrious, enigmatic man who, in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people, became—in the process—a New Negro himself.

5. Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America   by W. Caleb McDaniel

The unforgettable saga of one enslaved woman’s fight for justice—and reparations—by Pulitzer Prize-winning author W. Caleb McDaniel. This book tells the epic tale of Henrietta Wood, who survived slavery twice and who achieved more than merely a moral victory over one of her oppressors. A portrait of an extraordinary individual as well as a searing reminder of the lessons of her story, this book establishes beyond question the connections between slavery and the prison system that rose in its place.

6. Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole   by Will Friedwald

One of the most popular and memorable American musicians of the 20th century, Nat King Cole is remembered today as both a pianist and a singer, a feat rarely accomplished in the world of popular music. In this complete life and times biography, author Will Friedwald offers a new take on this fascinating musician, framing him first as a bandleader and then as a star.  This chapter  explores the musical output of the King Cole Trio in the peak years of 1943 to 1946 and breaks down the different kinds of songs they favored.

7. The History of Jazz: Third Edition by Ted Gioia

Ted Gioia’s  The History of Jazz  has been universally hailed as the most comprehensive and accessible history of the genre of all time. Acclaimed by jazz critics and fans alike, this magnificent work is now available in an up-to-date third edition that covers the latest developments in the jazz world and revisits virtually every aspect of the genre, bringing the often overlooked women who shaped the genre into the spotlight and tracing the recent developments that have led to an upswing of jazz in contemporary mainstream culture.

8. Play the Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film   by Kevin Whitehead

Author and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead offers a feast for film fanatics and movie-watching jazz enthusiasts. Spanning 93 years of film history, this book is a comprehensive guide to films (and other media) from the perspective of the music itself. Explore  this chapter  to learn more about jazz in film, from early talkies through the birth and development of the swing era.

9. Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong   by Ricky Riccardi

Utilizing a prodigious amount of new research, author Ricky Riccardi traces Armstrong’s mid-career fall from grace and dramatic resurgence. Featuring never-before-published photographs and stories culled from Armstrong’s personal archives,  Heart Full of Rhythm  tells the story of how the man called “Pops” became the first “King of Pop.”

10. Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multi-Racial Jewish Family by Laura Arnold Leibman

While their affluence made them unusual, the Moses’s story represents that of a largely forgotten population: families of mixed African and Jewish ancestry, that constituted as much as 10% of the Jewish communities. This story of siblings sheds new light on the fluidity of race—as well as on the role of religion in racial shift—in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Explore the full Black History Month collection  here .

Jo Wojtkowski is a senior marketing manager for the Trade list at Oxford University Press

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Top 10 books for Black History month

The US civil rights movement is a perennially popular topic that has spawned a massive body of literature.

What interests me about its history is how it engages with questions of race relations that are at the heart of US history: how a nation that became the world's model for democracy was born in the shadow of slavery; how that issue tore apart the nation in a bloody civil war; and how, despite that war, a new system of racial discrimination based on segregation, disenfranchisement and economic exploitation persisted well into the latter half of the 20th century.

I'm also interested in how the civil rights and black power movements emerged from grassroots activism, transforming some aspects of racial discrimination but leaving many other elements intact. The issues the civil rights movement raised are still relevant today – and not only in the US.

1. King: A Critical Biography by David L Lewis

Of the many worthy contenders to choose from, I particularly like Lewis's 1970 biography of Martin Luther King , because it was one of the first to take on the task after King's assassination in 1968. While sympathetic to King, the book is not afraid to point to his shortcomings. Revealingly – and perhaps a reflection of King's acceptance into the pantheon of American heroes – subsequent editions have dropped the word "critical" from the title.

2. Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby

For many years, women's roles in the civil rights movement were neglected. Ransby's study charts the remarkable life of activist Ella Baker, who played an influential organising and leadership role over many decades and helped establish the foundations for King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Ransby offers a fascinating portrait of one of the movement's forgotten true heroes.

3. Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio

Rustin is another previously overlooked figure. Gay, pacifist, communist and Quaker, Bayard Rustin was largely kept out of view so as not to attract unwelcome publicity. He was pivotal in organising the 1963 March on Washington and he was a close advisor to King on nonviolence. D'Emilio's gender studies perspective broaches the touchy subject of sexuality in civil rights studies.

4. In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s by Clayborne Carson

In the 1960s, many organisations contributed to the success of the civil rights movement. Few were as influential as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "snick"). A youth-based movement, SNCC led daring direct action protests such as sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and freedom rides . Carson, a former SNCC member and now the director of the Martin Luther King Jr Papers project , skillfully offers scholarly insight combined with first-hand experience.

5. Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina and the Black Struggle for Freedom by William H Chafe

Chafe's book was one of the first to examine the civil rights movement from a "bottom up" grassroots perspective. He places the protests that launched the 1960 sit-in movement in a much broader context and a longer history of black activism. This was the first book I read as a graduate student, and it provided a model and inspiration for my own PhD thesis, which took the Little Rock school integration crisis of 1957 as its point of departure.

6. Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy by Mary L Dudziak

In recent years, historians have begun to examine the civil rights movement within the context of international relations. Dudziak shows that the cold war made the US far more conscious of how it treated people of colour at home as it competed with the Soviet Union to win non-white hearts and minds abroad. Her book charts new territory in exploring international dimensions that shaped the movement – and how the movement shaped international relations.

7. Simple Justice: The History of Brown v Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality by Richard Kluger

The struggle for desegregation in education preceded and outlasted the civil rights movement's heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. Kluger charts the legal struggle by the NAACP, the US's oldest civil rights organisation, which led to the landmark Brown school desegregation decision in 1954. The history of the Brown decision reminds us that the movement was built on decades of previous black activism. Kluger's talent is to focus on the human story and drama in the midst of describing complex courtroom proceedings.

8. Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North by Thomas J Sugrue

We often think of the civil rights movement as a distinct episode in the history of the US south. More recent studies like Sugrue's have shown that discrimination against African Americans existed nationwide, as did African American struggles to overcome it. His book not only challenges us to reconsider the chronology of the movement beyond the 1950s and 1960s, but also shifts its geographic coordinates to marshal an enormous wealth of research and an impressively diverse range of events.

9. Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness and Race Relations by Brian Ward

The civil rights movement changed US politics and society, but its cultural impact was just as important. Ward's provocative study argues that black music did not just absorb influences but that it profoundly shaped the movement – from the artists and the venues they played, to the music industry and the role of African American-oriented radio. The author's exhaustive research turns up some fascinating episodes that reveal just how profound the movement's impact on popular culture was.

10. Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America by Peniel E Joseph

Was the black power movement part of the civil rights movement, or something separate? Joseph, a leading figure in the new black power studies , makes the case for its singularity in the most comprehensive overview of the topic published to date. Rather than seeing black power as a series of unconnected iconic episodes and images – Black Panthers toting guns , the clenched fist salutes at the 1968 Olympics , Angela Davis 's loud and proud Afro – Joseph presents a picture of a coherent movement with its own distinct politics and sensibilities.

John A Kirk is the author of three books on Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. He is the George W Donaghey professor of history at the University of Arkansas, at Little Rock.

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35 Books To Read During Black History Month And Beyond

From canonical classics to contemporary novels, discovering a new favorite book is a fun way to honor the African American experience. And it shouldn't stop at Black History Month — these books are fun, engaging, emotional, and make for great reads all year long. We're sharing non-fiction books , biographies, poetry, and even a coffee table book, so no matter what kind of reader you are, we've got a new favorite for you.

Black Icons in Herstory

Celebrate Black female icons across history with this colorful and inspiring read. Featuring women from music, film, politics, and human rights, these are 50 role models that made lasting change on the world. ($23)

Cooking From the Spirit 

After going vegan changed Tab's life, she wanted to inspire others to make healthy swaps in their own lives to improve their health. The recipes are creative, encouraging, and easy so that everyone can take part. ($19)

The Other Black Girl

Nella Rogers is the only Black employee at Wagner Books until Harlem-born Hazel take the cubicle beside hers. After striking up a friendship, the women experience a series of events that makes Hazel popular and leaves Nella at square one. When hostile messages start appearing on Nella's desk, she realizes that her job isn't the only thing she should be worrying about. ($12+)

The Freedom Summer Murders

In June of 1964, three young men were lynched by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. Why? Because they were fighting for equal rights. Get a riveting look into a dark passage of history with this account of a brutal act that ignited our nation. ($7+)

Carolina Built

Recently married Josephine N. Leary moves to Edenton, North Carolina to follow her dreams. She teaches herself about business, money, and investing in local real estate as she pours herself into her family, but building her legacy proves to be more difficult than she anticipated as each year passes. ($11+)

If you're looking for a more current look at African American history for your middle schooler, try this Coretta Scott King Honor book. With Hurricane Katrina as the backdrop (but not the star), author Jewell Parker Rhodes weaves a riveting and emotional ride. ($8+)

Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust

This book is more than your average non-fiction pick. In addition to the foreword by Elaine Welteroth , Life, I Swear incorporates personal essays, photography, and a look into the lives of some of the most influential Black women today, this book examines what it means to live with pain, joy, and self-love. ($13+)

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

Danyel Smith takes a look at the history of Black women's music and how it paved the way for American pop as we know it. Moving through the stories of Phillis Wheatley, Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, Smith brings biography, criticism, and memoir together on the page. ($12+)

Clap When You Land

When Camino Rios arrives at the airport to pick up her father, she learns that he's died in a plane crash. Yahaira Rios receives the same news at school, and both girls must figure out how to live their new lives without him. Then they learn about each other. ($12+)

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

Samantha Irby tells childhood stories, recounts awkward encounters, and offers friendship advice in this compelling read. While she expertly pokes fun at past experiences, she balances that humor with equally captivating emotion and truth. ($10)

The Mothers

Nadia Turner is rebellious, beautiful, and mourning her mother's recent suicide. When she gets pregnant from a relationship with pastor's kid Luke, she keeps it a secret from everyone, including her best friend Audrey. Before long, all three are adults navigating a love triangle and wondering what life would be like if they had made different choices. ($10+)

What Color is My World?

Get a kid-friendly tour through African American inventors who changed the world. Curious about who invented open heart surgery or the ice cream scoop? Now you'll know. ($7+)

Such a Fun Age

Alix Chamberlain owns a confidence-driven brand, intent on showing women how to get what they want. Emira Tucker is broke, unsure, and babysits Alix's two-year-old Briar. When Emira is accused of kidnapping Briar while in the grocery store, both women must deal with the effect of the event on their lives, breaking down what they thought they knew about each other in the process. ($10+)

The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir

ER physician Michele Harper is scheduled to join the staff at a Philadelphia hospital when her husband tells her that he can't move with her. Even though Harper must navigate a new job, new city, and new life on her own, her experiences allow her to connect with patients and gain a new understanding of how our brokenness can help one another through healing. ($10+)

Therapy Isn't Just for White People

In Therapy Isn’t Just For White People , Imani explores the racial trauma that many Black Americans experience. Writing about everything from career and religion to body image and dating, she explores the impact that racial trauma has on both personal mental health and a wider worldview. ($19)

The Vanishing Half

The Vignes sisters are identical twins, but after running away from home at 16, their lives are as different as can be. One lives with her Black daughter in her childhood town, and the other secretly passes as white. It doesn't take long for their own daughters' lives to intersect in this story that examines how the past influences our desire to live different lives. ($12)

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award in 2012, Heart and Soul provides a great introduction to African American heritage for kids. Narrated by a 100-year-old woman, this book gives kids perspective on how much has changed (and how much has not) for African Americans in the United States. ($7+)

With the Fire on High

Emoni Santiago dreams of being a chef but has had to make difficult choices ever since she got pregnant freshman year. She focuses on necessity, avoiding everything not worth her time. When she gets into the kitchen, however, Emoni lets go, adding a little bit of magic to everything she cooks. ($9+)

Black Futures

What does it mean to be Black and alive? Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham offer up a multimedia collection of images, memes, essays, tweets, and more to show how daring and thought-provoking Black creators are today. ($7+)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

After some of her cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951, Henrietta Lacks became one of the most important medical tools in modern science. But who was she? This examination of her life and her family, as they collide with ethics, progress, and race, is a New York Times bestseller for a reason. ($9+)

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

This National Book Award winner from author M.T. Anderson will completely alter the way you look at Revolutionary Era America. Provocative and propulsive, this book will keep the pages turning and your mind whirling. ($9+)

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

Identifying with characters is one of the most formative experiences, whether you're a child or a grown adult. Edim uses this anthology, full of essays from Black women writers, to highlight how important it is for everyone to see themselves in literature. ($11+)

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison burst onto the literary scene in 1970 with this powerful debut novel, and she's been a fixture (and Nobel Prize winner) ever since. Starring a young black girl who prays for beauty, this book is as true and stirring now as it was then. ($12+)

Black Light

Artist Kehinde Wiley may be classically trained, but what he delivers is all new. Featuring black men in the poses of 17th and 18th-century nobility, Wiley examines the sociopolitical histories relevant to his subjects. With his use of crazy vibrant colors, this book is a treat for the mind and the eye. ($75)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

This novel is probably one of the most canonical selections for Black History Month. But have you read it? If this stirring reflection on childhood and race passed you by, there's no time like February to pick it up. ($9)

I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know

If you're looking for the perfect baby shower gift or something for your own nursery, grab this children's book by Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson when it hits shelves on March 28. The themes, and even the writing itself, is a comforting and loving reminder about the bonds we form with the children that we love. ($11+)

Red at the Bone

When Melody arrives at her 2001 coming-of-age ceremony, she wears the custom dress her mother wore in 1985 to the ceremony that never happened. Red at the Bone showcases the ambition, identity, and gentrification that Melody and her family live through and examines the effects of making long-lasting decisions at a young age. ($13+)

The Good Lord Bird

In order to survive, runaway slave Henry must pose as a girl. This epic novel of survival on the brink of the Civil War is a must-read and is also the winner of the 2013 National Book Award. ($11+)

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes

As one of the leading voices of the Harlem Renaissance, poet Langston Hughes forever changed the landscape of American poetry. Pick this one up to delight in his gorgeous, rhythmic work. ($14+)

Salvage the Bones

The Boston Globe called it “the first great novel about Katrina," and we agree. This National Book Award winner is tough and all the more beautiful for it. Set on the Mississippi coast, Salvage the Bones follows 14-year-old Esch as she and her family prepare themselves for the storm to come. ($9+)

The Silence of Our Friends

In this semi-autobiographical tale, two families (one black and one white) find common ground during the Civil Rights Movement. Gorgeously illustrated by Nate Powell, this graphic novel is as evocative and enraging as it is beautiful to look at. ($9)

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie isn't just a feminist icon and stylista — she's also a preternatural talent. In this novel, she turns her eye to race and identity, as they apply to Nigerian ex-pats. She combines humor and profundity effortlessly. ($13+)

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

Set during the Depression, this Newbery Award-winning novel follows a proud black family as they struggle against the tides of racism, debt, and staggering injustice. Often assigned in schools, this novel is just as good for adults as it is for teens and tweens. ($8+)

Maud Martha

Esteemed poet Gwendolyn Brooks only ever published one novel, and this is it. You may know her as the first African American to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. In this novel, she uses her expert concision and deeply introspective eye to illuminate the life of a young black woman. ($19)

Malcolm X: A Life in Reinvention

Easily one of the most controversial figures in the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X's life is expertly chronicled in Manning Marable's biography. Hailed as the strongest and most definitive biography on this complicated man, this book makes a great companion to The Autobiography of Malcolm X . ($11+)

Tag us in your favorite Black History Month reads on Instagram and check out our favorite Black App Creators and Soulful Potluck Recipes .

Additional reporting by Chloe Williams .

This post has been updated.

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55 Books by Black Authors That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf

Put these books on your must-read list.

G rowing up as a young Black girl in the South, I saw positive representations of Black and Brown excellence: My family members were college-educated, working professionals and pillars in their communities. They owned churches, shoe stores, homes and property, and they held themselves in high esteem despite some of the negative stereotypes presented on the news and in the media. I fondly remember my mother, who received her bachelor's in English Literature, bringing home books by Black authors—titles like Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America , Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery , The Souls of Black Folk , The Color Purple and The Bluest Eye .

Even in my youth, I was aware of the power of reading , and when my parents shared with me that it was once illegal for Black people to know how to read, I embraced it even more. I devoured books that showcased the vast and uniquely diverse spectrum of Black life. And despite often reading books in school that presented Black people and their ancestry homogeneously, I have always felt empowered in my identity as a result of the knowledge I gained from books and the wise people around me.

In my teenage years, I decided to become an English Literature major, like my mother. I always understood that books provide an entry point into the minds of others. Like an invitation to a well-thought-out event, the best books leave an indelible imprint. Whether teaching or entertaining, the written word has a way of moving people while providing a greater understanding of a person, place or thing. That is certainly true of books by Black authors, which can highlight certain experiences and issues that often don't receive the attention they deserve.

The books on this list include novels, memoirs, biographies and more, all written by Black authors in the past several years. While they deal with a wide range of issues—some are feminist stories, some are books about racism and others are pure entertainment—they all offer important and thought-provoking perspectives. They're also page-turners, and many of them have racked up numerous awards and earned a place in the hearts of millions of readers. You're about to see why.

Join the free Reader's Digest Book Club for great reads, monthly discussions, author Q&As and a community of book lovers.

1. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

There has long been an unspoken connection between the Black and Jewish communities, both of which take center stage in The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store . The story opens with a mystery in 1970s Pennsylvania before jumping back in time to 1925. Here, in the thriving Chicken Hill neighborhood, Black and Jewish people live together, bound by secrets, ambition and survival. With his latest novel, New York Times bestselling author James McBride showcases his powerful storytelling and suggests love and a sense of community have the power to transcend the weight that is often placed on matters of race. It's an excellent read worth savoring. Need more proof? A mere four months after its August 2023 publication, it earned the title of the best book of the year from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

2. The Queen of Sugar Hill by ReShonda Tate

Hattie McDaniel is known for her roles in films like Gone with the Wind , Alice Adams and Song of the South , and she was the first Black woman to win an Oscar. Yet her journey was marred with racism, caricatures and, at times, rejection, not just by Hollywood but also by some of her Black contemporaries as well. Though she was a trailblazer who broke many barriers in Hollywood, many felt as if her portrayal of the mammy stereotype did more damage than good. But bestselling author ReShonda Tate's The Queen of Sugar Hill —a dynamic fictionalized account of McDaniel's life spanning immediately after her Oscar win in the 1940s to the time of her death in 1952—highlights her grit, tenacity and Hollywood experiences, along with the pain she endured at the hands of racist institutions during the height of her career. What I loved most about this novel is that it entertainingly shares the glamour of old Hollywood without shying away from some of the ugly truths about racism in America's history. Lovers of old Hollywood and meaty historical fiction books will adore this one!

Looking for your next great book? Read four of today's bestselling novels in the time it takes to read one with Fiction Favorites !

3. Purple Rising: Celebrating 40 Years of the Magic, Power and Artistry of The Color Purple by Lise Funderburg and Scott Sanders

Named one of Oprah's favorite things of 2023, Purple Rising pays homage to Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Color Purple . When it was published in 1982, Walker's novel became a global phenomenon, giving birth to a 1985 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg, a 2005 Broadway musical and a 2023 film adaptation of the Broadway show. Purple Rising , published in November 2023, celebrates The Color Purple and its contributions to America's literary and film canons with more than 50 original interviews and new images from the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Taraji P. Henson, Blitz Bazawule, Oprah Winfrey and many others. But this book isn't just aesthetically pleasing; it's truly a beautiful compilation of The Color Purple 's legacy.

4. This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets edited by Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander is a literary force: He's won the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award and countless other accolades. He recently received an Emmy for his television show The Crossover , based on his YA book of the same name. And he's currently the new literary and artistic director of the nonprofit education center Chautauqua Institute. So it's not surprising that his new poetry anthology, T his Is the Honey , was named by Publisher's Weekly and Lit Hub as one of the most highly anticipated books of 2024.

This Is the Honey features works by Amanda Gorman, Nikki Giovanni, Clint Smith, Rita Dove and Alice Walker, among many new voices, and centers themes that range from love and parenting to heritage, Black joy, politics and more. If you were a fan of Alexander's recent memoir Why Fathers Cry at Night , you will appreciate this compilation of prolific Black poets , which was published on Jan. 30, 2024.

5. 27 Summers: My Journey to Freedom, Forgiveness and Redemption During My Time in Angola Prison by Ronald Olivier and Craig Borlase

Life in prison and redemption are not often synonymous with one another. Yet in 27 Summers , author Ronald Olivier delivers the true story of his life sentence in prison and the power of God's grace and mercy. His tale is that of an overcomer, and this memoir candidly shares how he gained hope for a renewed life while in a prison cell for 27 summers. Olivier grew up in the Eighth Ward of New Orleans, and by the time he was 12 years old, he'd already witnessed a murder. At 16, he killed someone.

What I love most about this 2023 memoir is that it's not just another sad story about Black men and the prison system. Contrarily, this book is an aspirational testimony to how Olivier believes that it was God who stepped in and changed his life. Though he was convicted of second-degree murder and served almost 30 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Olivier's life changed, and he eventually became the director of chaplaincy at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. This feel-good book sends a message to readers of all backgrounds that even when the odds are against you, you can change for the better.

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6. Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne

If you're a fan of Jane Austen's romance novels , you'll love the latest book from the author of Pride and Protest . Nikki Payne's Sex, Lies and Sensibility , which hits shelves on Feb. 13, 2024, has been dubbed the sexy, modern adaptation of Austen's Sense and Sensibility . When two sisters find out that the only thing they've inherited from their father is a worn-down inn in a quaint Maine town, they roll up their sleeves and get to work revamping it. The only thing standing in their way is a good-looking squatter. If you value diversity and lead characters of color, this is the romance for you: It centers on the rich culture of Black and Indigenous people.

7. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Take My Hand was one of the most highly anticipated fiction books of 2022 , and for good reason. It delves into the forced sterilization of Black women in the American South during the 1970s. Based on true events, the timely story sheds light on the history of the health-care system in America and how it often negatively impacts the lives of those who are Black and poor. Our grim history is explored through the lives of tween sisters Minnie Lee and Mary Alice Relf, who are not sexually active and are being coerced into sterilization without knowing it. Dolen Perkins-Valdez masterfully makes an argument on behalf of the disenfranchised and marginalized and uses historical fiction to amplify the history of racial inequality and injustice in the health-care system. Take My Hand diplomatically cuts to the core of America's long-hidden legacy of traumatizing the Black body.

8. The Personal Librarian by Victoria Christopher Murray and Marie Benedict

The New York Times bestselling The Personal Librarian has been hailed by the Washington Post as "historical fiction at its finest" and tells the story of Belle da Costa Greene, a "White-passing" Black woman who became a powerful force in the art world. Not only was da Costa Greene the personal librarian of J.P. Morgan, but she also built his famous rare books and manuscript collection and became one of America's most prominent librarians. In 1924, she was named the first director of the Pierpont Morgan Library. The Personal Librarian , which came out in 2021, centers her story and provides an opportunity for readers to explore and further examine what it means to be Black in America.

9. Wahala by Nikki May

Published in 2022, Wahala centers on three Anglo-Nigerian pals whose longtime friendship is upset when the charming Isobel bursts into their group. Hailed as a mix between My Sister, the Serial Killer , Sex in the City and Big Little Lies , the book delicately delves into the dynamics of female friendship and explores themes of colorism, multiculturalism and even internalized racism. If you're curious about Nigerian cooking and fashion and want a refreshing take on culture through a biracial lens, this book is the perfect read for you.

10. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Landing on the New York Times bestseller list when it came out in 2022, Black Cake opens with the death of matriarch Eleanor Bennett. She's left her two adult sons a small inheritance: a voice recording and a traditional Caribbean black cake. They raise more questions than answers, hinting at long-buried family secrets. As the men puzzle out their mother's history, they grapple with their estrangement from each other and the spiritual and emotional ramifications of their mother's hidden past. As readers soon find out, secrets, once discovered, can make or break a family. If you find yourself hungry for more after devouring Black Cake , you're in luck. It recently premiered as a Hulu original TV show produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films.

11. Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

If you were mesmerized by Brendan Slocumb's The Violin Conspiracy , there's good news: The author is back with another music-inspired story. (No surprise there: He's a violinist and spent years as a music teacher.) One of Reader's Digest 's most anticipated books of last year, Symphony of Secrets follows a music professor who gets the shock of a lifetime when he discovers that the object of his longtime study may have stolen his music from an unknown Black woman living in the 1920s. The modern-day mystery at the crux of the book uncovers a twisted history that could change the music world.

12. Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

Presidential inaugural poet—the youngest in U.S. history—Amanda Gorman captured the nation's attention in 2021 with her poem "The Hill We Climb." Published later the same year, Call Us What We Carry is a meditation on identity, history and language. This inspirational book is a definite must-read for anyone looking for a powerful poetry collection that shares messages of hope and reckoning.

13. Lone Women by Victor LaValle

From the award-winning author of The Changeling comes another tense horror novel that'll have you flipping pages faster than you can say "keep the lights on." Lone Women takes readers to the American West in 1915, where Adelaide Henry arrives with a steamer trunk. It's locked and must be kept that way—otherwise, people will die. A well-plotted, genre-blending tale that ratchets up the suspense and weaves mystery throughout (what, we ask, is in that trunk?), Lone Women is must-read fiction.

14. Decent People by De'Shawn Charles Winslow

A taut mystery that explores the types of murders that make headlines and see police action, De'Shawn Charles Winslow's 2023 novel, Decent People , tackles race, money and class in segregated '70s North Carolina. When three Black people are murdered and the police seem uninterested in solving the crime, a retiree who has just returned to town takes it upon herself to uncover the secrets.

15. Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

In her powerful 2022 debut novel, Tara M. Stringfellow explores three generations of a Southern Black family, along with long-buried secrets, matrilineal tradition and the healing power of art. When Joan, her mother and her little sister return to the family's ancestral home, family secrets come to light, and the family's lineage becomes an open gateway through which history and unspoken memories can pass. Memphis is a page-turner, and it's the perfect pick for simultaneous mother-daughter reads .

16. Y ou Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston

In the words of literary powerhouse Toni Morrison, "Hurston was one of the greatest writers of our time." And You Don't Know Us Negroes provides another opportunity to step into the mind of the great cultural anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. This collection of essays spans more than 35 years and further solidifies the vibrant Harlem Renaissance writer's place in literary history. Throughout her long career, she reshaped literature, took ownership of words (especially Black vernacular) and archived Black culture in the process.

Edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Genevieve West, this 2022 compilation of Hurston's essays offers her thoughts on Black vernacular, historically Black colleges and universities, religion, voting, jazz, folklore, race relations and many other topics. It includes essays like "What White Publishers Won't Print" and "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." If you're looking to dig deeper into the mind of an unapologetic literary genius, you will definitely want to read this book.

17. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

If you loved Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad and devoured The Nickle Boys (or any of his other works), you'll consider this good news: The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner released another must-read novel in the Ray Carney series in 2023. So if you haven't read the first ( Harlem Shuffle ), now's the time to do so. In Crook Manifesto , you'll visit seedy New York City of the '70s, where Carney and his crew are running heists and other crimes. The city comes alive in Whitehead's skillful hands—it's as much a character as Carney and his endearing partner in crime. If you're looking for outstanding books by Black authors, you can't go wrong with Whitehead.

18. You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen

A powerful YA novel that shines a spotlight on characters often overlooked in literature, You Truly Assumed explores what it means to be both Black and Muslim. When a terrorist attack happens in a community, hatred and Islamophobia begin to grow. That's why Sabriya, a studious and thoughtful teenager, turns to her blog for comfort. But when a post she shares goes viral, it creates a wildly popular space for other Muslim teens to share their thoughts and experiences. Laila Sabreen's You Truly Assumed centers teen voices, the Muslim faith and Islamophobia with great care.

19. God Is a Black Woman by Christena Cleveland

When Christena Cleveland had a crisis of faith, she ended up on a 400-mile walking pilgrimage to the Shrines of the Black Madonnas to find healing. Readers will be able to draw a line from that experience to the publication of this 2022 book. God Is a Black Woman boldly rejects the notion of White, patriarchal Christianity while encouraging readers to connect with the divine outside the context of Western perceptions of the religion. A work of nonfiction , the book tackles themes of theology and healing while exploring the notion of the sacred Black feminine.

20. T he Great Mrs. Elias by Barbara Chase-Riboud

Barbara Chase-Riboud, author of the award-winning Sally Hemings , is back with another book about a powerful woman hidden in history. The Great Mrs. Elias brings to life the story of Hannah Elias, one of the wealthiest Black women in the early 1900s. An unsolved murder and case of mistaken identity prompt the police to knock on Hannah's door, setting off a suspenseful tale studded with scandal and intrigue.

21. Black Girls Must Be Magic by Jayne Allen

The second installment in the Black Girls Must Die Exhausted book series, this 2022 title tackles what it means to be a Black woman and single mother. In Black Girls Must Be Magic , Tabitha Walker is at a crossroads in her life: She recently found out that she's pregnant. As the pressures of life mount, she must balance and prioritize self-love all while trying to keep her proverbial village together. This debut novel is a bit magical itself, combining an engaging plot, relatable situations and characters you'll absolutely root for.

22. Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

Hailed as the "buzziest book of 2021" and optioned by Netflix in a seven-figure deal, Beasts of Prey is your new reading obsession. The first in a three-book fantasy series , it follows two Black teens as they journey into a magical jungle to track down a monster that has been menacing their city for a century. The book takes inspiration from Greek and Roman mythology, as well as Ayana Gray's discovery of Octavia Butler. It's packed with monsters, mythos and lots of Black girl magic.

23. We Are N ot Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

Many believe that the bonds of true friendship can never be broken, but what happens when issues of race fray the ties that bind? In We Are Not Like Them , a childhood friendship is tested by the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager by a White police officer. In this riveting book club pick , themes of friendship, marriage and career ambition collide against a backdrop of racial tension. Published in 2021, this is a timely story that's perfect for a buddy read with friends.

24. Hope and Glory by Jendella Benson

Jendella Benson's Hope and Glory , a heartbreaking yet hopeful family drama published in 2022, centers on a Nigerian immigrant family in London. With the death of her father, Glory Akindele returns home after living her most fabulous life in California to find her family has fallen apart. In her quest to reunite them, she learns a secret that could totally destroy everything she's working to reconcile.

25. Something Good by Vanessa Miller

If women's fiction is your go-to genre, you'll want to snap up this 2022 story that's sure to inspire. Vanessa Miller's Something Good is a redemptive tale about three women linked through an accident that left a man paralyzed. This inspirational story delves into themes of guilt, anger and forgiveness—read it when you need a pick-me-up. And if you love a good story about strong Black women, be sure to check out Miller's latest book, The American Queen .

26. Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Rom ance, Being Seen and Happily Ever Afters edited by Jessica P. Pryde

A play on the phrase Black Lives Matter , the title of this 2022 essay collection is a reminder that all aspects of Black lives have significance. And that includes Black romance, something modern entertainment is still sorely lacking. Black Love Matters is an insightful essay anthology that centers the voices of Black readers, writers and cultural commentators. It shares the diverse ways in which Black people express and perceive love.

27. Peace Is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life by Morgan Harper Nichols

Life is stressful, but Morgan Harper Nichols's 2022 self-help book is a balm for trying times. In Peace Is a Practice , she invites readers to live in the present while actively pursuing and embracing peace. The beautiful book gently nudges us to let go of regrets, pursue meaning and purpose in life, and allow faith to usher in confidence while shoving anxiety and fear out the door. Through it, we can explore different ways of pursuing peace in our daily lives. It's one of the best books by Black authors for finding inspiration. And if you like to keep your bookshelves stocked with encouraging books, check out Nichols's You Are Only Just Beginning , a beautiful, colorful read full of motivation .

28. Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black

Jacob and Isaac haven't spoken in years, but now that he's on his deathbed, Jacob has something to say about family history, relationships and the terrible way he reacted when Isaac came out. With 2022's Don't Cry for Me , Daniel Black provides a peek inside the often-strained relationships between Black fathers and their gay sons. Poignant, timely and beautifully written, this LGBTQ book centers on themes of ancestral legacy, generational pain and family dynamics.

29. Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

Pheby Brown isn't simply enslaved. The protagonist of Sadeqa Johnson's 2021 novel, Yellow Wife , lives in one of the most harrowing slave jails in all of Virginia. Though promised her freedom at the age of 18, she soon learns that nobody keeps a promise to a slave. This book, which details her fight for freedom, incorporates elements of the true story of Robert Lumpkin, one of the most brutal slave traders in the South. A definite must-read, it has drawn comparisons to Solomon Northup's 12 Ye ars a Slave and Dolen Perkins-Valdez's Wench .

30. Ida B. the Queen : The Extraordinary Life an d Legacy of Ida B. Wells by Michelle Duster

Ida B. Wells was born into slavery in 1862, but in 2020—nearly nine decades after her death—she won a Pulitzer Prize. Written by Wells's great-granddaughter Michelle Duster, 2021's Ida B. the Queen brings to life the legacy of a woman who was a force during the civil rights era and was considered a threat to the FBI. A truly incredible Black American you probably didn't learn about in history class, Wells was an investigative journalist, suffragist and anti-lynching activist who lived a life committed to fighting racial injustice and inequality. This nonfiction book dynamically delves into the impact she had on American society during a pivotal time in this country.

31. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Released in 2021, Zakiya Dalila Harris's debut novel, The Other Black Girl , delves into the microaggressions that editorial assistant Nella Rogers experiences as the only Black employee at her job with Wagner Books, a story Harris wrote while working as an editorial assistant herself. This smartly written satire examines issues of race, authenticity and workplace culture in a way that many of us can relate to. But it does so much more—expect thrills, twists and a genre-bending story you won't be able to put down. When you've turned the final page and are hankering for more, give the Hulu television series, which debuted in September 2023 to great critical acclaim, a binge-watch.

32. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

The caste system isn't something that happens only in faraway places—it's something that happens right here in America. That's what Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson explores in Caste , her 2020 book about the rigid hierarchy of human rankings. In addition to her unflinching look at the United States, she delves into the caste system in India and Nazi Germany as well.

So what, exactly, does caste mean? "Caste is the granting or withholding of respect, status, honor, attention, privileges, resources, the benefit of the doubt and human kindness to someone on the basis of their perceived rank or standing in the hierarchy," Wilkerson has said. "What some people call racism could be seen as merely one manifestation of the degree to which we have internalized the larger American caste system."

Want more? Wilkerson's bestseller was adapted for film, and the resulting flick—2023's Origin , directed by Ava Duvernay—was recently released to rave reviews.

33. Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne

Evette Dionne won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor award for her 2020 novel, Lifting as We Climb . In it, she examines the contributions of Black women and their efforts in ending slavery, fighting for the right to vote and more. This book also examines the fight for Black women to be treated equally by their White peers, highlighting the reality that many White suffragists did not treat their Black female counterparts well or fairly.

34. Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson

In this poignant memoir , legendary actress Cicely Tyson shares her truth about her six decades in the entertainment industry, as well as the lessons about love, life and loss she learned along the way. Just as I Am was published just two days before Tyson passed away in late January 2021, and it quickly topped multiple bestseller lists. If you don't know much about Tyson, now is the time to learn. She was known for her integrity, her elegance and grace, and her unflinching commitment to taking on only those roles that elevated the consciousness of others and presented Black female characters with dignity.

35. Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

Black Buck is a New York Times bestseller that gets real about the many compromises Black people make while navigating America's workforce. Mateo Askaripour's debut novel is a racial satire, and it centers on a Black salesman who works at an extremely successful start-up and comes up with a plan to help young people of color infiltrate the country's sales force. It dives into code-switching and ultimately shows how this linguistic back-and-forth takes a toll psychologically and emotionally over time.

36. How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

Released in 2021, this nonfiction book by Atlantic writer and poet Clint Smith explores America's history as a slave-owning nation and examines its many monuments and landmarks in relation to slavery. How the Word Is Passed reveals how important aspects of our country's history are often hidden in plain sight and how they have shaped our world.

37. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Are you a fan of historical fiction? You won't want to miss this page-turner, which reveals how the memory and residue of captivity still lingers generations later. It tells the story of two sisters—one who was captured and sold into slavery and the other who marries an Englishman and lives in a castle. Themes of generational trauma, blood memory and colonization run deep. Since its publication in 2016, Homegoing has received numerous literary accolades, including the Hemingway Foundation PEN Award, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature and the American Book Award.

38. Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

Open Water , Caleb Azumah Nelson's 2021 debut novel, digs into race, masculinity and love. In this beautiful story, two Black British adults who both received scholarships to private schools, fall in love. She's a dancer, and he's a photographer, but while the two artists seem akin to soul mates, their relationship is tested by fear and violence. This novel explores the psychological and emotional trauma that can accompany being seen as just a "Black body."

39. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Set in a fictional Louisiana town in 1848, The Vani shing Half follows twin sisters Stella and Desiree. Both have light skin and hazel eyes. Both feel the impact of the hierarchy of racial constructs. Yet their futures stand in stark contrast. This sweeping, generational novel examines themes of "passing," colorism and the concept of race. This thought-provoking work from Brit Bennett, author of The Mothers , was named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR , the Washington Post, the New York Times and even Barack Obama.

40. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi's follow-up to Homegoing is equally stunning and completely different. In 2020's Transcendent Kingdom , she tells the story of a Ghanaian family based in Alabama that is greatly impacted by depression, grief, science, faith and love. Gifty, who's working on her PhD in neuroscience at Stanford, is determined to understand the science behind all the pain she has seen in her family. But in the process of looking for answers, she is drawn back to the faith of her youth.

41. Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

The 2021 prequel to the blockbuster YA novel The Hate U Give offers a glimpse into Garden Heights nearly two decades earlier. Familiarity with Thomas's debut novel is nice but not necessary. In Concre te Rose , she provides a thorough and introspective look inside the psyche of the 17-year-old son of an infamous drug lord and the many challenges he faces. While the protagonist, Maverick Carter, appears to have everything under control, his world is upended when he finds out he has a child. He's forced to decide whether he wants to aspire to the drug-lord legacy of his father or break free from that generational pattern to give his child a different life. Some good news for bargain hunters: The e-book is free on Kindle Unlimited .

42. The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne

This biography of Malcolm X chronicles the iconic leader's life from his childhood in Nebraska to his death in Harlem in 1965, focusing on his integral role in the struggle for Black freedom. The Dead Are Arising made quite a splash when it debuted in 2020, and it has since racked up a number of accolades, including the 2021 Pulitzer Prize and the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

43. Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

Travel back to 1921 with Randi Pink's Angel of Greenwood . In this YA novel, set in a neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, dubbed Black Wall Street, 17-year-old Isaiah Wilson, an avid reader, and Angel Hill, a studious, Bible-loving 16-year-old, come together to help their English teacher run a mobile library. All is well until one fateful day—May 31, 1921—when their city is attacked by a White mob. For those who aren't aware, that event subsequently became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, and it left 36 people dead. The 2021 publication of Pink's novel marked the 100-year anniversary of the massacre and serves as a reminder of the events that get lost in history.

44. White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue … and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation by Lauren Michele Jackson

In 2019's White Negroes , author Lauren Michele Jackson calls for a brutally honest look at cultural appropriation . The book's message asserts that while America and Americans have profited from Blackness, Black pioneers are often left behind when it comes to the benefits. A mixture of narrative, scholarship and critique, Jackson's exploration of the topic is insightful and highlights how this cultural theft has exacerbated inequality in this country.

45. Aftershocks: A Memoir by Nadia Owusu

Family secrets leave an emotional residue, and the people involved in them have to somehow press through the pain. That's the throughline of 2021's Aftershocks , which deeply cuts into Nadia Owusu's experiences as a woman who has lived in many different nations, has had many different career paths and has grappled with secrets come to light. Of her writing, Owusu has said, "A story is a flashlight and a weapon. I write myself into other people's earthquakes. I borrow pieces of their pain and store them in my body. Sometimes, I call those pieces compassion. Sometimes, I call them desecration."

46. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Warning: You won't be able to put this one down. Kiley Reid's debut novel, published in 2019, examines race and privilege , raising powerful questions about identity, class, interpersonal relationships and more. Emira, a babysitter in the home of Alix, a blogger and public speaker, learns of her employer's racist past through Alix's ex, who Emira is coincidentally dating. But nothing is ever as it seems when it comes to well-meaning racists. Such a Fun Age immediately became a New York Time s bestseller and went on to win the African American Literary Award in 2020. If you're a fan, be sure to check out Reid's newest novel, Come and Get It .

47. You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Leah Johnson's debut YA novel, which came out in 2020, centers on Liz Lighty, a high schooler who devises a plan to leave her small town of Campbell, Indiana. With no other way to earn the cash, she joins a prom contest with the hopes of winning scholarship money and finds herself with a crush on one of the other girls in the competition. Yo u Should See M e in a Crown is the fun, queer romance novel you (and your teen) have been waiting for. And don't miss Johnson's sophomore effort, Rise to the Sun .

48. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

How's this for the punishment not fitting the crime: Amal, a talented 16-year-old, is put in prison for throwing a punch. So begins this novel in verse, a story about the fiercely sympathetic Amal and his fight for justice. Award-winning author Ibi Zoboi co-wrote this gem with Yusef Salaam, who spent six years in prison as a result of a wrongful conviction. Published in 2020, Punching the Air humanizes the many multidimensional human beings behind bars who have had their lives interrupted by an unjust and racially biased judicial system and institutional racism .

49. Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

This thought-provoking, riveting mystery shines a bright light on rape culture, impressionable teenage girls and the older male predators who can spot vulnerability a mile away. Enchanted Jones aspires to become a professional singer, so she's thrilled when R&B artist Korey Fields notices her at an audition. But things don't turn out as she planned. See, Korey is dead. And though she can't remember the night before, Enchanted knows that's blood on her hands … Like Tiffany D. Jackson's gripping debut, Allegedly , 2020's Grown is a tightly plotted mystery full of twists and turns.

50. T he Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph

It's not enough to say that you're not racist—you need to be anti-racist . And even if you mean well, there are a few things you need to learn to be a true ally. This honest and powerful book, published in 2020, offers up the author's personal experiences with everyday racism, along with the experiences of well-known artists and activists. It features interviews with Toni Tone, writer Angie Thomas and April Reign, creator of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. What makes The Black Friend so potent is that Frederick Joseph speaks directly to White people as a Black person—a Black friend—and highlights the dangers of Black tokenism in an honest, unapologetic manner.

51. Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown

Morris Award finalist Black Girl Unlimited —a semi-autobiographical tale infused with magical realism —centers on a girl from the East Side whose childhood in a rough neighborhood has been far from perfect. When she transfers to a wealthy school on the West Side, she finds inspiration. But at the same time, depression creeps in as she struggles to understand the intersection of the two worlds she's living in. The guilt and pressure that often accompany those who "make it out" of their disenfranchised neighborhoods and communities make for an important sub-narrative in the book, which came out in 2020.

52. Black Girl Magic by Mahogany L. Browne

Designed to encourage young Black girls and teens to embrace their beauty and brilliance, this poem was published in 2018 as a form of resistance to society's message that Black girls aren't enough. Within the pages of this poetry book , Mahogany L. Browne has crafted words of empowerment and strength that will inspire young Black girls to embrace their own unique "magic." If you have little ones, this is one of the best children's books by Black authors to read with them.

53. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

This thrilling fantasy novel received one of the biggest YA publishing deals ever, had film rights scooped up by Fox 2000 Pictures and became an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller when it was released in 2018. The first in a three-book YA series , Children of Blood and Bone is a West African–inspired fantasy that will appeal to teens and adults alike. Pick up this novel for exquisite world-building, well-drawn characters, magic and a fight for power. Children of Blood and Bone is a thrilling read that, while strictly fantastical, explores relevant issues of police brutality, discrimination and violence.

54. Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown

Next time you're in the mood for magic, pick up Diane Marie Brown's multigenerational historical fiction novel, Black Candle Women , which will transport you to 1950s New Orleans. The 2023 novel introduces readers to four generations of Black women dealing with a family curse: Anyone they fall in love with ends up dead. The narrative sails through a present timeline and the past, when the women's line was originally cursed. Fans of Practical Magic will go wild for this story—it's a perfectly witchy read for Halloween.

55. Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson

Based on the true story of the women of the Six Triple Eight—the primarily Black postal battalion of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps—Kaia Alderson's 2021 novel, Sisters in Arms , is like a slice of hidden history. Dive into the lives of the fictional Grace Steele and Eliza Jones, two Black women members shipping out with the battalion on a mission to deliver mail in the European Theatre of World War II. This timely book is a great read for history buffs looking to learn more about Black women and the role they played in World War II.

Why trust us

At Reader's Digest , we're committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. For this piece, Lynnette Nicholas tapped her background as an entertainment journalist with more than 10 years of experience writing about culture, books and the arts to curate this list. We relied on reputable primary sources, verified all facts and data, and backed them with credible sourcing. We will revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team , our contributors and our editorial policies .

The post 55 Books by Black Authors That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf appeared first on Reader's Digest .

Lasting Impact: 25 Recent Picture Book Biographies for Black History Month

Combining storytelling and history, picture book biographies bring famous figures to life. This Black History Month, we're highlighting some recently published and beautifully illustrated books whose subjects have made a lasting impact by breaking barriers, overcoming obstacles, and fighting for change. Writers, musicians, activists, athletes, and more—young people will learn about and be inspired by their stories. 

Explore Black History Month at NYPL.

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by Michelle Meadows; illustrated by Jamiel Law

This first-ever picture book biography of the legendary writer and activist introduces readers to this passionate Black man who discovered his true power in the written word, which opened the world to him as he used his voice fearlessly. 

Extraordinary Magic: The Storytelling Life of Virginia Hamilton

by Nina Crews

Celebrating one of America’s most celebrated children’s book authors and the first African American to win the Newbery Medal, this beautiful picture book told through interconnected poems shows how she found her voice in her writing as she began a career defined by her roots.

Fighting With Love: The Legacy of John Lewis

by Lesa Cline-Ransome; illustrated by James E. Ransome

In a beautiful prose telling, the story of a groundbreaking civil rights leader, John Lewis. John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama to join the fight for civil rights. He was only a teenager. He soon became a leader of a moment that changed a nation. Walking at the side of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Lewis was led by his belief in peaceful action and voting rights. Today and always his work and legacy will live on.

Invincible: Fathers and Mothers of Black America

by Wade Hudson; illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Exploring the birth of Black America, an acclaimed Black author teaches readers about the little-known men and women who suffered and struggled to build a country, a culture and institutions, showing the slow process by which Black Americans fought for justice over the course of many generations.

Major Taylor: World Cycling Champion

by Charles R. Smith Jr.; illustrated by Leo Espinosa

One hundred years ago, one of the most popular spectator sports was bicycle racing, and the man to beat was Marshall “Major” Taylor, who set records in his teens and won his first world championship by age twenty. The first African American world champion in cycling and the second Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport, Major Taylor faced down challenge after challenge, not least the grueling Six-Day Race, a test of speed, strength, and endurance. 

Ida B. Wells Marches for the Vote

by Dinah Johnson; illustrated by Jerry Jordan

Painting a vivid portrait of one of the most influential civil rights leaders and her critical role in the Women’s March of 1913, this picture book recounts how Ida B. Wells worked tirelessly to fight for an America that was fair to everyone, regardless of race and gender. 

Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller

by Breanna J. McDaniel; illustrated by April Harrison

This picture book biography chronicles the life of the beloved librarian, storyteller and the first Black coordinator of children’s services at all branches of the New York Public Library who championed books, writers and teachers centering around Black stories that were both educational and inspirational. 

You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce

by Chiquita Mullins Lee and Carmella Van Vleet; illustrated by Jennifer Mack-Watkins

Based on the true story of woodcarver Elijah Pierce and his community barber shop in Columbus, Ohio, this picture book follows a young boy who walks in for an ordinary haircut and walks out having discovered a lifetime of art. 

Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist

by Liz Montague

This inspiring picture-book biography of the first Black female cartoonist in America, who tackled racism, pollution and social justice—and made the world listen—chronicles her life and how her work inspires countless artists today.

Rooting for Plants: The Unstoppable Charles S. Parker, Black Botanist and Collector

by Janice N. Harrington; illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

In this inspiring STEM/STEAM picture book biography, children will meet the Black botanist and mycologist, who, after witnessing firsthand the ecological devastation that WWI caused, made it his mission to make things grow, not destroy them. 

Chef Edna: Queen of Southern Cooking

by Melvina Noel; art by Cozbi Cabrera

In this picture book biography, children are introduced to African American culinary legend Edna Lewis, who carried her Southern traditions to New York, where she became a celebrated chef and introduced the world to the flavors of her home. 

Jerry Changed the Game!: How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever

by Don Tate; illustrated by Cherise Harris

Introduces readers to Jerry Lawson, a Black engineer who changed the videogaming world forever by building a videogame console that allowed players to switch out cartridges and who founded the first African American-owned videogame company in the country.

Traveling Shoes: The Story of Willye White, US Olympian and Long Jump Champion

by Alice Faye Duncan; illustrated by Keith Mallett

This never-before-told story of Black sprinter and long-jumper Willye B. White chronicles her journey to competing in and winning the 1956 and 1964 Olympics, showing how her mantra, "I believe in me," helped her overcome obstacles and the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement.

Mary's Idea

by Chris Raschka

Part biography, part celebration of imagination and the creative process, this picture book pays tribute renowned American jazz pianist and composer, Mary Lou Williams, who is often overlooked in the canon of American music because of her gender and skin color.

Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better

by Glenda Armand and Kim Freeman; illustrated by Keith Mallett

Spotlighting a little-known visionary, this inspiring picture book biography tells the story of African American entrepreneur Augustus Jackson, aka “the father of ice cream,” who, in the 1800s, created this frozen treat during his time as a White House cook. 

Ketanji: Justice Jackson's Journey to the U.S. Supreme Court

by Kekla Magoon; illustrated by Laura Freeman

This inspiring picture book biography traces the life of Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is making history as the first Black woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice, showing her incredible achievements as she fights for justice and equality. 

Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City That Grew Prince Rogers Nelson

by Angela Joy; illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara

Before Prince became one of the bestselling musicians of all time, he was a boy named Prince Rogers Nelson. Often overlooked and abandoned, he found his own inspiration in the world around him—teaching himself how to play the guitar, the piano, the drums, and much more. And when he grew up, he used these small details of the everyday to make music, and make the world around him more colorful. 

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll

by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

This warm, inspiring story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a pioneering Black artist whose rural roots inspired rock-and-roll, shows how she made her dream become reality through hard work and dedication. 

This Is Tap: Savion Glover Finds His Funk

by Selene Castrovilla; illustrated by Laura Freeman

This is a story about tap dancing, a distinctly American art form that blended English-Scottish-Irish clog dancing with African tribal dancing.  And it’s about a boy, Savion Glover—who was born to feel the music—to dance and perform and invent. And to delight and awe audiences with the movements of his body.  

Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy Decarava

by Gary Golio; art by E.B. Lewis

This visually stunning portrait of Black photographer Roy DeCarava, a child of the Harlem Renaissance and an artistic collaborator of Langston Hughes, takes readers through 1940s Harlem where beauty is everywhere as he immortalizes and documents the lives of ordinary Black people.

The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music

by Roberta Flack with Tonya Bolden; illustrated by Hayden Goodman

Growing up in a Blue Ridge mountain town, little Roberta dreamed of having her own piano. When her daddy spies an old, beat-up upright piano in a junkyard, he knows he can make his daughter's dream come true. He brings it home, cleans and tunes it, and paints it a grassy green. And soon the little girl has an instrument to practice on, and a new dream to reach for—one that will make her become a legend in the music industry.

Unstoppable: How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington

by Michael G. Long; illustrated by Bea Jackson

This powerful and triumphant picture book biography tells the story of Bayard Rustin, an openly gay civils rights leader, who, with the support of Dr. King and future congressman John Lewis, led 250,000 people to the doorstep of the U.S. government demanding change. 

Coretta: The Autobiography of Coretta Scott King

by Coretta Scott King, with the Reverend Dr. Barbara Reynolds; illustrated by Ekua Holmes; adapted by Julia Sooy

This picture book adaptation of her critically acclaimed adult memoir paints a vivid portrait of the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a singular 20th-century American civil and human rights activist who fought for justice against all odds, becoming an unforgettable champion of social change. 

To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights

by Angela Dalton; illustrated by Lauren Semmer

To Boldly Go tells the true story of Nichelle Nichols and how she used her platform on Star Trek to inspire and recruit a new generation of diverse astronauts and many others in the space and STEM fields.

How Do You Spell Unfair?: Macnolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee

by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Frank Morrison

A true story of determination and groundbreaking achievement follows eighth grade African American spelling champion MacNolia Cox, who left Akron, Ohio, in 1936 to compete in the prestigious National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., only to be met with prejudice and discrimination.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.