Friday Reads: Black History Month
“For me the history of the place of Black people in this country is so varied, complex and beautiful. And impactful.” – Toni Morrison, from the documentary film Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.
Since 1976, Black History Month has been observed every February. The commemoration grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. To further educate and inspire, we present the following award-winning and acclaimed memoir and history. Please also visit Penguin Random House’s All Ways Black for more recommendations. Stay tuned for Black History titles for young readers!
One woman’s unrelenting mission to reclaim her ancestors’ history and honor their lineage pits her against one of the country’s most powerful institutions: Harvard University.
An acclaimed historian narrates the stories of newly emancipated children who were re-enslaved by white masters through apprenticeships and their parents fights to free them.
From the son of legendary civil rights organizer Robert P. Moses: a brilliant, unflinching memoir about becoming Black in America that interweaves voices from 3 generations of the Moses family.
A memoir of will, success, and the luck we make—from the founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group and one of the most influential figures in the multibillion-dollar sports industry.
“One of the greatest stories of growing up in America’s ghettos and overcoming adversity.”—Jay-Z
A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till, laying bare the global forces that converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was hidden for so long.
NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER
A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.
This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER
A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft a “deeply layered and insightful” (The Washington Post) testament to people who are left out of the archives.
JUST MERCY: A STORY OF JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION by Bryan Stevenson
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION
WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR NONFICTION
A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.
“[Bryan Stevenson’s] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country.”—John Legend
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER
Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone)
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S FIVE BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
In this beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson presents a definitive and dramatic account of one of the great untold stories of American history: the Great Migration of six million Black citizens who fled the South for the North and West in search of a better life, from World War I to 1970.
For more on these titles visit Black History
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