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Black History Month Literature. MUST READ!
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items Happy black history month. If you're looking for black literature these are great places to start. Discover essential readings in Black literature with this curated list of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, and groundbreaking autobiographies. Whe...
Sections
5
Fiction
Black Feminism & Gendered Politics
Biographies and Autobiographies
Poetry & Plays
Non-fiction, Essays
Fiction
A insightful fictional piece detailing the experiences from African immigrants in the USA and UK. Culutral differnces between black people and navigating race as a black person coming from a predominantly black nation to a predominantly white one
Americanah: A Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A futuristic, work in fiction for the non trauma lover
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
A must read to understand black intra-communal relationals post slavery. A stunningly written fictional depiction of the black community that explores black gendered dynamics, parent-child dynamics, colorsim, as well as white and black dynamics in so...
The Bluest Eye (Vintage International) - Morrison, Toni
perspectives from a caribbean American author living in NYC
Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall
A fictional piece that explores gendered relations and oppression in the black community
The Color Purple: Alice Walker - Books
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Southern Love Story
Black Feminism & Gendered Politics
A new vision for healthy relationships and love amidst a loveless racist, classist, and sexist society. LOve is a verb
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
If you'd like to read about the intersection of gender race and class, Angela Davis details the reality along these lines from the times of slavery to present day
Women, Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis
For men and women alike who want to get into black feminist thought and gendered equality
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
Biographies and Autobiographies
Insight into the lives of the female Black Panther Members. The survellience and terror employed by the FBI, and US politice state against a revolutionary party
An Autobiography by Assata Shakur & Angela Davis
Historical context
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
The ultimate classic. Changes how you understand how slavery works
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Poetry & Plays
The Tler Pery movie did this no justice
For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide
Easily digestable poetry for the non poem lovers because Nikki Giovanni's work is very accessible and boasts no pretention. Poetry from the late, great, and passionate, Nikki Giovanni.
A Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears & Laughter
Early poetry from an enslaved African American girl. A must read for poetry lovers that they simply don't assign in school.
Phillis Wheatley: Books
Find out why the caged bird sings
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Non-fiction, Essays
A deep analysis on racial politics
The Wretched of the Earth: Fanon, Frantz
Essays from a queer black feminist
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
A must read for black people who grew up in predominantly white spaces, and non-black people who grew up in black deficient spaces
Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine
If you want some insight into the lives of the Black NYC working class in the 60s, this is a must read. If you've every walked along 125th in Harlem and wondered why it was like that this is a must read.
The Fire Next Time: Baldwin, James: 9780679744726
Exploring systemic oppression and how mass incareration functions as the new slavery
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration