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What we know today as Black History Month first started as “Negro History Week” in 1926. As one of the first scholars to study African-American history, historian and author, Carter G. Woodson saw it fit to celebrate African-American life and legacy and to educate others about the rich history of the Black culture. In 1976, the week-long celebration turned into the entire month of February to correspond with Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays. To continue Woodson’s passion for education and African-American history, here are 10 books by Black authors to read this month and kick start your reading list for the duration of the year.
1. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris
In Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, Author Monique W. Morris explores the harsh reality of African-American girls’ struggle in the American School System. Morris researched and documented school experiences of Black girls all across the country for four years and tells their story of the animosities they faced in the classroom and judicial system. Though the stigma is a big one, she focuses on Black girls’ journey to push through their pushout of the system they were taught to trust.
2. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped with the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly tells the untold story of four African-American women behind some of NASA’s most successful space missions. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, all great mathematicians, served as “human computers” at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory making history like no one had before. Though they were employed by Langley’s all-black computing group, their genius was called on to initiate some of NASA’s greatest successes and would leave a legacy at the world-renowned American space program forever.
3. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Davis
Political activist, author and speaker, Angela Y. Davis examines today’s freedom struggle and remembers the legacy of past liberation struggles in her new book Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement a collection of essays, interviews, and speeches. She highlights the importance of “black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism.” From the Black Freedom Movement in the sixties to today’s issues in Ferguson and Palestine, Davis challenges everyone to fight for humanity and understands that just as it has been, freedom truly is a constant struggle.
4. Queen Sugar: A Novel by Natalie Baszile
When Charley Bordelon suddenly inherits 800 acres of sugarcane she is forced to leave her glamorous Los Angeles life for hard labor and drama in Louisiana. When she and her 11-year-old daughter move to be close to family, Charley learns just how hard it is to make her new living in the contemporary south while managing a dying farm and trying to rebuild ties with her estranged family and possible new love life.
5. Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
In Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, Author and Scholar, Michael Eric Dyson desperately urges the people of America to make a change. Dyson addresses issues that people of color face in today’s racial battle and what White America needs to know in order to clearly understand those issues and how they affect them. In his cry for a revolution, he says that everyone must be ready to face the gruel truth about the Black struggle in order for true progress to be made.
6. Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance by Simone Biles
Olympic Gold Medalist, Simone Biles tells her story of good times and bad times from the time she was a child in foster care to her poise on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. In her personal narrative, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, Biles shares details of her hard work and dedication to gymnastics, passion for her faith and love for her family. She discusses her passion to follow her dreams and encourages her readers to live the life of their dreams themselves.
7. Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin
Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of the late Trayvon Martin have just released a book honoring their son. Trayvon was 17 years old when he was walking in his Florida neighborhood with candy and juice when he was fatally shot by a neighborhood watchman. The teen’s killer was released from prison shortly after being detained and later acquitted. Martin’s death caused outrage and concern about the justice system. In this intimate story, Martin’s parents discuss their journey of grief, injustice, and how they are working to end gun violence everywhere.
8. You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson
Comedian Phoebe Robinson decided to finally write her thoughts on paper. In You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, the stand-up comedian talks about the struggles Black women endure everyday. From being told she “talks white” to being followed around in stores by security guards, Robinson tells anecdotes of her life as a Black woman and analyzes the cultural biases in her clever and humorous way.
9. They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowrey
In They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement, Washington Post writer Wesley Lowery traveled around the country to speak to citizens in communities most recently affected by police brutality to discuss and examine the response to Michael Brown’s death and other fatal incidents involving heavily policed areas. The journalist traveled to Ferguson, Cleveland, Charleston, and Baltimore and posed the question “What does the loss of any one life mean to the rest of the nation?” to families and communities affected by the matter. Wesley discusses the history of police violence in the Black community and takes a look at the ongoing battle of civil unrest between African-Americans and the American justice system.
10. The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
Producer, actress, and writer Issa Rae puts her completely awkward and quirky life on display in her first novel, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. What was a Youtube series can now be found at your local bookstore. Issa tells all about her life as an awkward Black introvert. Throughout the book, she tells clever, unimaginable stories that help the reader to truly understand why she titled her book and personal life The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.
