Markita's Book Bites: Black History Month
African American History Month was first created in September 1915 (50 years after the 13th Amendment was enacted for the abolishment of slavery) by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland. Since 1976, the U.S. has officially identified February as Black History Month. The purpose of Black History is to recognize the accomplishments by African Americans to society in fields such as STEM, politics, entertainment, sports, etc. Below are some notable reads that have been lauded in American literature for decades, followed by a more extensive list of recommended titles.
An essential read to understanding African American history would be Roots by Alex Haley.
If you are interested in poetry, try Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes.
For the younger ones, we have Sulwe by the Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, as well as the beautiful tribute depicted in Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes.
RECOMMENDED TITLES
Biography/Autobiography
Manchild
in the Promised Land, Claude Brown
The
Bondwoman's Narrative, Hannah Crafts
The
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Frederick
Douglass
The
Kidnapped Prince: Life of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah Equiano
The
Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X
Dust
Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography, Zora Neale Hurston
Incidents
in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs
Thirty
Years as a Slave and Four Years in the White House, Elizabeth Keckley
The
Color of Water, James McBride
Dreams
from My Father, Barack Obama
My
American Journey, Colin Powell
No
Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, Condoleezza Rice
Assata,
Assata Shakur
Essential Fiction
Another
Country, James Baldwin
If
Beale street could talk, James Baldwin
A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines
Their
Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Song
of Solomon, Toni Morrison
The
Women of Brewster Place, Gloria Naylor
Precious:
Based on the novel Push, Sapphire
Down
These Mean Streets, Piri Thomas
Cane, Jean Toomer
The
Color Purple, Alice Walker
Jubilee, Margaret Walker
Uncle
Tom's Children, Richard Wright
Fiction
The
White Boy Shuffle, Paul Beatty
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
Your
Blues Ain't Like Mine, Bebe Moore Campbell
Juneteenth:
a novel, Ralph Ellison
The
Known World, Edward Jones
Passing, Nella Larsen
The
Twelve Tribes of Hattie, Ayana
Waiting
to Exhale, Terry McMillan
How
Stella Got Her Groove Back, Terry McMillan
The
Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Devil
in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley
The
Street, Ann Petry
The
Coldest Winter Ever, Sister Souljah
Red
River, Lalita
Salvage
the Bones, Jesmyn Ward
The
Wedding, Dorothy West
The
Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead
Native
Son, Richard Wright
Historical Fiction
Things
Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Half
of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
Roots, Alex Haley
Non-Fiction
The
Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B Du Bois
Up
from Slavery, Booker T. Washington
Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
The
Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson
Poetry
I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
The
Essential Gwendolyn Brooks, Gwendolyn Brooks
The
Ways of White Folks, Langston Hughes
Not
Without Laughter, Langston Hughes
Complete
Poems, Claude McKay
For
Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, when the Rainbow Is Not Enuf, Ntozake Shange
Science Fiction
Kindred,
Parable
of the Talents,
BOOKS FOR KIDS & TEENS:
Picture Books
Henry’s Freedom Box, Ellen Levine
Sulwe, Lupita Nyong’o
Hair Love, Matthew Cherry
The Moon Over Stars, Dianna Hutts Aston
Crown: An ode to the fresh cut, Derrick Barnes
Middle Grade Books
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
Roll Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
Ghost, Jason Reynolds
Clean Getaway, Nic Stone
Young Adult Fiction
The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
American Street, Ibi Zoboi
Monster, Walter Dean Myers
With the fire on high, Elizabeth Acevedo
A Blade So Black, L.L. Mckinney
Young Adult Nonfiction
Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice, Phillip
Hoose
I have a Dream, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Undefeated, Kwame Alexander
Hidden Figures: The true story of four black women and the
space race, Margot Lee Shetterly
Graphic Novel
March, John Lewis
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