Black History Month is coming to a close, but Black folks can continue celebrating and getting all the feels that come with historical Blackness.
While the month of February signifies a celebration of all things Black, so does Black life. Together, we collectively acknowledge the African American experience—dating back to 1619 when the first enslaved African pressed his feet onto American soil. It is only right to pay homage to our ancestors’ malleability, Black excellence, and those who have impacted our history as well as the culture. It is also a good time to soak up all the unknown stories and marvels of our heritage. Plenty is surfacing online via social media. However, Black books are the ultimate source of immersing ourselves in the resilience and wonderment of Blackness, past and present.
16 Best Black Books for Black History Month
1. Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl
This slave narrative by Harriet Ann Jacobs was originally published in 1861, just as the American Civil War began. Jacobs fictionalized her own story on the horrors of slave life as a young girl, specifically one having to deal with the sexual harassment projected by her slaveholder and the physical violence of his jealous wife.
Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl, Thayer & Eldridge
2. The Marrow of Tradition
Charles W. Chesnutt was a prolific Black writer who could very well pass for white but refused to. This historical text, published at the turn of the century, depicts the Wilmington Race Riots in 1898. It focuses on racial politics, violence, and blackface during Reconstruction and, sadly, echoes events happening today.
The Marrow of Tradition, Haughton, Mifflin, and Company
3. The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man
James Weldon Johnson, the creator of the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” shares the story of being raised by a Black mother but also believing that he was as white as his school-age peers due to his biracial heritage. His loss of innocence comes as he is discriminated against by his teacher. Throughout the text, Johnson gives firsthand accounts and observations of occupying two racial spaces, fitting into neither, yet being forced to choose one.
The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man, Sherman, French & Co.
4. Mules and Men
Zora Neale Hurston flexes her anthropology chops in this book that was published in 1935. She gathers and documents cultural information from her native Florida and New Orleans and brings forth the beauty of common folk: their voice, their diction, their living, their way.
Mules and Men, Harper Collins
5. Invisible Man
This existential text tells the story of a lone, nameless Black man navigating a white world, and eventually, we find him so isolated from society to align and protect himself from the powers that be. It is an allegory for the entire Black race, which is mistreated, objectified, commodified, and cast aside in such a way that it may as well be invisible.
The Invisible Man, Random House
6. Go Tell It On The Mountain
Christianity has close ties to the Black American experience, and in many instances, it is inextricable. James Baldwin puts the beauty and the problematic on the page by way of a young man attempting to negotiate being Black, religious, unloved, and possibly gay. Go Tell It On The Mountain is an exploration of identity and migration.
Go Tell It On The Mountain, Knopf
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
We are blessed to have this book in the world. Alex Haley documented X’s life-changing story for two years prior to his assassination. The book was posthumously published in 1965.
(@bookchanging)The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ballantine Books
8. Dopefiend
Long before the crack era of the 1980s, heroine wreaked havoc on Black communities. Donald Goines, a brilliant writer of street literature, captures the pain of addiction perfectly.
Dopefiend, Holloway House
9. Roots
Alex Haley’s family tree is the context for Roots. It tells the story of his matriarchal forefather’s journey from Africa through the middle passage and through chattel slavery and is carried on by his descendants. The text was integral to African Americans wanting to know their family roots and sparking interest in genealogy.
Roots, Doubleday
10. For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Ntozake Shange took the Black Arts movement by storm when her collection of choreopoems hit theaters. These monologues are rooted in Black feminism and speak specifically to the intersectionality of race and sexism Black women experience.
For colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Bantam Books
11. Song of Solomon
This Nobel Prize-winning book traces the history of a Black family and shows the nuance and complexity of Black community rarely highlighted in mainstream literature through Morrison’s remarkable storytelling and beautiful words.
Song of Solomon, Alfred Knopf
12. The Color Purple
If there has ever been a story told about Black trauma, toxic masculinity, and survival, The Color Purple by Alice Walker will likely come up. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book made it to the big screen three years after its 1982 publishing date and was later made into a Broadway musical and film.
The Color Purple, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
13. The Coldest Winter Ever
The cold, harsh reality of drug culture bleeds off these pages. It effectively captures the allure of the game while serving its consequences as well.
The Coldest Winter Ever, Simon & Schuster
14. The New Jim Crow
Mass incarceration has long plagued the Black community. While representing just 13% of the nation’s population, Black people make up 40% of the prison population. Michelle Alexander links this disparity to the war on drugs created to militarize police and fracture Black communities but also exposes its lasting effect as well as its ongoing nature.
The New Jim Crow, The New Press
15. The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an actual railroad when growing up; don’t feel ashamed. Colson Whitehead puts that perspective in play in this Pulitzer Prize-winning historical text. It is a refreshing fictional look at slavery.
The Underground Railroad, Doubleday
16. Heavy: An American Memoir
This is the story of a life filled with contradictions, tragedy, and resilience. Kiese Laymon lays out parts of his life in intricate detail, taking the reader through observations of a range of violence committed against Black folk and a range of violence committed by them as well. This memoir is a reckoning of the internal and external conflict with, in, and around Blackness.
(@thesolreader)Heavy: An American Memoir, Simon & Schuster
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on February 14, 2019.
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