Celebrate Black History Month by reading time-tested classics and recent releases. This selection of books includes picks for audiences young and old.
1
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram Kendi
“Four Hundred Souls” by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain is an expansive work detailing Black history in America with contributions from 90 Black Americans of many different backgrounds.
2
A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story by Elaine Brown
In her memoir, Elaine Brown shares her life story from her early years as a kid in Philadelphia to her experience leading the Black Panther Party as the organization’s former chairwoman. The book, released in 1992, is an illuminating portrait of the only woman to ever hold a leadership position in the influential party.
3
Who Are Your People? by Bakari Sellers
In this children’s book, penned by Bakari Sellers and illustrated by Reggie Brown, Black history jumps off the page in vibrant color. The book debuted last month and features Black political and cultural icons of America including Stacey Abrams, Muhammad Ali and current vice president Kamala Harris.
4
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison’s novel, heralded as a classic of the American literary canon is the story of an unnamed Black man who endures brutal hatred on his mission to self-discovery. Throughout the book, the protagonist travels from the Deep South to New York City’s Harlem during the 1950s.
5
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
James Baldwin’s 1963 book includes two essays that explore religion and race in the United States. The essays “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One-Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation” and “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region of My Mind” rocked America as the civil rights movement began to take root.
6
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
2010’s “The New Jim Crow” is a beacon for criminal justice reform activism. Author Michelle Alexander identifies the mass imprisonment of Black Americans as the modern incarnation of slavery, at a time when the U.S. claimed colorblindness in the dawn of the Obama administration.
Support Black booksellers this Black History Month and beyond with Knarrative’s bookstore directory.
