10 must-read Black History Month book recommendations
By Cicely Tyson
“Just As I Am”
This meditative, revelatory memoir is Tyson’s first. It also proved to be her last. It reads like a parting gift, pulling back the curtain on her youth growing up in Brooklyn and the seven-decades-long career that followed and blazed a path for Black artists everywhere.
By Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
“Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019”
The authors of “How to Be an Antiracist” and “Set the World on Fire” edit this community history of African Americans from 90 writers, which includes historical essays, short stories and personal vignettes.
By Robert Jones Jr.
“The Prophets”
Jones’ powerful debut novel centers on a forbidden love between Isaiah and Samuel, two enslaved gay men who manage to sustain a romantic relationship on a Mississippi plantation.
By Barack Obama
“A Promised Land”
The first volume of his presidential memoirs finds the 59-year-old former president reflecting on the space between his presidential ambitions and the political reality that hampered them.
By Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
“Black Futures”
This expansive compendium of work in different mediums – including photos, essays, poetry, recipes, tweets and memes – represents the radical imagination and provocative work being done by Black creators today.
By Angie Thomas
“Concrete Rose”
Thomas revisits Garden Heights in a prequel that explores Maverick Carter’s coming-of-age. When the dope-slinging son of a former gang legend finds out he’s going to be a father, he starts to learn what it means to really be a man.
By Catherine E. McKinley
“The African Lookbook”
The curator and scholar who specializes in African photography, art, textiles and fashion draws on her collection of historical and contemporary photographs of African girls and women for a striking visual history spanning decades.
By Michelle Duster
“Ida B. The Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells”
Wells was a trailblazing investigative journalist, suffragist and crusader, and a leader in the Civil Rights movement who helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Here, Wells’ great-granddaughter pens an accessible celebration of her ancestor.
By Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite
“One of the Good Ones”
A teenage Black activist and YouTuber dies in mysterious circumstances after taking part in a social justice rally and she’s valorized as a victim in the fight against police brutality.
By Veronica Chambers and the staff of The New York Times
“Finish the Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote”
This illustrated introduction to women of color and queer women who fought to expand voting rights in America skips the famous names to shine a light on the diverse heroes often overlooked.