African American Nonfiction 2024Like this list

35 items

• Why Fathers Cry at Night

  a Memoir in Love Poems, Letters, Recipes, and Remembrances

  Alexander, Kwame

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  A poetic and epistolary collage focused on familial, romantic, and nourishing love. This magnanimous hybrid-form memoir is rich with solace and wisdom. (Kirkus)

• Black Liturgies

  Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human

  Arthur Riley, Cole

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  For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Punk Now

  Fiction, Nonfiction, and Comics

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  With graphics, short stories, poems, lyrics, conversations, commentary, and notes on how capitalism naturally tries to co-opt cultural scenes and how Black punks naturally resist it, the anthology is a cornucopia of righteous resistance,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Renaissance of Our Own

  a Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining

  Cargle, Rachel E. (Rachel Elizabeth)

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  A vulnerable look at one activist’s long journey of deconstruction, healing, and reimagining of the toxic societal structure meant to oppress marginalized identities. (Kirkus)

• The Art of Ruth E. Carter

  Costuming Black History and the Afrofuture, From Do the Right Thing to Black Panther

  Carter, Ruth E., 1960-

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  This definitive work makes visible the thought, care, and skill required of a successful film costumer. Carter is perhaps best known today for designing standouts for the Black Panther films, which made her the first Black woman to win two…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Better Living Through Birding

  Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World

  Cooper, Christian

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  This remarkable story will resonate with birders, nature lovers, and everyone who has been made to feel as though they’re outside the mainstream. (Booklist)

• The Black Joy Project

  Cruz, Kleaver

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  A beautiful love letter to Black joy, as a source of self-preservation and survival as well as a form of resistance. (Publisher description)

• Ode to Hip-hop

  50 Albums That Define 50 Years of Trailblazing Music

  Fitzgerald, Kiana

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  Music journalist Fitzgerald curates an eclectic list of albums for this respectable tribute to hip-hop. As a bonus, the book's illustrator, also known as Yay Abe, provides vibrant artwork that flows throughout and jumps off the page.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Book of (more) Delights

  Gay, Ross, 1974-

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  In this follow-up to The Book of Delights, the esteemed poet catalogs more quiet pleasures and causes for gratitude. Keenly observed and delivered with deftness, these essays are a testament to the artfulness of attention and everyday…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Grimkes

  the Legacy of Slavery in An American Family

  Greenidge, Kerri K.

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  A multigenerational history of an American family that grappled with racism and reform. A sweeping, insightful, richly detailed family and American history. (Kirkus)

• Driving the Green Book

  a Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance

  Hall, Alvin, 1952-

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  Podcaster Hall debuts with an illuminating history of the mid-20th-century guidebook that advised Black motorists where it was safe to sleep, eat, and refuel in cities and towns across the U.S. This historical travelogue inspires and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black AF History

  the Un-whitewashed Story of America

  Harriot, Michael

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  Harriot ... offers a razor-sharp reassessment of American history. In a textbook format (including end-of-chapter quizzes and sidebars) meant to counter the “whitewashed” version of U.S. history often taught in schools, Harriot examines…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Rest Is Resistance

  a Manifesto

  Hersey, Tricia

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  Hersey, known as the Nap Bishop … emphasizes the importance of rest to racial- and social-justice work. (Booklist)

• An Amerikan Family

  the Shakurs and the Nation They Created

  Holley, Santi Elijah

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  In this riveting group portrait, journalist Holley chronicles the Black Panther movement from the 1960s to the present through the lives of the Shakur family. Sweeping and sober, this is a vital chapter in the history of the struggle for…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• bell Hooks

  the Last Interview and Other Conversations

  hooks, bell, 1952-2021

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  This collection of seven interviews with prominent Black feminist, activist, and theorist bell hooks (1952-2021) ... reveals the evolution of hooks ’ thought from 1989 to 2017 as she reflected on important social and political issues of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Madness

  Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum

  Hylton, Antonia

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  A thoroughgoing, often shocking exposé of segregation in the treatment (or nontreatment) of mental illness. (Kirkus)

• Quietly Hostile

  Essays

  Irby, Samantha

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  Essayist Irby shows off her wit, empathy, and self-deprecating humor in this animated collection. (Publishers Weekly)

• Black Women Taught Us

  An Intimate History of Black Feminism

  Jackson, Jenn M.,

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  [T]his “intimate history” ably highlights the longstanding importance and contemporary relevance of Black feminism, as well as the challenges that remain in having its voices heard and acted upon properly. Galvanizing appraisals of Black…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Leslie F*cking Jones

  a Memoir

  Jones, Leslie, 1967-

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  This refreshingly uncensored book will appeal to Jones’ many fans and to anyone who appreciates the struggles Black female comics face on the road to success. Refreshingly candid, gritty, and real. (Kirkus)

• Black Folk

  the Roots of the Black Working Class

  Kelley, Blair Murphy, 1973-

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  Historian Kelley delivers a poignant and celebratory chronicle of Black labor movements in America. Full of persuasive insights into Black working-class life and the legacy of communal care spearheaded by Black women, this is a powerful…Read moreRead more of this annotation