Every February, we celebrate Black History month. There are plenty of ways to do research about Black History and to remember important people in historic events online, but one of the best ways to educate yourself and remember these important figures is to read books. Pick a book from below, or from your own choosing, to read before the month is over. Both fiction and nonfiction books are beneficial for educating yourself.
Listed below are a few of the books important for Black History Month, written by Black voices. Do you have any recommendations for me? Email mkotelchuck@whatsupmag.com with your most recent read and a quick review about it to be featured!
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: There is no excuse not to read this book. It is truly one of the classics. Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, actress and very important figure in the Civil Rights Movement. So important that in 2001 she was named one of the 30 most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the first of six autobiographies she has written. "Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned."
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander: When this book came out in 2010, it sat on the New York Times Bestseller list for over a year and has been named the "secular bible of a new social movement". It explains how African Americans have still been denied the rights they supposedly 'won' in the Civil Rights Movement. "As the United States celebrates its “triumph over race” with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of black men in major urban areas are under correctional control or saddled with criminal records for life." This book is here to challenge the civil rights community and beyond to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.
How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones: Though this does not take place during the Civil Rights Movement, this is still an important story about how a young, black, gay man from the South has to carve a place for himself both within his family and his country. Saeed Jones is an award-winning poet who put together this one of a kind memoir which won the 2019 Kirkus Prize in nonfiction, the 2020 Stonewall Book Award, the 2020 Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award and is one of the New York Time's 100 notable books of the year.