SJPL Picks: Black History EssentialsLike this list

28 items

• If Beale Street Could Talk

  a Novel

  Baldwin, James, 1924-1987

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  "In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

  Skloot, Rebecca, 1972-

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  "Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine: The…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Invisible Man

  Ellison, Ralph

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  "Invisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hidden Figures

  the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

  Lee Shetterly, Margot,

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  "The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space." - Publisher provided

• The Warmth of Other Suns

  the Epic Story of America's Great Migration

  Wilkerson, Isabel

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  "Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Kindred

  Butler, Octavia E.

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  "The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now." -Publisher provided

• Between the World and Me

  Coates, Ta-Nehisi

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  "Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Women Taught Us

  An Intimate History of Black Feminism

  Jackson, Jenn M.,

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  In their first book, Jackson applies their critical analysis to the questions that have long energized their work: Why has Black women's freedom fighting been so overlooked throughout history, and what has our society lost in the meantime? A love…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• New Prize for These Eyes

  the Rise of America's Second Civil Rights Movement

  Williams, Juan,

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  In this highly anticipated follow-up to Eyes on the Prize, bestselling author Juan Williams turns his attention to the rise of a new 21st-century civil rights movement. More than a century of civil rights activism reached a mountaintop with the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black AF History

  the Un-whitewashed Story of America

  Harriot, Michael,

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  "From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans. America's…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The 1619 Project

  a New Origin Story

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  "The animating idea of The 1619 Project is that our national narrative is more accurately told if we begin not on July 4, 1776, but in late August of 1619, when a ship arrived in Jamestown bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• John Lewis

  a Life

  Greenberg, David, 1968-

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  "Born into poverty in rural Alabama, Lewis would become second only to Martin Luther King, Jr. in his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. He was a Freedom Rider who helped to integrate bus stations in the South, a leader of the Nashville…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Black Panther Party

  a Graphic Novel History

  Walker, David, 1968-

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  "A bold and fascinating graphic novel history of the Black Panther Party"

• The History of the Civil Rights Movement

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  "Marking 55 years since the landmark Civil Rights Act was signed into law, this book takes you on a fascinating journey through the defining moments of America's Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s. You'll find everything from Rosa…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Fences

  Wilson, August,

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  "The protagonist of Fences (part of Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle plays), Troy Maxson, is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Weary Blues

  Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967,

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  "Nearly ninety years after its first publication, this celebratory edition of The Weary Blues reminds us of the stunning achievement of Langston Hughes, who was just twenty-four at its first appearance. In a new introduction to the work, the poet…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Brown Girl Dreaming

  Woodson, Jacqueline,

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  This is a middle grade book that will appeal to adult readers. "Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Go Tell It on the Mountain

  Baldwin, James, 1924-1987

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  "This haunting coming-of-age story, based in part on James Baldwin’s childhood in Harlem, is an American classic. Originally published in 1953, Go Tell It on the Mountain was Baldwin’s first major work. In prose that mingles gritty vernacular…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Where Do We Go From Here

  Chaos or Community?

  King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968

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  "In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement, rented a house in Jamaica with no telephone, and labored over his final manuscript. In this prophetic work, he lays out his thoughts, plans, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The New Jim Crow

  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

  Alexander, Michelle

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  "Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Called "stunning" by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David Levering Lewis, "invaluable"…Read moreRead more of this annotation