I recently asked my Facebook friends to help me compile a list of books to read for further learning of Afro-American Studies. Although I minored in it in college, there is still so much that I do not know. For instance, although I know the names Marcus Garvey, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, etc., and have a rudimentary understanding of their importance in Afro-American history, I have never read any of their words.
So this list contains the words of black intellectuals, scholars, poets, and writers — some from today, others from yesterday. Some will be old favorites; many will be first-time reads. I will attempt to cross them out and provide a post about them. We will see how that goes.
If you would like to recommend anything, feel free to leave a comment! And also feel free to join me!! The books are currently listed alphabetically by the author’s last name.
- Resurrecting Mingus by Jenoyne Adams
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- I Mix What I Like by Jared Bell
- I Write What I Like by Steve Biko
- Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Conciousness and the Politics of Empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins
- Homemade Love by J. California Cooper
- Critical Race Theory by Kimberle’ Crenshaw and Garry Peller
- The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey by Marcus Garvey
- The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Critism by Henry Louis Gates
- Black Power: The Politics of Liberation by Charles V. Hamilton and Kwame Toure
Young, Gifted, and Black by Lorraine Hansberry- The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes
- The Angela Davis Reader edited by Joy James
- Dutchman & The Slave: Two Plays by LeRoi Jones
- The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
- Passing by Nella Larsen
- Quicksand by Nella Larsen
- Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
- Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous? Essays by Haki R. Madhubuti
- Daughters by Paule Marshall
- The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
- Black Woman Redined: Dispelling Myths and Discovering Fulfillment in the Age of Michelle Obama by Sophia Nelson
- Revolutionary Suicide by Huey Newton
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup- Young, Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students by Theresa Perry, Claude Steele, and Asa Hilliard III
- The Street by Ann Petry
- Assata by Assata Shakur
- The Covenant with Black America with Introduction by Tavis Smiley
- The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman
- Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker
- Fences by August Wilson
- The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
Great idea! Keep us posted as we’d love to read your thoughts on the above as you’ve studied these subjects in depth!
Will you limit your reading to certain time periods or themes in Afro-American studies?
I will definitely try to be consistent with sharing my thoughts as I go!
At this point, I have no real limits or themes although once I start, patterns in what I’m reading may emerge. I suspect the patterns will more likely be in the genres and themes of what I’m reading than in the time periods. And feel free to read and write about any of these books too, I enjoy experiencing things with others only for us to discuss and discover we actually experienced very different things together. =)
Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization by Anthony Browder
What do you all think of this list?
http://www.listchallenges.com/100-must-read-african-american-books?ref=share
“The Intuitionist” by Coleson Whitehead