Black History Month: On the Shelf @ the Weaver

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Four Hundred Souls by Ibram X. Kendi; Keisha N. Blain

Becoming by Michelle Obama An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, racist ideas in this country have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit. In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the lives of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists.

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi In How to Be an Antiracist , Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilites—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their posionous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves. Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism.

The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones (Created by)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. 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 of all proportion.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? How can we get past our reluctance to discuss racial issues?

The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph Writing from the perspective of a friend, Frederick Joseph offers candid reflections on his own experiences with racism and conversations with prominent artists and activists about theirs—creating an essential read for white people who are committed anti-racists and those newly come to the cause of racial justice.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years.

Alice Walker by Evelyn C. White Born to a sharecropping family in Georgia, Alice Walker thrived in the rich culture of what she called the "agrarian peasantry" to become one of our most important and popular writers. Evelyn C. White charts Walker's childhood, marked by an incident at eight that left her blinded in her right eye and with disfiguring scar tissue and that prompted her, out of a sense of "ugliness," to probe human suffering through her poems and stories.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou Gather Together in My Name continues Maya Angelou’s personal story, begun so unforgettably in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The time is the end of World War II and there is a sense of optimism everywhere. Maya Angelou, still in her teens, has given birth to a son. But the next few years are difficult ones as she tries to find a place in the world for herself and her child.

Wrapped in Rainbows by Valerie Boyd Traces the career of the influential African-American writer, citing the historical backdrop of her life and work while considering her relationships with and influences on top literary, intellectual, and artistic figures.

African American Voices: African American Health Educators Speak Out by Ruth W. Johnson (Editor) Prominent health educators explore the pressing cultural and health needs of African Americans. Discussions on child abuse, teenage pregnancy, mental illness, access to health care, racism, lifestyles, and community values depict the complexity of problems affecting African Americans from a cross-section of different communities. Essential for all nurse educators, students, and anyone interested in the future of health care.

At Canaan's Edge by Taylor Branch This book concludes a 3-volume history of American race, violence, and democracy. As the book begins, King and his movement are one decade into an epic struggle for the promises of democracy. The quest to cross Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965 engages the conscience of the world, strains the civil rights coalition, and embroils King with the U.S. government.

Simple Justice: the history of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's struggle for equality by Richard Kluger Simple Justice is generally regarded as the classic account of the U.S. Supreme Court's epochal decision outlawing racial segregation and the centerpiece of African-Americans' ongoing crusade for equal justice under law.

Black Art: A Cultural History by Richard J. Powell Renowned art historian Richard J. Powell presents Black art drawn from across the African diaspora, with examples from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. Black Art features artworks executed in a broad range of media, including film, photography, performance art, conceptual art, advertising, and sculpture.

Freedom Facts and Firsts by Jessie Carney Smith; Linda T. Wynn Spanning nearly 400 years from the early abolitionists to the present, this guide book profiles people, places, and events that have shaped the history of the Black struggle for freedom.

Fraternity by Diane Brady Tells the unforgettable story of how Father Brooks, a Jesuit priest, transformed the lives of a remarkable group of men during one of the most fraught racial periods in the history of our country.

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable This biography of Malcolm X draws on new research to trace his life from his troubled youth through his involvement in the Nation of Islam, his activism in the world of Black Nationalism, and his assassination. Years in the making, it is a definitive biography of the legendary black activist.

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. Now, in The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics: a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in Congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of "our improbable experiment in democracy".

The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick Through extensive on-the-record interviews with friends and teachers, mentors and disparagers, family members and Obama himself, David Remnick demonstrates how a rootless, unaccomplished, and confused young man created himself first as a community organizer in Chicago, then as a Harvard Law School graduate, and finally as President of the United States.

Sojourner Truth's America by Margaret Washington This fascinating biography tells the story of nineteenth-century America through the life of one of its most charismatic and influential characters: Sojourner Truth. In an in-depth account of this amazing activist, Margaret Washington unravels Sojourner Truth's world within the broader panorama of African American slavery and the nation's most significant reform era.

Ice a memoir of gangster life and redemption : from South Central to Hollywood by Ice-T; Douglas Century The hip-hop artist and television star shares the story of his early life, marked by the deaths of his parents, his involvement in gangs, and the single-minded work ethic that enabled his rise to international fame.

Red and Me [audiobook] by Bill Russell; Alan Steinberg Red Auerbach, one of the greatest coaches in sports history, died on October 28, 2006. Bill Russell, the five-time MVP and star center on the Auerbach teams that won eleven championships in thirteen years, said little in public at the time. His relationship with his coach had been so deeply personal that he could not express it with a brief comment. In fact, little known to the public, Auerbach and Russell--one short, brash Jew from Brooklyn, the other a tall, intense African-American from Louisiana and Oakland-- were far more than just coach and player.

Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists by Lisa E. Farrington Creating Their Own Image marks the first comprehensive history of African-American women artists, from slavery to the present day. Using an analysis of stereotypes of Africans and African-Americans in western art and culture as a springboard, Lisa E. Farrington here richly details hundreds of important works--many of which deliberately challenge these same identity myths, of the carnal Jezebel, the asexual Mammy, the imperious Matriarch--in crafting a portrait of artistic creativity unprecedented in its scope and ambition

African American Music by Mellonee Burnim (Editor); Portia K. Maultsby (Editor) African American Music: An Introduction is a collection of thirty essays by leading scholars whch survey major African American musical genres, both sacred and secular, from slavery to the present. The work brings together, in a single volume, treatments of African American music that have existed largely independent of each other.

Buffalo Soldiers: African American troops in the US forces, 1866-1945 by Ron Field; Alexander M. Bielakowski; Richard Hook (Illustrator) This book presents the history of African American soldiers, beginning with American Civil War and the Plains Wars, when African American soldiers were nicknamed 'Buffalo Soldiers'. The book continues with their role during the age of 'American Imperialism,' before their fighting in World War I trenches and then through World War II and their fight against prejudice and discrimination until the desegregation of the armed forces.

African Americans' Health Care Practices, Perspectives, and Needs by Randolph K. Quaye African Americans' Health Care Practices, Perspectives, and Needs examines the impact of healthcare discrimination upon the African-American community.

Search and Destroy: African-American males and the criminal justice system by Jerome G. Miller An exploration into the criminal justice system in America today and its impact on young African-American males, this book challenges the linking of crime and race and the conservative anti-welfare, hard-on-crime agenda.

Debunking the Myth: Stories of African American University Students by O. Gilbert Brown In a study of black undergraduates at a predominantly white, Midwestern university, Brown debunks the myth that African-American students are a homogeneous population.

I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown From a leading voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female that exposes how white America’s love affair with “diversity” so often falls short of its ideals.

A House Built by Slaves by Jonathan W. White

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. As Morrison follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, she introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized Black world.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he's ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones Newlyweds Celestial and Roy, the living embodiment of the New South, are settling into the routine of their life together when Roy is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. An insightful look into the lives of people who are bound and separated by forces beyond their control

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; Nikki Giovanni (Foreword by) After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.

The Underground Railroad: A Novel by Colson Whitehead Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, this #1 New York Times bestseller chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. The basis for the acclaimed original Amazon Prime Video series directed by Barry Jenkins.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow “delinquent” Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble.

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison This fiery and provocative novel from the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker Celie has grown up in 1930s rural Georgia, navigating a childhood of ceaseless abuse. Not only is she poor and despised by the society around her, she's badly treated by her family. As a teenager she begins writing letters directly to God in an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear. Her letters span twenty years and record a journey of self-discovery and empowerment through the guiding light of a few strong women and her own implacable will to find harmony with herself and her home.

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride Henry is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857. When his master has a violent argument with John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, Henry is forced to leave town with Brown, who believes he is a girl. Concealing his true identity as he struggles to stay alive, Henry is swept up in the events at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner and author of Sing, Unburied, Sing, delivers a gritty but tender novel about family and poverty in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina.

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren's father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison The book's nameless narrator describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood", before retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions–affection, despair, and hope.

It's Not All Downhill from Here by Terry McMillan After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she’s going to do with the rest of her life

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.

Real Life by Brandon Taylor Almost everything about Wallace is at odds with the Midwestern university town where he is working uneasily toward a biochem degree. An introverted young man from Alabama, black and queer, he has left behind his family without escaping the long shadows of his childhood. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends—some dating each other, some dating women, some feigning straightness. But over the course of a late-summer weekend, a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with an ostensibly straight, white classmate, conspire to fracture his defenses while exposing long-hidden currents of hostility and desire within their community.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Urgent, propulsive, and sharp as a knife, The Other Black Girl is an electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she's thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon Odd-mannered and obsessive, Aster lives a lonely life in the low-deck slums of the HSS Matilda, a generational starship ferrying the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. Its leaders — a white supremacy cult called the Sovereignty — run the ship on the labor and intimidation of dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. But, when the autopsy of Matilda's sovereign reveals a link between his death and her mother's suicide, Aster discovers that there might be a way out — if she’s willing to take on her brutal overseer and sow the seeds of civil war.

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson Two families from different social classes are joined together by an unexpected pregnancy and the child that it produces. Moving forward and backward in time, with the power of poetry and the emotional richness of a narrative ten times its length, Jacqueline Woodson's extraordinary new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of this child.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton Remembered ventures into 1910 Philadelphia, amid flaring racial tensions. With her son on the brink of death, the narrator begins to tell a story about the past, travelling back in time to 1843. Charting the life of Ella from slavery to emancipation, narrator Spring also recalls the complicated narrative of her own life. In this parallel examination of slavery and its many ongoing and refracted legacies, freedom and motherhood lie quietly at the heart of the story.

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue This is New York during the 2008 financial crisis. Behold the Dreamers bears witness to the lives of two families: a Cameroonian family of immigrants and a wealthy family of Americans. Their distant worlds collide when Jende Jonga, of the former family, is employed as chauffeur by Edward Clark, of the latter. The book juggles sadness with hope, held in ambivalent balance as Mbue expertly breathes new life into the American Dream.

We Cast A Shadow [audiobook] by Maurice Carlos Ruffin Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s dystopian novel We Cast a Shadow is a biting satire of the enduring racism in contemporary America. To help his biracial son access a new medical procedure that will save his life by turning him white, the novel’s unnamed narrator must pass a series of truly crazy tests and qualify as a partner at the law firm where he works.

Well-Read Black Girl [audiobook] by Glory Edim (Ed.) In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all—regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability—have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature.

The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry by Hilary Herbold (Editor); Arnold Rampersad (Editor) A literary portrait of contrasting visions and styles covers the key issues important to the African-American experience, including poetry on slavery, the South, protest and resistance, music and religion, spirituality, sexuality and love, and the idea of Africa.

Encyclopedia of African-American writing by Bryan Conn; Tara Bynum (Eds.) A timely survey of an important sector of American letters, African American Writers examines a multitude of black cultural leaders from the 18th century to the present.

Heritage: African American Readings for Writing by Joyce M. Jarrett; Doreatha D. Mbalia; Margaret G. Lee Unique in its perspective and range, this anthology uses diverse essays, short stories, poems and plays by and about African Americans to stimulate critical reading, thinking, discussion, and writing. It first provides a comprehensive process-oriented writing guide, and then offers a diverse collection of readings that provide models and reflect the rich heritage of African American culture.Over 100 essays, short stories, poems, and plays by and/or about African Americans feature works by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Arthur Ashe—as well as lesser known but equally talented writers.

Voices of Black America This unique collection, compiled especially for Naxos AudioBooks, features original recordings from 1908-1946 of Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address, the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes, the rarely heard humour of Charley Case, readings from God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson, and much much more.

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones; Renée Watson; Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator)