Book Recommendations

These are important Black historical texts that are essential for any nuanced and productive conversation on Black history and Black futures. Hope you enjoy! Happy reading!!

**This list is living. Check back regularly for updates!!**

On Slavery

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass 

Brooding Over Bloody Revenge: Enslaved Women's Lethal Resistance by Nikki Taylor

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup

Ties that Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom by Tiya Miles 

The Coming by Daniel Black  

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward 

Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Lorenz Katz 

On Black Identity

You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston ed. Henry Louis Gates and Genevieve West

We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson 

Resist: How a Century of Young Black Activists Shaped America by Rita Omokha

Black Feminist Thought 

Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought ed. Beverly Guy-Sheftall 

Black Feminist Writing: A Practical Guide to Publishing Academic Books by Stephanie Y Evans

On Music 

The Jazz of Physics by Stephon Alexander

Music is My Mistress by Duke Ellington