Black History Month is a time dedicated to honoring the history, culture, and achievements of Black people throughout the world. Even though, the administration just wiped out the Holiday on the federal level as of January 2025, in the United States, it is celebrated every February, although the observance has expanded globally to include similar events in Canada, the UK, and elsewhere. It provides an opportunity to reflect on the struggles and triumphs of Black individuals and communities, emphasizing their critical contributions to society across all sectors, including the arts, politics, science, and culture. One of the most profound ways Black history has been documented, shaped, and celebrated is through the voices of Black authors, whose works have not only enriched literature but have also influenced broader societal movements. Black writers have long used their words to challenge injustice, narrate personal and collective histories, and offer visions of hope and resilience.
The Civil Rights Movement and Beyond
In the mid-20th century, as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, Black authors played a crucial role in the movement’s intellectual and cultural battles. Writers like James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Richard Wright used their voices to confront the harsh realities of racism, inequality, and injustice while providing a moral and intellectual foundation for the movement.
James Baldwin's works, such as The Fire Next Time, provided a candid and fearless critique of race relations in America. His essays and novels questioned the structures of power and the emotional and psychological toll of racial oppression. Baldwin's explorations of race, sexuality, and identity continue to resonate today.
Maya Angelou’s autobiographical work, particularly I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, opened a window into the lived experiences of Black women, touching on themes of trauma, resilience, and the search for personal freedom. Angelou’s writing continues to inspire readers around the world, not just through her powerful prose but also through her role as a poet, performer, and activist.
Contemporary Works
Today, the legacy of Black authors continues to thrive across a range of genres, from fiction and poetry to memoir and academic works. Writers like Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Colson Whitehead, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Yaa Gyasi, Jesmyn Ward, and Ocean Vuong have built on the rich literary tradition of Black authors before them.
Toni Morrison's Nobel Prize-winning novels, such as Beloved and Song of Solomon, remain central to conversations on race, history, and identity. Morrison's exploration of the legacy of slavery and its enduring impact on African American communities provides a profound examination of how the past shapes the present.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, known for works like Between the World and Me, brings a modern, journalistic approach to the exploration of race in America. His writing combines personal narrative, historical analysis, and social critique, making his work a crucial text in the ongoing dialogue about race and inequality in the United States.
Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Underground Railroad reimagines the historic escape of enslaved people through a literal railroad, blending historical fiction with elements of magical realism. His work, like The Nickel Boys, continues to examine the legacies of racial violence and systemic oppression in contemporary America.
The early 20th century saw the flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement centered in New York City's Harlem neighborhood that brought together Black artists, writers, and musicians. The writers of this period produced works that reflected the joys, struggles, and complexities of Black life in America. Figures like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen challenged prevailing stereotypes, explored African American identity, and celebrated Black culture in its full diversity. Hughes’ poetry, with its rhythmic and musical quality, became a vehicle for expressing the emotional and intellectual experience of Black Americans. Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God became one of the defining works of this era, with its deep exploration of Black womanhood, love, and self-realization.
The Roots of Black Literature
The tradition of Black authorship in these United States is intertwined with the history of slavery, segregation, and the fight for civil rights. Early Black writers, often writing under the oppressive conditions of slavery or racial discrimination, used literature as a tool for resistance and a platform for Black experiences. "Before the 1830s there were few restrictions on teaching slaves to read and write. After the slave revolt led by Nat Turner in 1831, all slave states except Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee passed laws against teaching slaves to read and write (SAAM, 2014)." Phillis Wheatley, known as the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry, was a pioneering voice in the 18th century. Though enslaved, she produced poetry that addressed themes of freedom, spirituality, and identity, making her one of the first to challenge the stereotypes of Black people in the American literary scene.
Black Literature as Resistance and Healing
At its core, Black literature is a form of resistance—a way of asserting Black existence, humanity, and dignity in a world that has often tried to deny those very qualities. It is also a way of healing, of offering solace, validation, and affirmation to Black readers who find themselves mirrored in these works.
By reading Black authors, we connect with stories that might otherwise remain untold, and we expand our understanding of the human experience. Black literature not only tells the stories of struggles and oppression but also of triumph, love, and resilience. It is a testament to the enduring strength of Black people and their ability to create, reflect, and change the world through words.
In celebration of Black History Month, we honor the powerful legacy of Black authors, whose works continue to inspire and challenge us. By reading and supporting their work, we engage in a living tradition of intellectual, artistic, and cultural contribution that enriches us all. Here are all the literary works by black authors:
Non-Fiction or History
1. Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores by Katie Mitchell
2. Master of Me by Keke Palmer
3. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by Bell Hooks
A classic work of feminist scholarship, Ain't I a Woman has become a must-read for all those interested in the nature of black womanhood. Examining the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman's involvement with feminism, hooks attempts to move us beyond racist and sexist assumptions.
4. We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
An "unsparing, erudite, and incisive" (Jelani Cobb) reframing of the past and present of Black resistance--both nonviolent and violent--to white supremacy
Named a Best History Book of 2024 by Smithsonian.
5. We Do This 'til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba
6. Black People Invented Everything by Dr. Sujan Kumar Dass
A story of pre-European patents of a small encyclopedia on black inventions from music to science.
7. Crazy as Hell: The Best Little Guide to Black History by V. Efua Prince (Author), Hoke S. Glover (Author), Introduction by Reginald Dwayne Betts
-from Harriet Tubman, Nina Simone, and Muhammad Ali to B'rer Rabbit, Single Mamas, and Wakandans--but are they crazy as hell, or do they simply defy the expectations designated for being Black in America? With humor and insight, scholars and writers V. Efua Prince and Hoke S. Glover III (Bro. Yao) offer brief breakdowns of one hundred influential, archetypal, and infamous figures, building a new framework that emphasizes their humanity.
8. Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism by Jenn M. Jackson
10. On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
— Kerri Greenidge - The New Republic
11. The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist
You cannot understand the economy of the U.S. - or even of the world -without an understanding of how its development was driven by 19th century slavery. This book gives you that, in a stunningly readable, heartbreaking form... Genius.
—Mark Bittman, author of Animal, Vegetable, Junk
12. Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre by Alverne Ball, Stacey Robinson (Illustrator), Contributions by: Reynaldo Anderson, Dr. Colette Yellow Robe
Surviving Southampton is a searing history of the community that made Nat Turner and his community rebellion possible. Holden's study is a bold and nuanced account of how Black women helped sustain the rebellion and map new ways to survive the aftermath.
- Southern Journal of History
Fiction
1. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
The acclaimed debut short story collection that introduced the world to an arresting and unforgettable new voice in fiction, from multi-award winning author ZZ Packer.
2. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935.
3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
An epistolary novel composed of letters written by two sisters, The Color Purple took form as Walker was living in a small town in northern California, trying to find the right voice for the novel’s story.
4. Paradise by Toni Morrison
5. In the wake of the wind by J. California Cooper.
A dramatic and thought-provoking novel of one family's triumph in the face of the hardships and challenges of the post-Civil War South.
6. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston will forever be remembered as one of the greatest writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is widely considered to be a classic, as it recounts the spiritual journey of a black southern woman in inventive and beautiful detail.
7. Queen of Exiles by Vanessa Riley
8. Hurricane Summer by Asha Ashanti Bromfield
9. Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
10. Uncle Tom's Children (Novellas) by Richard Wright
—Malcolm Cowley, The New Republic
11. The Sable Cloak by Gail Milissa Grant
Jordan Sable, a prosperous undertaker turned political boss, has controlled the Black vote in St. Louis for decades. Sara, his equally formidable wife, runs the renowned funeral establishment that put the Sable name on the map. Together they have pushed through obstacles in order to create a legacy for their children. When tragedy bursts their carefully constructed empire of dignity and safety, the family rallies around an unconventional solution. But at what cost?
12. Transcendent Kingdom (A novel) by Yaa Gyasi
Laser-like. . . . A powerful, wholly unsentimental novel about family love, loss, belonging and belief that is more focused but just as daring as its predecessor, and to my mind even more successful. . . . [Transcendent Kingdom] is burningly dedicated to the question of meaning. . . . The pressure created gives her novel a hard, beautiful, diamantine luster.
—The Wall Street Journal
Children's Books
1. Lenny and the Truck-Driving Dinosaurs (Sean Presant | Narrated: Tabitha Brown)
Ages: 2-7
Official IG for Time-Tab
2. B is for Breathe Kids Book by Dr. Melissa Munro Boyd
Ages: 8-10
From the letter A to the letter Z, B is for Breathe celebrates the many ways children can express their feelings and develop coping skills at an early age.
3. The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING–JOHN STEPTOE AWARD FOR NEW TALENT!
4. Imani's Moon by Janay Brown-Wood, (Illustrator: Hazel Mitchell)
Ages 3-6
Imani is a young Maasi girl with a loving mother and a desire to do something great. When she decides she wants to touch the moon, she works hard to reach her goal, even in the face of teasing from the naysayers around her.
5. Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton by Don Tate
6. Millie Magnus Won't Be Bullied by Brittany Mazique (Illustrator: Ebony Glenn)
Ages: 5-8
The first installment in a hilarious and charming chapter book series featuring exuberant and irresistible third-grader Millie Magnus.
7. The King of Kindergarden by Derrick Barnes, (Illustrator: Vanessa Brantley-Newton)
Ages: 1-7
A New York Times bestsellers! A confident little boy or girl takes pride in the first day of kindergarten, by the Newbery Honor-winning author of Crown.
8. Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue and Corinne Naden, (Illustrator: Don Tate)
Ages 6-8
Nine-year-old Ron loves going to the Lake City Public Library to look through all the books on airplanes and flight. Today, Ron is ready to take out books by himself. But in the segregated world of South Carolina in the 1950s, Ron's obtaining his own library card is not just a small rite of passage—it is a young man's first courageous mission. Here is an inspiring story, based on Ron McNair's life, of how a little boy, future scientist, and Challenger astronaut desegregated his library through peaceful resistance.
9. The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, (Illustrator: Rafael López)
Ages 5-8
Using poetic text, Jacqueline Woodson delivers a timely and universal message that allows children to see themselves in her powerful words. Readers may come away with a better understanding of self-acceptance, empathy, and respect for one another.
10. Pig-Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
Ages: 9-11
When you’re 13, you just want a normal life. To be like all the other teenagers, doing normal things. But most teenagers don’t need heart transplants. You’re the unlucky one. You think there’s no chance to live an ordinary life… but what if you’re wrong?
11. The Color of Me by Linda L. McDunn, Illustration by Barbara Knutson
The Color of Me is a beautifully illustrated children's book that tells of the many colors of God’s creation and the goodness of the colors. McDunn delightfully describes the value of all colors as she recounts how God created the Earth and identifies the effects of creation. Children will relate to the concepts of colors and coloring in The Color of Me as they learn values of acceptance, appreciation, and respect for everything that God made.
12. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o & Vashti Harrison (2019)
Sulwe's skin is the colour of midnight. She's darker than everyone in her family, and everyone at school. All she wants is to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey through the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. In this stunning debut picture book, Lupita Nyong'o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story to inspire children to see their own unique beauty.
Teenagers or Coming of Age Books:
1. Finch House by Ciera Burch
Ages 7-12
Eleven-year-old Micah has no interest in moving out of her grandfather’s house. She loves living with Poppop and their shared hobby of driving around rich neighborhoods to find treasures in others’ trash. To avoid packing, Micah goes for a bike ride and ends up at Finch House, the decrepit Victorian that Poppop says is Off Limits. Except when she gets there, it’s all fixed up and there’s a boy named Theo in the front yard. Surely that means Finch House isn’t Off Limits anymore?
2. Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne
Ages: 14-17
Picked on at home, criticized for talking trash while beating boys at basketball, and always seen as less than her best friend, a girl struggles to like and accept herself.
3. Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker
Ages: 14-17
Set in 2008 in a conservative Southern California town, the book follows the story of Morgan Parker, who is told depression is something that happens to people who lack faith, and that her Blackness shouldn't be mentioned too much. Following a mental health crisis, Morgan decides to figure out who she is.
4. The Good Turn by Sharna Jackson
Ages: 9+
Perfect for readers who love Robin Stevens and Katherine Woodfine, and full of fast-paced adventure, brilliant characters and snappy dialogue with themes of real-life activism and how to help others.
5. Coffee Will Make You Black: A Novel by April Sinclair
Ages: 12+
A funny, fresh novel about growing up African-American in 1960s Chicago by an author, who writes like Terry McMillan’s kid sister.
- Entertainment Weekly
6. Children of Blood and Bone: Book 1 Legacy of Orisha Series by by Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her #1 New York Times bestselling West African-inspired young adult fantasy debut.
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
A TIME Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time
A New York Times Notable Children's Book
A Kirkus Prize Finalist
7. Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward
Ages 14+
The Line Bleeds follows twin brothers Joshua and Christophe, who were raised by their blind grandmother and had just graduated from high school on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Poor and Black, they find few economic opportunities as they struggle to undertake their adult lives.8. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Ages 16+
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an essential American classic. Written in the late 1940s, it tells the story of a young African American man who moves north during the Harlem Renaissance and faces many trials as he attempts to find his place in society.
9. Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston
10. Swing (Blink) by by Kwame Alexander (Author), Mary Rand Hess (Author)
In this YA novel in verse from bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess (Solo), which Kirkus called “lively, moving, and heartfelt” in a starred review, Noah and Walt just want to leave their geek days behind and find “cool,” but in the process discover a lot about first loves, friendship, and embracing life . . . as well as why Black Lives Matter is so important for all.
11. The Escape of Robert Smalls: A Daring Voyage Out of Slavery by Jehan Jones-Radgowski (Author), Poppy Kang (Illustrator)
The mist in Charleston Inner Harbor was heavy, but not heavy enough to disguise the stolen Confederate steamship, the Planter, from Confederate soldiers. In the early hours of May 13, 1862, in the midst of the deadly U.S. Civil War, an enslaved man named Robert Smalls was about to carry out a perilous plan of escape. Find out what happens by reading this amazing book!
12. This Side of Home by Renée Watson
Ages: 13-17
Does growing up have to mean growing apart? From Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Renée Watson comes a poignant novel about love for home and for ourselves, embracing change, and what it means to grow up.
Identical twins Maya and Nikki have always agreed on the important things-their friends, the right boys, their plans for college and the future.
Children's Books on Black Excellence
1. Talkin' about Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
by Nikki Grimes (Author), E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)
Soar along with Bessie Coleman in this inspirational tale of a woman whose determination reached new heights. Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman was always being told what she could & couldn't do. In an era when Jim Crow laws and segregation were a way of life, it was not easy to survive. Bessie didn't let that stop her.
2. Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark by Wells, Allen R.
An inspiring picture book biography about a curious, tinkering girl who grew up to become one of the first Black female engineers for NASA--by the author of It's Pride, Baby!
3. Ruby Bridges: A Talk With My Teacher by Ruby Bridges
Ages: Pre K+
Written by the first Black child to integrate William Frantz Elementary School: Ruby Bridges.
Can Ruby ever reconnect with her favorite teacher? A love letter to teachers who hold the power to change lives, Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher illuminates the lasting impact that the best of teachers can have on the lives of their students.
4. Claudette Colvin: I Want Freedom Now! by Claudette Colvin
Ages: 4-8
Civil rights icon Claudette Colvin teams up with Phillip Hoose—author of the Newbery Honor and National Book Award-winning blockbuster biography Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice—to tell her groundbreaking story in this unforgettable picture book illustrated by New York Times–bestselling artist Bea Jackson.
5. Small Shoes, Great Strides by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (Author), Alex Bostic (Illustrator)
Ages: 7-11
On November 14, 1960, first graders Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne stepped into history by going to school.
Escorted by U.S. Marshals and facing swarms of shouting protestors, they became the first children in New Orleans to integrate a previously all-white school, just ten minutes before Ruby Bridges.
6. Make Your Mark: The Empowering True Story of the First Known Black Female Tattoo Artist by Jacci Gresham and Sherry Fellores
Ages: 4+
“Retracing her artistic development, from her rejection of an elementary school art teacher’s instruction to ‘stay in the lines’ to her determined quests for just the right inks, colors, and designs for dark skin, [Jacci Gresham concludes her story,] “This is how I make my mark” . . . “How will you make yours?” Informative and inspirational.”
—Kirkus
7. Extraordinary Magic: The Storytelling Life of Virginia Hamilton by Nina Crews
Ages: 4-8
Purchase this lovely picture book . . . to encourage future creators. With every page, readers will be inspired to follow their own magic.
--School Library Journal, starred review
This lyrical picture book biography tells the story of one of America's most celebrated children's book authors, Virginia Hamilton, the first African American to win the Newbery Medal, and is perfect for fans of Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré.
8. Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist by Liz Montague
Ages: Pre K-8
A stirring picture-book biography about Jackie Ormes, the first Black female cartoonist in America, whose remarkable life and work inspire countless artists today.
9. Young, Gifted and Black Too: Meet 52 More Black Icons from Past and Present by Jamia Wilson, Andrea Pippins (Illustrator)
Ages: 2-6
In this timely follow-up to the best-selling, genre-defining Young, Gifted and Black, you can meet 52 more Black icons from around the world - this time spanning even more countries and including inspiring figures from as far back as the 1500s right up to present-day heroes.10. To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton, Lauren Semmer (Illustrator)
A CCBC 2024 Choices for the Historical People, Places, and Events selection!
Perfect for fans of Hidden Figures and Mae Among the Stars! To Boldly Go tells the true story of Nichelle Nichols and how she used her platform on Star Trek to inspire and recruit a new generation of diverse astronauts and many others in the space and STEM fields.
11. Put Your Shoes On & Get Ready! by Raphael G. Warnock, Temika Grooms (Illustrator)
Ages: 4-8
Before Raphael Warnock became a pastor and the first Black senator from Georgia, he was a little boy whose father told him to get up, get dressed, put on his shoes, and get ready! So that’s what he did, along every step of his journey. From his work boots to his marching band shoes to his shiny lace-ups, Senator Reverend Warnock found the right shoes to fit his feet and to carry him toward his dreams.
12. Before the Ships: The Birth of Black Excellence by Maisha Oso, Candice Bradley (Illustrator)
With sparse yet moving text, Maisha takes us back in timed to before the advent of the Transatlantic slave trade. We see the grandness of African royalty, the bravery of warriors like the Queen of Kush, and stories being told in song with griots and drums. Candice Bradley's gorgeous and reflective illustrations illuminate the strength of Black history and Black joy, reminding readers about the power within us all.
Bonus:
Chioma Okereke's debut novel, Bitter Leaf, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize - Africa Best First Book, and her short story Trompette De La Mort received First Runner-Up of the inaugural Costa Short Story Award.
She's the Pearl of Makoko and the world is her oyster.
In Makoko, the floating slum off mainland Lagos, Nigeria, nineteen-year-old Baby yearns for an existence where she can escape the future her father has planned for her. With opportunities scarce, Baby jumps at the chance to join a newly launched drone-mapping project, aimed at broadening the visibility of her community.
Then a video of her at work goes viral and Baby finds herself with options she could never have imagined - including the possibility of leaving her birthplace to represent Makoko on the world stage.
But will life beyond the lagoon be everything she's dreamed of? Or has everything she wants been in front of her all along?
Poetry
1. The undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson
The Undefeated is a 2019 poem by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. The poem's purpose is to inspire and encourage black communities, while also delivering a tribute to black Americans of all occupations in past years.
2. And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou’s unforgettable collection of poetry lends its name to the documentary film about her life, And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.
3. Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Black Girl, Call Home is a love letter to the wandering Black girl and a vital companion to any woman on a journey to find truth, belonging, and healing.
4. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
The accumulative stresses come to bear on a person's ability to speak, perform, and stay alive. Our addressability is tied to the state of our belonging, Rankine argues, as are our assumptions and expectations of citizenship. In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named "post-race" society.
5. I Remember Death by its Proximity to What I Love by Mahogany L. Browne
Mahogany L. Browne’s I Remember Death by Its Proximity to What I Love reads as a single, continuous poem (though it is divided into parts) that explores the inheritance of grief, the violence of racism and incarceration, and the transportive potential of writing. I read this book as a kind of deconstructed ars poetica, in which the poet, particularly in times of strife or overwhelming intensity, finds a poem ‘waiting to be picked up / dusted off.
—Megan Fernandes, Harriet Books
6. Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
7. Finna by Nate Marshall
A lyrical and sharp celebration, these poems consider the brevity and disposability of Black lives and other oppressed people in our current era of emboldened white supremacy. In three key parts, Finna explores the mythos and erasure of names in the American narrative; asks how gendered language can provoke violence; and finally, through the celebration and examination of the Black vernacular, expands the notions of possibility, giving us a new language of hope.
8. Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
With her first full-length poetry collection, Warsan Shire introduces us to a young girl, who, in the absence of a nurturing guide, makes her own stumbling way towards womanhood. Drawing from her own life and the lives of loved ones, as well as pop culture and news headlines, Shire finds vivid, unique details in the experiences of refugees and immigrants, mothers and daughters, Black women, and teenage girls.
9. To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis
Twenty-five years ago, Robin Coste Lewis discovered a stunning collection of photographs in an old suitcase under her bed. Lewis’s family had survived one of the largest migrations in human history, when six million Americans fled the South. These photographs of daily twentieth-century Black life revealed a concealed, interior history. The poetry Lewis joins to these vivid images stands forth as an inspiring alternative to the usual ways we frame the old stories of “race” and “migration,” placing them within a much vaster span of time and history.
10. Other People's Comfort Keeps Me up at Night by Morgan Parker
What this re-release shows, more than anything, is that Parker has always possessed an uncanny ability to intermingle philosophy and lyric. . . . trust me, this is a collection you will want to spend time with.
- The Poetry Question
11. Build Yourself a Boat by Camonghne Felix
This is about what grows through the wreckage. This is an anthem of survival and a look at what might come after. A view of what floats and what, ultimately, sustains. Build Yourself a Boat, an innovative debut by award-winning poet Camonghne Felix, interrogates generational trauma, the possibility of healing, and the messiness of survival.
12. God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson, Aaron Douglas (Illustrator)
James Weldon Johnson was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, and one of the most revered African Americans of all time, whose life demonstrated the full spectrum of struggle and success. American preachers are reimagined as poetry, reverberating with the musicality and splendid eloquence of the spirituals.
Bonus:
From the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1983 and the National Book Award, internationally celebrated writer, poet, and activist: Alice Walker!
Vivid poems of “breakdown and spiritual disarray.” Writing these, Walker says, “led me eventually into a larger understanding of the psyche, and of the world.” What finally marks this volume is the strong sense of change and, ultimately, of forgiveness as a part of growth.
Romance
1. Fake It Till You Bake It | A Legend in the Baking
by Jamie Wesley
Donovan Dell is a football player who likes to bake. Understanding that football won’t last forever, Donovan and two of his teammates opened Sugar Blitz, San Diego’s newest cupcake bakery. But with business not exactly booming, Donovan knows they need to get more people coming into the store.
In A Legend in the Baking, the new romance from Jamie Wesley, a cupcake-baking football player gets assistance from a social media maven—and his best friend's little sister—to help promote his new bakery after accidentally going viral online.
2. Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest
3. Finding Jupiter by Kelis Rowe
Sparks fly when Orion and Ray meet for the first time at a roller rink in Memphis. But these star-crossed souls have a past filled with secrets that threaten to tear them apart before their love story even begins. Found poetry, grief, and fate collide in this powerful debut.
4. For All Times by Shanna Miles
Together, Tamar and Fayard have lived a thousand lives, seen the world build itself up from nothing only to tear itself down again in civil war. They’ve even watched humanity take to the stars. But in each life one thing remains the same: their love and their fight to be together. One love story after another. Their only concern is they never get to see how their story ends. Until now.
5. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
Debut author Justin A. Reynolds delivers a hilarious and heartfelt novel about the choices we make, the people we choose, and the moments that make a life worth reliving. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and John Green.
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack.
6. Talia Hibbert's Brown Sisters Book Set
7. When I Think of You by Myah Ariel
Kaliya Wilson has paid her dues. But all the years behind the reception desk at a flashy film studio have only pushed her movie-making dreams further out of reach. That is, until a surprise reunion presents an opportunity that could make her career, or break her heart … a second time.
8. The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
Port of Spain, Trinidad. Sixteen-year-old Audre is despondent, having just found out she’s going to be sent to live in America with her father. Minneapolis, USA. Sixteen-year-old Mabel, who has been feeling vaguely ill all summer, is roused from bed when her father announces that his best friend and his just-arrived-from-Trinidad daughter are coming for dinner. Mabel quickly falls hard for Audre and is determined to take care of her as she tries to navigate an American high school. But their romance takes a turn when test results reveal exactly why Mabel has been feeling low-key sick all summer and suddenly it’s Audre who is caring for Mabel as she faces a deeply uncertain future.
9. Captured by Beverly Jenkins
Captured is a high-stakes historical romance from Beverly Jenkins, award-winning author of Night Song and Jewel, in which a stunning young slave and a roguish privateer share forbidden passion on the high seas.
10. The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée
Tamara Jerée stuns in this self-assured debut, telling a barbed sapphic tale of grandiose consequence and intimate scale. The Fall That Saved Us brings a profoundly empathetic eye to a hidden war between heaven, hell, and the nephilim trapped in between. Throughout, the narrative pulses with erotic tension and pathos in equal measure, building to a climax that reckons with both the destructive and healing powers of blood-in every sense of the word. One thing is certain: I'll never look at the hilt of a dagger the same ever again.
- Bendi Barrett, author of Empire of the Feast
11. Church Girl by Naima Simone
Von's new hire is inexperienced and a fire hazard in the kitchen. She's also all thick curls, thicker curves, and a distracting mix of innocence and sensuality. After the upheaval of a divorce, he just needs a nanny, not a sneaky link. Meanwhile, Aaliyah is bonding with his seven-year-old and showing an unexpected flair for tattoo art. Who could resist? Yet deep down, Aaliyah's still running--from her feelings and her fear of losing herself to someone else's expectations again. Even as their pasts return to haunt them, their undeniable heat says maybe it's time to stand and fight for a love they didn't see coming.
Mystery and Thrillers
1. When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
2. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
3. A Very Bad Thing by T. J. Ellison
From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has―and everyone she knows.
4. All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
“An atmospheric pressure cooker.” — People
5. When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
"I was knocked over by the momentum of an intense psychological thriller that doesn’t let go until the final page. This is a terrific read." – Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author (A Marie Claire Book Club Pick).
Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…
6. Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
“Trouble in Queenstown starts at a simmer, but when Vandy’s investigation gets going, it reaches a full boil.” –The New York Times Book Review
7. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
In Where Sleeping Girls Lie ― a YA contemporary mystery by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, the New York Times-bestselling author of Ace of Spades ― a girl new to boarding school discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears.
8. Do What Godmother Says by L. S. Stratton
An ELLE "Best Mystery and Thriller Book of 2024"
A modern-day writer and a Harlem Renaissance artist are connected by a painting with a deadly secret in this gripping dual-timeline gothic thriller.
Shanice Pierce knows better than to heed bad omens. But she has a hard time ignoring the signs when she finds herself newly single and out of a job on the same seemingly cursed day.
Then, while cleaning out her grandmother's house, Shanice comes across a painting she hasn't seen in years. Drawn to the haunting portrait in a way she can't explain, Shanice accepts her grandmother's offer to keep the family heirloom.
9. Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward, passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the night of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the newlyweds’ daughter, Caroline, disappears—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
10. The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson
11. Lakeside Secrets by K. D. Richards
A mother murdered. A daughter's return.
And a killer determined to keep the case cold.
Twenty years ago, trauma and injury stole Karine Eloi's memories of her mother's murder. Now she's back home, teaming up with her best friend, Omar Monroe, to uncover the truth. But the townspeople refuse to spill their secrets, leaving Karine's life in danger. Omar will risk everything to prevent the woman he's always had feelings for from becoming the victim of another unsolved murder.
From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.
12. The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
“One of the most engaging and gifted new voices in the genre. . . . The Cutting Season does more than exhume a body—it rattles the bones of slavery, race, class, and power to examine a crime that reverberates from more than a century ago.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After her breathtaking debut novel, Black Water Rising, won acclaim from major publications and respected crime fiction masters like James Ellroy and George Pelecanos, Locke returns with The Cutting Season, a second novel easily as gripping and powerful as her first—a heart-pounding thriller that interweaves two murder mysteries, one on Belle Vie, a historic landmark in the middle of Lousiana’s Sugar Cane country, and one involving a slave gone missing more than one hundred years earlier.
Sci-Fi
Now, no more complaints anymore about not being able to find black sci-fi genres with black main characters because this list is sure to feed the space on your bookshelf missing these SCIFI Fantasy books. Enjoy!
1. Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
"This is what they deserve. They wanted me to be a monster. I will be the worst monster they ever created."
Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.
Under the Lucis’ brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.
2. Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse
The year is 1883 and the mining town of Goetia is booming as prospectors from near and far come to mine the powerful new element Divinity from the high mountains of Colorado with the help of the pariahs of society known as the Fallen.
3. Sing Me To Sleep by Gabi Burton
Killer. Liar. Soldier. Spy.
Saoirse is a spy: When her little sister is blackmailed, Saoirse takes a dangerous job to protect her-personal bodyguard to the crown prince. One misstep, and Saoirse will lose her life.
But the biggest threat of all is to her heart. Prince Hayes would call for her death in an instant if he knew the truth. But the closer Saoirse gets to Hayes, the harder it gets to resist him.
4. The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope
"Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name."
Washington D. C., 1925: Clara Johnson can talk to spirits--a gift that saved her during her darkest moments, now a curse that's left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes the chance, no questions asked. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.
Clara can't pull off this daring heist alone. She'll need the help of an unlikely team, from a handsome jazz musician able to hypnotize with a melody to an aging actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible.
5. The Good Luck Girls | The Sisters of Reckoning by
Charlotte Nicole Davis
Book 1: The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls—they know their luck is anything but.
Sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed markings.
Trapped in a life they would never have chosen.
When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by Arketta’s most vicious and powerful forces, both human and inhuman, their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one Good Luck Girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.
Book 2: The Good Luck Girls are free. Aster's sister and friends have new lives across the border in Ferron, while Aster remains in Arketta, helping more girls escape. But news of a new welcome house opening fills Aster with a need to do more than just help individual girls. And an unexpected reunion gives her an idea of how to do it.
6. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—NPR, Library Journal, Book Riot
Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.
On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power...
7. The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden
In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes—the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:....
8. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa—a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks—alone, except for her fox companion—searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
9. The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
Yetu holds the memories for her people — water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners — who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one — the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.
Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities — and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.
10. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland's stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar—a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet.
11. A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson
A Taste of Honey is the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus finalist novella that N. K. Jemisin calls "a love story as painful as it is beautiful and complex". Find out why Wired named it one of the 20 Best Books of the Decade!
12. Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
“The most interesting writer of science fiction writing in English today.” —The New York Times
The Nebula Award Winner: “By looking at a typical space opera adventure from a different angle, Delany . . . give[s] us a weird, welcoming book” (Tor.com).
At twenty-six, Rydra Wong is the most popular poet in the five settled galaxies. Almost telepathically perceptive, she has written poems that capture the mood of mankind after two decades of savage war. Since the invasion, Earth has endured famine, plague, and cannibalism—but its greatest catastrophe will be Babel-17.
Bonus:
From George S. Schuyler (1895–1977), a satirist, critic, and eminent African American journalist of the Harlem Renaissance, was born in Providence, Rhode Island: featuring an introduction by Danzy Senna, the bestselling author of Caucasia and Colored Television....
Lampooning myths of white supremacy and racial purity and caricaturing prominent African American leaders like W. E. B. Du Bois, Madam C. J. Walker, and Marcus Garvey, Black No More is a masterwork of speculative fiction and a hilarious satire of America’s obsession with race.
Biographies, Memoirs and Black Liberation
1. The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, with a New Preface by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
3. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
Hard-Cover | E-Book
Joy Reid, Cosmopolitan: "A dissertation on black women’s pain and possibility."
Rebecca Solnit, The New Republic: "Funny, wrenching, pithy, and pointed."
America Ferrera: "Razor sharp and hilarious. There is so much about her analysis that I relate to and grapple with on a daily basis as a Latina feminist."
When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed.
4. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young
For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of possessing black skin while searching for space to breathe in America is enough to induce a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as “How should I react here, as a professional black person?” and “Will this white person’s potato salad kill me?” are forever relevant.
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker chronicles Young’s efforts to survive while battling and making sense of the various neuroses his country has given him.
5. I'm Still Here: Reese's Book Club - Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
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.
“Austin Channing Brown introduces herself as a master memoirist. This book will break open hearts and minds.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed
Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized-America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.
6. The Black Antifascist Tradition: Fighting Back From Anti-Lynching to Abolition by by Jeanelle K. Hope and Bill V. Mullen
7. Her Word Is Bond: Navigating Hip Hop and Relationships in a Culture of Misogyny by Cristalle "Psalm One" Bowen
Her Word is Bond recounts the triumphs and setbacks of a rap legend who blazed a new trail for women in hip hop.
Cristalle Bowen, also known as Psalm One, is an international touring and recording artist. She has been consistently named one of the nation's best by the Chicago Tribune, and in 2011 made her television debut on MTV's Emmy-winning series, MADE.
8. Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes
What fuels and sustains activism and organizing when it feels like our worlds are collapsing? Let This Radicalize You is a practical and imaginative resource for activists and organizers building power in an era of destabilization and catastrophe.
9. Assata Taught Me by Donna Murch
"Assata Taught Me is a masterclass on the Black Radical Tradition. From the extractive structures of the world's largest police state to the revolutionary resistance, Donna Murch meticulously traces the history and contours of the current Movement for Black Lives. This book is seminal like its namesake, Assata Shakur."
--Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an AntiracistA fresh historical perspective on the fifty years since the founding of the Black Panther Party, in which the world's largest police state has emerged.
10. Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies by Colin Kapernic (Editor), Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (Editor), Robin D. G. Kelley (Editor)
"The centuries-long attack on Black history represents a strike against our very worth, brilliance, and value. We're ready to fight back. And when we fight, we win." -Colin Kaepernick
Since its founding as a discipline, Black Studies has been under relentless attack by social and political forces seeking to discredit and neutralize it. Our History Has Always Been Contraband was born out of an urgent need to respond to the latest threat: efforts to remove content from an AP African American Studies course being piloted in high schools across the United States. Edited by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Our History Has Always Been Contraband brings together canonical texts and authors in Black Studies, including those excised from or not included in the AP curriculum.
11. So We Can Know: Writers of Color on Pregnancy, Loss, Abortion, and Birth by Aracelis Girmay
"Sometimes, rarely, something we read is a fulcrum of healing. I must thank aracelis girmay and every writer who contributed to So We Can Know. Maraming salamat Terima kasih Thank you, for the courage in these harsh times, when guns have more rights than women, to put words on your experiences. In the spaces between these lines of word medicine, I felt heard, I felt accepted, I felt loved."
--Ibu Robin Lim, Grandmother & Midwife
12. I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like by Rebecca Carroll
Thirty years after its original publication, this newly imagined edition brings the work and musings of fifteen Black literary luminaries in conversation with a new generation of writers and readers.
I Know What the Red Clay Looks Like is a book unbound by time, lifting up a chorus of past and present voices. Paying homage to a historic lineage of Black feminist writers and their impact on our current literary landscape, it is a book by and for the storytellers, the poets, the playwrights, the dreamers, and all readers interested in what it means to make art within and from marginalized spaces.
Bonus:
Memoirs or Autobiographies of AA Slaves
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it.
Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.
But is not the slave trade entirely a war with the heart of man?
In 1789, Olaudah Equiano published his remarkable autobiography of his journey from enslavement to freedom. Kidnapped from his home in West Africa and sold into slavery as a child, Equiano - renamed Gustavus Vassa - travelled the world as an enslaved man, before he eventually purchased his freedom and became a leading figure in the British abolition campaign.
One of the earliest known books published by a Black African author, Equiano's vivid and harrowing life story shed light on the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade. The Interesting Narrative has been widely celebrated for its impact on the abolitionist movement and remains today a powerful record of the horrors of slavery.Olaudah Equiano known in his lifetime as Gustavus Vassa was a freed slave of Igbo extraction from the eastern part of present-day Nigeria, who supported the British movement to end the slave trade. His autobiography, published in 1789, helped in the creation of the Slave Trade Act 1807 which ended the African slave trade for Britain and its colonies.
Enslaved from his 1815 birth in Kentucky, William Wells Brown had several enslavers before reaching adulthood. When he was 19, his enslaver took him to Cincinnati in the free state of Ohio. Brown ran off and made his way to Dayton. Here, a Quaker who did not believe in enslavement helped him and gave him a place to stay. By the late 1830s, he was active in the North American 19th-century Black activist movement and was living in Buffalo, New York. Here, his house became a station on the Underground Railroad.
Brown eventually moved to Massachusetts. When he wrote a memoir, "Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself," it was published by the Boston Anti-Slavery Office in 1847. The book was very popular and went through four editions in the United States. It was also published in several British editions.
He traveled to England to lecture. When the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in the U.S., he chose to remain in Europe for several years, rather than risk being recaptured.
Freedom seeker and abolitionist, Ellen Smith Craft notably disguised herself as a sickly, White man in order to escape to freedom. Born in 1826, Ellen Smith grew up as the daughter of a White slaveholder and an enslaved mother in Clinton, Georgia.
End of 2024 New Releases:
6 New releases of January & February 2025:
TV Shows
Amanda (1 Season ~ 1948–1949)
The Hazel Scott Show (1 Season ~ 1950)
The Nat King Cole Show (1956-1957)
Good Times (6 Seasons ~ 1974–1979)
The Jeffersons (11 Seasons ~ 1975-1985)
Gimme a Break! (Intro | 6 Seasons ~ 1981 - 1987)
227 (5 Seasons ~ 1985-1989)
Living Single (5 Seasons ~ 1993-1997)
Family Matters (9 Season ~ 1989-1997)
In Living Color (5 Seasons ~ 1990-1994)
Martin (5 Seasons ~ 1992 -1997)
Sister Sister (6 Seasons ~ 1994-1998)
Keenan and Kel (4 Seasons ~ 1996-2023)
My Wife and Kids (5 Seasons ~ 2000-2005)
One on One (6 Seasons ~ 2001-2006)
Half and Half (5 Seasons ~ 2002-2006)
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Beyond the Gates (Season 1 ~ 2025)
Movies
The Crimson Skull (1922)
Stormy Weather (1943)
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1957)
Sister Act & Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1992/1993)
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Murder at 1600 (1997)
Princess and The Frog (2009)
Hidden Figures (2016)
Black Panther (2018)/Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Vacation Friends & 2 (2021/ 2023)
The Supremes: At Earl's All You Can Eat (2024)
Sugar Mama (2025)
Documentaries & Biographical Films
Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
Hustle & Soul (2 Seasons ~ 2017-2019)
Searching for Soul Food (1 Season ~ 2023)
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The Hair Tales (1 Season ~ 2022)
The Greatest Mixtape Ever (51 Minutes ~ 2022)
30 for 30 | Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (18 minutes ~2023)
The 1619 Project (1 Season ~ 2023)
Dear Mama (1 Season ~ 2023)
Black Twitter: A People's History (1 Season ~ 2024)
Ruby Bridges (Biographical Film ~ 1998)
The Color of Friendship (Drama/Biography ~ 2000)
Remember the Titans (Drama/ History ~ 2000)
)
Hidden Colors (2011-2019)
Queen of Katwe (Biographical Film ~ 2016)
13Th (2016)
Notable Directors or Producers and Their Work:
Black directors of the past had made strides after decades to make way for others behind them to prevail. They continue to have to climb and work hard to produce the best works of art even without the credit of awards.
Oscar Micheaux became the first director to launch his own studio in 1919. Directors (Melvin van Peebles and Gordon Parks) put Black narratives at the forefront of their storytelling in the 1970s, creating a subgenre known as “blaxploitation.”
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