What to Read Next: Black History Month Edition

Exploring Black bookstores through historical and social lenses, as well as vital spaces for uplifting Black voices, Char Adams reveals the revolutionary role of Black-owned bookshops.

Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime is a brilliant and witty memoir that illustrates an unbreakable bond between mother and son. Noah’s poignant prose creates a startling portrayal of his experience growing up in South Africa during apartheid.

Much more than a travel guide, The Green Book was a vital safety net for Black travelers during segregation in America. This powerful history captures the reality of the era through the eyes of Black motorists.

Insightful and reflective, Alayo Akinkugbe’s illustrated collection explores the gaps in art history, shedding light on both the visibility and erasure of Black representation in the arts.

Beautiful, brutal, and often banned – this modern classic gives an unflinching view of a childhood rooted in pain that flowers into a tale of redemption and hope.

Capturing the defining cultural movements of our time and their lasting impact, Jelani Cobb’s essay collection is a reckoning with motives, perspectives and a possible way forward.

Bringing to life two centuries of Black women activists, including those often overlooked as well as those who appear in history books, this is an informative and illuminating account from a woman’s perspective.

She made us laugh on The Jeffersons, but did you know Marla Gibbs is as much a businesswoman and advocate for artists as she is a Hollywood icon? In this candid memoir, she tells it like it is.

Bringing overlooked feminist issues to the forefront, Mikki Kendall’s eye-opening essays challenge a feminism that too often abandons the women who need it most.

Rooted in personal history, Congressman John Lewis chronicles the Civil Rights Movement in this gorgeously detailed graphic novel that highlights the groundbreaking work done by activists in the 1960s.

A heartbreaking and harrowing true story that puts a spotlight on the tragic events aboard the ill-fated ship. Told with verve and veracity, this is history that makes a difference.

Deep dive research, unsparing and entertaining, told with a piercing humor and direct delivery, Michael Harriot, author and social critic, writer for The Root and The Grio and host of the Drapetomaniax: Unshackled History podcast, is here to tell you what is missing from our American “history” books.

Celebrating a century of Black talent in fashion, this brilliantly researched and visually stunning collection showcases creativity and the evolution of American style.

A celebration of Medgar Evers and Myrlie Beasley, the lesser-known but essential Civil Rights icons, Medgar and Myrlie is a cinematic story with urgent and timely themes that still resonate with modern America.

Imani Perry studies the color blue in all its history and hues in this remarkable analysis. From West Africa to the American South, Black in Blues examines the color’s relation to Blackness and culture from the award-winning author of South to America.

Based on on-the-ground research compiled over seven years of travel through thirty countries, An African History of Africa is a meticulously researched, sweeping study of the continent’s culture, people and history. Shining a light on overlooked African scholarship, Badawi presents a decolonized history in this remarkable and accessible account.

Gripping, informative and heart-wrenching, Geisberg gathers intimate accounts, ads and public pleas from formerly enslaved people who were forced apart from their families. Last Seen highlights one of the most horrific — and often overlooked — impacts of slavery, one that still reverberates throughout America today.

A remarkable history detailing the Black struggle for home and safety in America, but also the inspirational story of Black innovation in creating an ideal life in a country far from ideal.

This bestselling, conversation-driving anthology features some of our top journalists, historians, poets, essayists, and photographers examining the lasting impacts of slavery in America.

Four of Baldwin’s critically-acclaimed, bestselling essay collections in a single volume, with a terrific new introduction by Eddie S. Glaude. “[Baldwin] is an artist, a writer, in conversation with a wide range of influences (inheritances and ancestors) that shape what he sees and how he inhabits the genre.”

Featuring an afterword from acclaimed poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, this is a beautifully designed volume of King’s timely and timeless letter.

Trailblazer. Activist. Visionary. James Baldwin inspired countless artists with his pointed, elegant and electric work — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roxane Gay, and Jason Reynolds, to name a few. Showcasing his inimitable voice through essays on culture, politics and identity, Notes of a Native Son is a revolutionary, necessary read.

The Warmth of Other Suns details the Great Migration, the movement of Black Americans out of the South and to the North and West. This is a work of massive importance, written with an immensely approachable voice to boot.

Tiya Miles uncovers the humanity behind the legend in this brilliant account of Harriet Tubman’s life. Through thorough research and careful analysis, Miles fleshes out the true story of this complex leader and irrepressible dreamer.

One of Zora Neale Hurston’s greatest strengths lay in her use of language and diction, creating an immersive, exacting reading experience. An incredible historic account published almost 60 years after her death, Barracoon is a shining example of what made her one of our most important writers.

A fresh take on a pivotal moment in American history, rigorously researched and recounted in incredible detail that deepens our understanding of the end of the Civil War and the start of Reconstruction.

Conventional wisdom says ideas and social concepts drive the creation of political policy; this award-winning book that made its author a bestselling, household name explains how the truth is actually reversed, and policy creates the ideas it needs to justify its existence.

Shocking, engrossing and thought-provoking, Skloot chronicles how scientists took Henrietta’s cells without consent. Lacks’ harrowing case raises questions of race, science and bioethics in modern medicine.

An inspiring, emotionally resonant true story of family and love, endurance and survival.