The month of February is devoted to honoring black history. The annual celebration commends the incredible efforts of black people and recognizes the events and movements in history. It is crucial to educate yourself about black history; one of the best ways to do that is by reading.
Whether you choose to read works solely dedicated to the fight against systemic racism or texts written by prominent black authors, you are becoming an ally and developing a sense of understanding when it comes to black history.
To celebrate the 51st year of Black History Month, let’s honor these ten black writers whose impact paved the way:
Maya Angelou
Some works I recommend are I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, And I Still Rise, and I Shall Not Be Moved.
Langston Hughes
I recommend “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Dreams,” and Fight for Freedom: The Story of the NAACP.
Toni Morrison
Though she has several incredible works, I recommend Sula, Beloved, and A Mercy.
Frederick Douglass
I read these works in one of my previous classes – Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
Octavia E. Butler
I recommend Kindred, and “’Devil Girl from Mars’: Why I Write Science Fiction.”
W.E.B. Du Bois
Currently, Du Bois is a frequent author in one of my courses. I recommend “Criteria of Negro Art,” and Black Reconstruction in America.
Phillis Wheatley
I’ve read so many of her poems, but I recommend “On Being Brought from Africa to America” and “On Imagination.”
Riché J. Daniel Barnes
I read this book last spring for one of my courses, Raising the Race: Black Career Women Redefine Marriage, Motherhood, and Community.
Zora Neale Hurston
Some recommendations are “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” and Dust Tracks on a Road.
James Baldwin
Baldwin produces astonishing works, such as “Sonny’s Blues,” and If Beale Street Could Talk.