Black History Month may have just ended, but it’s important to realize that there should never be a limit to how we appreciate and celebrate our black heroes and icons. Going into March, let’s uplift and support Black creatives, who have reimagined what it means to be the main character and have given us stories filled with rich culture, beauty, and relatability.
Growing up, I was used to and content with reading stories that I could not resonate with. Characters with long, straight hair and blue eyes. Skin that blushed at the thought of their lover. To me, all it did was enforce what desirability looks like, and it did not look like me. I’m happy to say that I’ve long since grown out of that mindset, but it was only because I found stories by incredible Black women that empowered me to be proud of my skin color, my hair texture, and my culture. Here are three books by Black women that have shaped me into the young woman that I am today.
- “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi
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I read this novel for the first time a week before my 15th birthday. At first, it was incredibly difficult to finish, not because the stories included weren’t riveting, but because the subjects portrayed in the novel were hard to read.
The story follows one woman who was sold into slavery and forced to go to the U.S. and another woman who was bought as a wife/sex slave by a British soldier. Both are sisters, but they have never met. What’s amazing about this book is that the story does not end with the two sisters. It follows their bloodline, the struggles their children and their children’s children experience due to the color of their skin, their gender, their sexuality, and their social class. This is such an oversimplification because many identities intersect to create the lives of each individual in the book. The story flows until it reaches the present time, and I swear when I finished this book it created a new sense of appreciation for literature. Yaa Gyasi is truly talented, and I strongly recommend this book.
- “American Street” by Ibi Zoboi
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When I first saw this book I was hesitant to read it. It was popular during the time The Hate U Give was, and although I love love love that novel, I was sort of tired of stories centered on Black characters only focusing on the pain, the poverty, the drugs, the death, and the racism. Of course, those topics are central to a lot of Black people’s lives, but I wanted to read something different, something that was uplifting and familiar. The story does include violence, racism, and police brutality, but the book stands out for its use of culture and its characterization of the main character.
American Street was written by a Haitian-American, something I had never seen before. As a Haitian-American myself, it was extremely encouraging to see someone who shared my experiences, and it was even more inspiring to see a Haitian main character. To me that was so innovative and so original. When the book would talk about Haitian folklore and family traditions, it warmed me from the inside and lit up a flame of pride for my ancestry.
- “Children of Blood and Bone” by Tomi Adeyemi
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Children of Blood and Bone is such an incredible story because it blends fantasy, romance, and action while also telling a story so similar to the lives of Black Americans. A story of oppression and survival. What I adore about this book, is that the main character was strong but vulnerable, loyal and loving towards the people she held in her heart, and hardworking. She stood out to me not only for what she possessed, but because of the way Tomi Adeyemi described the main character. For the first time, I read a book where the main character was dark skin and had 4C texture hair like mine. Throughout the book everyone saw her as strong and beautiful, her beauty being something that left people in awe. Not many books have dark skin main characters, and when they do, there is no beauty to them. This book helped me see the beauty in texture and color, and it made me so happy to know that Black characters can be seen as desirable.
All of these books have shaped me and inspired me in so many ways. I hope these books can do the same for you, regardless of where you come from or how you identify.
