Each Black History Month provides the opportunity to reexamine the 400-plus years-long journey of people of African descent in America and beyond. It’s important to go back to the well and examine stories of triumph and perseverance in the face of adversity, particularly during a time when a deadly pandemic and a reignited racial reckoning are laying bare inequities and transforming the path forward. The staff at NYU McSilver offers the following Black History Month 2021 book list to help guide the way.
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
- Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture by Sudhir Hazareesingh
- The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran
- The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty
- Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
- Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Peniman
- Find a Way or Make One: A Documentary History of Clark Atlanta University Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work (1920-2020) by Alma J. Carten (NYU McSilver Faculty Fellow)
- Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David Blight
- The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed
- Jay-Z: Made in America by Michael Eric Dyson
- Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
- Long Shot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter by Craig Hodges with Rory Fanning
- My Face Is Black Is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations by Mary Frances Berry
- No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America by Darnell L. Moore
- A Promised Land by Barack Obama
- So Other People Would Be Also Free: The Real Story of Rosa Parks for Kids by Tonya Leslie
- The Story of Barack Obama: A Biography Book for New Readers by Tonya Leslie
- Story of John Lewis: A Biography Book for Young Readers by Tonya Leslie
- The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. by Joseph Peniel
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabelle Wilkerson
- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
- Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Saidiya Hartman
- What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young
NYU McSilver staff members contributing to this list of recommendations include: Dr. Andrew Cleek, Jayson Jones, Ammu Kowolik, Anne Kuppinger, Dr. Michael A. Lindsey, Miles Martin, Rose Pierre-Louis and Frederica Stines.
For additional reading providing context for our current moment in history, view our guide to Resources for Coping With and Addressing Racial Oppression.