I’m raising six sons who will one day become white men. What with the climate of our country and the ripples of racism that have begun to creep from half-concealed corners, I have compiled a list of required reading for my sons that will teach them about both black history and growing up black in America.
Picture Books
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life, by Ashley Bryan
A poignant look at the lives of slaves, compiled from original slave auction and plantation estate documents. Shows clearly the objectification of slave lives and a clear picture of how America dehumanized the black race. And yet black men and women held tightly to their dreams. A book full of information, sorrow, and hope.
Freedom in Congo Square, by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
This picture book highlights an important part of African American history: the capacity to hope and dream and find joy in a difficult place. It’s a sobering look at what slaves did Monday through Saturday, and then a celebratory look of the freedom they had for a day—Sunday, a day when the slaves of Louisiana would gather in Congo Square and reconnect to their heritage of song and dance. Told beautifully through verse and captivating pictures, this picture book is an important addition to any collection.
This picture book showcases Harriet Tubman’s courage, strength, and utter devotion to helping the cause of her enslaved people. She was called the modern day Moses, and the book follows her mark on black Americans and their future.
Middle Grade
Grace is a slave called to work in the Big House. While she’s compliant on the outside, inside she is asking many questions: how can white people own other people? Why are her people sold on an auction block? Who gave white people the right to separate families from each other? When her master talks about selling her mama, she decides it’s time to take the risk and make a run for it. Burg shines a light on a time period in American history during which runaways sought a place to call home in the Great Dismal Swamp.
Ghost, Castle Cranshaw, is chosen for a middle school track team, and while he tries to learn the ins and outs of running for a team, he deals with his own emotional reasons for running—which include a father, a gun, and a terrifying fear of dying. Reynolds provides a significant look into the lives of children growing up in dangerous situations.
Patty (Patina) joins Ghost (in the above story) on the elite middle school track team. She runs for her mother, who lost her legs, and also runs to outrun her fears: that she will be like her mother. Her challenges culminate into an emotional climax that proves the power of love and friendship.
Young Adult
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
Starr Carter witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, killed by a police officer. Khalil was unarmed, and now Starr must decide whether to speak or remain silent—and the consequences that come with each decision.
Justyce McAllister writes a series of journal letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., after several incidences in which police kill unarmed black men. Jus tries to figure out if King’s teachings are relevant in the world today. And then, when the questions become personal, he must decide for himself what he chooses to do and believe.
Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Pérez
In New London, Texas, during 1937, Naomi Fuller, a Mexican American, and Wash Fuller, a black American, navigate the inherent racism that exists in their small town, stepping over the color lines that separate them from those who are white. Love, tension, and tragedy mark this phenomenal book.
Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds
The entire book takes place in 60 seconds, an elevator ride during which a kid tries to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother. Told in narrative verse, this book is a revelation of teenage gun violence, revenge, and, ultimately, what it means to forgive.
All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brendon Kiely
Two teenage boys, one black and one white, have to come to terms with a violent act that leaves their school, community, and the country on different sides of a racial war. A police brutality incident against a black boy sets the book off into a whirlwind of questions, anger, and reparation.
Adult
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, by Michael Eric Dyson
Michael Eric Dyson, in this short and emotional book, provides everything a white person needs to know about the black struggle for equality—one that exists even today. He begins with a compelling plea: “The time is at hand for reckoning with the past, recognizing the truth of the present, and moving together to redeem the nation for our future. If we don’t act now, if you don’t address race immediately, there very well may be no future.”
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A lyrically disturbing and yet moving book about America’s racial history and current crisis. Written as a letter to his son, Coates examines race and what it’s like to inhabit a black body—and what we might do to improve the future.
Stamped from the Beginning: the Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi
An incredibly comprehensive look at America’s racist history and the racist thoughts and beliefs that still exist today. Kendi uses the stories of five major American intellectuals to provide a frame for his narrative history—Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois and anti-prison activist Angela Davis. Fascinating look at what has brought us to our current situation—and what we can now do about it.
We Were Eight Years in Power, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A collection of new and old essays, Coates explores our more recent racial history, from the election of our first black president and then the backlash that fueled a completely different election. Riveting and powerful, it provides a deep and incisive look at the racial issues of modern America.
The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson
A fascinating narrative about the migration of almost six million black people during the years between 1915 and 1970. She follows the lives of three individuals and their stories—what contributed to their migration and what they found when they got where they were going.
Kill ‘Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul, by James McBride
Though it’s a narrative examination of James Brown’s life—the true, unedited story—McBride engages in commentary on the racial world in the American south, which provides a valuable look at the circumstances that shaped James Brown and others who grew up black in the south. Kill ‘Em and Leave is one of the most fascinating and well-written biographies I’ve read.
*The above are an affiliate links. I only recommend books that I personally enjoy. I actually don’t even talk about the books I don’t enjoy, because I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them. But if you’re ever curious whether I’ve read a book and whether I liked or disliked it, don’t hesitate to ask.
