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6 Books That Celebrate Being Black And Proud

During Black History Month, we’re being treated to literary Black excellence—from Audre Lorde’s defining texts to lost essays from Zora Neale Hurston

By Joi-Marie McKenzie · Updated November 4, 2020

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In the scholarly magazine Callaloo, lesbian poet Audre Lorde once said, “My sexuality is part and parcel of who I am, and my poetry comes from the intersection of me and my worlds.”

Lorde, in her life and in her writings, dismantled so many systems that tried to diminish her and her family. She outlines the lessons learned in her seminal text Sister Outsider (Penguin Classics, $26), the feminist’s classic tome of 15 essays and speeches, originally published in 1984.

6 Books To Celebrate Black History Month

The work tackles the junctions of racism, sexism, classism, ageism and sexuality in persuasive reflections, which have stood the test of time. Reissued with a bold new cover and an illuminating foreword by poet Mahogany L. Browne, Lorde’s generational truths still cut deep into the darkened soul of America. Sister Outsider’s teachings, by one of our most revered elder stateswomen, should be read by everyone.

There are many other books that celebrate the lives of Black people, and this Black History Month we’ve highlighted just a few of our favorites.

Check them out below:

Sister Act

When you think of tennis, you can’t help but think of Venus and Serena Williams, who have helped to revolutionize the game while backhanding racism and sexism. In Different Strokes: Serena, Venus, and the Unfinished Black Tennis Revolution (Nebraska, $29.95), sports journalist Cecil Harris points out how far we’ve come in the game—and how far we still have to go.

Lost Art

Zora Neale Hurston reminds us why she’s a legendary scribe in Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick (Amistad, $25.99), a collection of works including eight recently unearthed short stories, with a foreword by author Tayari Jones. Among the selections are a beautifully narrated tale of a woman who steps into danger’s path to be with her lover and the melancholy story of a young man who sells candy in Harlem.

Ivy League

After public schools legally desegregated, Harvard University recruited 18 Black men, including Kent Garrett, to enter its hallowed halls as students. In The Last Negroes at Harvard: The Class of 1963 and the 18 Young Men Who Changed Harvard Forever (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27), Garrett recounts how they transformed the university just by showing up as themselves.

Medical Mystery

For significant cash flow, a free place to live and no medical expenses, would you lie to everyone you love to participate in a secret government-run research project? In Megan Giddings’s debut novel, Lakewood (Amistad, $26.99), reminiscent of Jordan Peele’s terrifying film Get Out, the author shows us the depths to which a financially struggling Black college student is willing to go.

Black Intellectuals

Veteran journalist Ed Gordon gathered some of the most thoughtful voices in Black America to talk about progress, the Black economy, the Black Girl Magic movement and the 2020 presidential election in Conversations in Black: On Power, Politics, and Leadership (Hachette, $28). Gordon lets readers sit in on important discussions with Black thinkers shaping our world, including activist Al Sharpton and Essence Ventures CEO Richelieu Dennis.

TOPICS: Audre Lorde black author black books black history month Black literature