With the demonstrations on countless streets and the conversations taking place in countless homes, bookstores are now experiencing a surge of interest in books about Black history, racism and social justice.
“The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race,” edited by Jesmyn Ward
National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward compiled this collection of essays and poems about race by contemporary writers including Carol Anderson, Jericho Brown, Edwidge Danticat, Kevin Young, Claudia Rankine and Honoree Jeffers.
The 13 Turner children span a generation — the oldest born during World War II, the youngest just months after the 1967 Detroit race riots — and the book is an immersive examination of the complexities of sibling relationships, the housing crisis’ impact on innercity families like the Turners, and how a house becomes the story of its inhabitants.
A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston wrote many novels, stories, essays and poems, including two long-post-humous books: the nonfiction work “Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo’” (published in 2018) and the short story collection “Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick,” published earlier this year.
“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More” by Janet Mock
“So You Want To Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
“Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor” by Layla F. Saad
“Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson
“The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson
