With the new year in full swing, it’s time to get serious about resolutions. If your New Year’s goal was to read more, we’ve got you covered with this list of powerful reads from prominent Black authors.
From Shonda Rhimes’ Year of the Yes to Joy Ann Reid’s Fracture, these books will bring you closer to your truth and help shape your understanding of Black identity and culture in an ever-evolving America. .
You are reading: African american books 2016
1. year of yes, by shonda rhimes
“Lucky implies I didn’t do anything. Lucky implies something was given to me. Lucky implies that I was handed something I did not earn, that I did not work hard for. Gentle reader, may you never be lucky. I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don’t call me lucky. Call me a badass.” — Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, Shonda Rhimes
Start 2016 off right with this amazing read! rhimes’ nuggets of wisdom in the year of yes will inspire you to keep saying this three-letter word this year.
In the year of yes, the television powerhouse of Thursday nights reveals how learning to say yes pushed her into the truest form of herself.
2. between me and the world, by ta-nehisi coates
“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable. None of that can change the math anyway.” — Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
the death of young black children like tamir rice sparked much discussion about race in the united states. these speeches are given not only on the street or on television screens, but also at home. For parents of children of color, this conversation has become necessary. ta-nehisi coates,
ta-nehisi coates, senior writer for the atlantic, writes an honest and emotional letter to his son about what it means to grow up black in the united states.
3. redefining reality, by janet mock
“James Baldwin describes identity as “the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self.” The garment should be worn “loose,” he says, so we can always feel our nakedness. “This trust in one’s nakedness is all that gives one the power to change one’s robes.” I’m still journeying toward that place where I’m comfortable in this nakedness, standing firmly in my interlocking identities.” — Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, Janet Mock
make 2016 the “year of you” with mock’s unflinching redefinition of reality. By detailing his experiences growing up multiracial, poor, and trans, it inspires readers around the world to keep fighting to define themselves on their own terms.
4. fracture, by joy ann reid
Calling all Politics junkies! Prep for the 2016 Presidential race with MSNBC National Correspondent Joy-Ann Reid. In her new book, Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide, Reid reveals the shifts within the Democratic party as it relates to race.
5. how to slowly kill yourself and others in america by kiese laymon
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“We black Southerners, through life, love, and labor, are the generators and architects of American music, narrative, language, capital, and morality. That belongs to us. Take away all those stolen West African girls and boys forced to find an oral culture to express, resist, and signify in the South, and we have no rich American idiom.” — How To Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Kiese Laymon
In her collection of short essays, Kiese Laymon takes readers on an honest and thought-provoking journey through her upbringing in Mississippi, addressing issues of racism and prejudice.
6. Negroland: Memoirs, by Margo Jefferson
“I call it Negroland because I still find “Negro” a word of wonders, glorious and terrible. A word for runaway slave posters and civil rights proclamations; for social constructs and street corner flaunts. A tonal-language word whose meaning shifts as setting and context shift, as history twists, lurches, advances, and stagnates. As capital letters appear to enhance its dignity; as other nomenclatures arise to challenge its primacy.” — Negroland: A Memoir, Margo Jefferson
The daughter of a Chicago socialite and chief physician at Provident Hospital, Margo Jefferson writes about growing up in Chicago’s black elite through the intersections of race, gender, and class.
7. dollar, per mk asante
“Now I see why reading was illegal for black people during slavery. I discover that I think in words. The more words I know, the more things I can think about.” — BUCK, MK Asante
mk asante’s powerful memoir, buck, tells the story of his experiences growing up on the streets of north philadelphia learning from unconventional teachers. In a riveting coming-of-age story, Asante takes us on his journey to find his purpose and how a single sheet of paper transformed his life.
8. the thing around your neck, by chimamanda ngozi adichie
“The trick was to understand America, to know that America was give-and-take. You gave up a lot but you gained a lot, too.” — The Thing Around Your Neck, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
chimamanda ngoziadichie’s abundant literary prose in her collection of 12 short stories makes for a gripping page turner. Author of the acclaimed Americanah and award-winning Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie delves into the experiences of Nigerian women in both Africa and the United States.
9. show, by pamela newkirk
“As many as five hundred people at a time crowded around to gawk at the diminutive Ota Benga while he preoccupied himself with a pet parrot, deftly shot his bow and arrow, or wove a mat and hammock from the bundles of twine placed in the cage. Children giggled and hooted with delight while adults laughed, many uneasily, at the human spectacle.” — Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga, Pamela Newkirk
Using primary historical evidence, award-winning journalist Pamela Newkirk traces the life of Ota Benga, a young Congolese boy who was captured and used as an exhibit in a zoo. Newkirk’s narrative exposes the roots of racial prejudice that persists today.
10. citizen: an american letter, by claudia rankine
Claudia Rankine’s voice soars and soothes in this collection of prose and poems that capture racism in everyday American life.
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rankine on serena williams:
“maybe this is what racism feels like no matter the context: randomly, the rules everyone else plays by doesn’t apply to you anymore, and to call this out by yelling ‘I swear to god!’ It should be called crazy, rude, crazy, poor sportsmanship.” — Citizen: An American Letter, Claudia Rankine
11. black man in a white coat, by damon tweedy
Damon Tweedy, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University, pens a necessary memoir on the experiences confronting racism and bias in the medical industry while commenting on the racial disparities in the health field.
12. the sisters are fine, by tamara winfrey harris
“Black women’s stories look a lot different from what you’ve heard. And when black women speak for themselves, the picture presented is nuanced, empowering, and hopeful.” — The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America, Tamara Winfrey Harris
In this book that reads more like a love letter to Black women, Winfrey Harris exposes the myths behind flawed portrayals of Black women while presenting an uplifting new narrative that’s long overdue.
13. invisible man, he’s got the whole world watching, by mychal denzel smith
The Nation’s Mychal Denzel Smith looks at the current state of black manhood vis a vis the most poignant moments of the millennial generation. From witnessing the election of President Barack Obama to the deaths of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin, Denzel Smith examines what it means to be black and male in a “post-racial” America.
14. the misadventures of a clumsy black woman, by issa rae
Think Awkward Black Girl – the comedy web series – but on paperback. American actress and writer Issa Rae does not disappoint in this book, offering readers inspiration through comedic relief to embrace their whole selves.
“it all made sense: my shyness, all the times I got fired for not being “black enough,” my desire to reframe black film and television imagery, what I started doing when I created a series on the college. so-called dorm diaries, my inability to dance, these were all symptoms of my uncomfortable blackness. this is an identity, I thought.” — the misadventures of the awkward black girl, issa rae
15. for white people teaching in the hood…and the rest of you too, by chris emdin
Columbia University professor Chris Emdin’s forthcoming book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood … and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education, will speak to educators who are looking for practical tools to engage urban students in the classroom. Integrating the forces of art and science, Emdin offers a path forward for education in the 21st century.
16. Nobody: America’s War on the Vulnerable, Marc Lamont Hill
Set for release later this year, Marc Lamont Hill’s book, Nobody: America’s War on the Vulnerable from Ferguson to Baltimore and Beyond, presents an examination of America’s treatment of what he calls, the “Nobody” class. In looking at the deaths of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, and others, Hill reveals the larger crisis for American citizens who find themselves on the intersections of being poor and black.
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