18 Black History Books and Articles That Highlight Black Voices

History textbooks are often incomplete, particularly when it relates to Black history. However, there are plenty of books and articles that provide historical and cultural context on Black history and resilience, as well as Black love. Black history books can expand your understanding of the factors that have shaped race in the United States, the challenges and opportunities the country continues to navigate, and the possibilities to come.

African American Vernacular English (AAVE), sometimes referred to as Black English or Ebonics, is a dialect of American English. Spoken mainly by Black Americans, AAVE has its own distinctive vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. While many AAVE words have come into wider use, Black English speakers have historically had to defend the dialect. The following texts follow the evolution and impact of AAVE:

• Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America’s Lingua Franca by John McWhorter (2017): This book explores the importance of AAVE while also unraveling the cultural and political issues that have affected the dialect.
• “Could Black English Mean a Prison Sentence?” by John McWhorter (2019): Published in The Atlantic, this article examines how court stenographers misunderstanding AAVE can hurt Black Americans.
• “AAVE: The ‘Other’ American English Variety” by Cara Judkins (2020): This Medium piece breaks down how AAVE speakers can face discrimination and bigotry because of the way they speak.

In a democracy, everyone has equal rights. These articles and books look at the areas where US democracy has fallen short over the course of the country’s history:

• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass (1845): In this autobiography, Douglass details his experiences as an enslaved person, as well as how he escaped and gained his freedom.
• A Perilous Path Talking Race, Inequality, and the Law by Sherrilyn Ifill, Loretta Lynch, Bryan Stevenson, and Anthony C. Thompson (2018): This book discusses how laws can create inequitable or equitable systems.
• Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring by Richard Gergel (2019): This book tells the story of Sergeant Isaac Woodard. After standing up to a Greyhound bus driver who had disrespected him, Woodard ended up in police custody, where an officer blinded him. Outraged at what happened, President Harry Truman began the first presidential commission on civil rights.
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (2020): Through a mix of research and personal stories, Wilkerson examines racial systems in the United States.
• “What Black History Should Already Have Taught Us About the Fragility of American Democracy” by Jelani Cobb (2020): This New Yorker article argues that to understand US democracy, you need to consider the experiences of the most marginalized communities.
• The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones (2021): Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman, and Jake Silverstein edited this book, which includes essays, poems, and works of fiction that are significant to Black history and examine the legacy of slavery in every aspect of our present society.

For Black women, the fight for liberation is intersectional, with gender, race, nationality, age, sexuality, and other factors influencing their lived experiences. The following outline the struggle for equality from the perspective of Black women:

• Women, Culture & Politics by Angela Y. Davis (1990): This collection of Angela’s speeches and essays centers on the female fight for economic, racial, and sexual equality.
• Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby (2003): This biography follows the life of Ella Baker, an activist and teacher, ranging from Harlem in the 1930s to the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall (2021): Part memoir, part graphic novel, this work shines a light on the enslaved women who led revolts.

These books explore connections between capitalism and slavery in the United States:

• The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business by Alfred D. Chandler Jr. (1993): This book digs into how big business grew out of the beginning of capitalism in the United States.
• Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development by Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman (2016): With contributions from sixteen scholars, this book looks at how the United States’s economy grew between the American Revolution and the Civil War.
• The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist (2016): Through plantation records, survivors’ stories, and newspaper articles, this book argues that we cannot separate slavery from US capitalism.

This list highlights Black leaders and their lasting impact:

• Black Prophetic Fire by Cornel West (2015): West shares his thoughts on the legacy of six leaders: Ella Baker; Frederick Douglass; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Malcolm X; W.E.B. Du Bois; and Ida B. Wells.
• Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women by Susan Burton and Cari Lynn (2019): In this memoir, Burton describes her experiences with the criminal justice system and the factors that led to a career in activism.
• Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America by Keisha N. Blain (2021): This book pays tribute to civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and shows how her ideas are still inspirational today.

There’s a lot of information that history textbooks don’t cover, including the ways in which systems of inequality continue to impact everyday life. With the MasterClass Annual Membership, get access to exclusive lessons from Angela Davis, Dr. Cornel West, Jelani Cobb, John McWhorter, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Sherrilyn Ifill to learn about the forces that have influenced race in the United States.