11 slept on classics to read for Black History Month

From memoir to heart felt fiction, this list unveils the overlooked intellectual richness of 11 black writers.

By: Justin Williams

We are one week into black history month 2022. Black creativity is a beautiful phenomenon that should be celebrated 365 days out of the year, despite the normalized view that 28 days are enough to honor centuries of excellence.

In celebration of Black History Month, Taino Studios Book store pulled some of the most fruitful literature melinated authors have produced in America. From the poetic genius of Albert French to the explosive identity exploration of Frantz Fanon, the books within this list resonate as a testament of resilience & enginuity of writers that not only aimed to portray an accurate account of the African American experience. But, also offered solutions to the problem of a question that I ask myself every February.

Why is it that we only have a month to celebrate blackness?

I ask all those who are reading this blog post to engage in the literature. Answer the question for yourself, or reach out to me and let’s talk about it.

Anyhow, enjoy 11 slept on classics to read for Black History Month,

Finding a Place Called Home is a comprehensive guide to finding your African-American roots and tracing your family tree. Written in a clear, conversational, and accessible style, this book shows you, step-by-step, how to find out who your family was and where they came from.

Whatever It Takes is a tour de force of reporting, an inspired portrait not only of Geoffrey Canada but of the parents and children in Harlem who are struggling to better their lives, often against great odds. ... Here and there, members of Canada's staff were consulting clipboards and calming anxious parents.

The stirring spiritual memoirs of Andrew Young--civil rights activist, minister, and statesman--show how God's hand led him through some of the most significant experiences of 20th-century America. Filled with eyewitness anecdotes, this is a vivid account of the civil rights struggle, told from a faith perspective

Kody goes through a transformation from a young boy to Monster Kody and then to Sanyika Shakur. Jail life helped to transform his character. ... The many obstacles that Sanyika Shakur overcomes in his life transformed him to become a real survivor. He later managed to move into a world of peace.

Black Skin, White Masks – first published in 1952 – Frantz Fanon offers a potent philosophical, clinical, literary and political analysis of the deep effects of racism and colonialism on the experiences, lives, minds and relationships of black people and people of colour.

Albert French lights up the monstrous face of American racism in this harrowing tale of ten-year-old Billy Lee Turner, who is convicted and executed for murdering a white girl in Banes County, Mississippi, in 1937.

First published in 1977, Portraits of White Racism advanced a distinctively sociological theory of racism. Based on five case histories, it critically assessed the prevailing social-psychological paradigm that equated racism with prejudice and provided an alternative interpretation.

“Black Mafia,” subtitled “Ethnic Succession in Organized Crime,” is in a sense sequel to Dr. Ianni's previous book, “A Family Business.” That was a study of the close kinship and the supremacy of family over all other relationships in a New York organized crime family

Like a well-crafted sermon, Franklin’s writing style mixes academia, personal stories and nostalgia for past leaders in the African American church. Those expecting a purely academic read might be turned away (Streets, The Living Pulpit), but the combination of informed data and compelling personal narratives is endearing. A strong use of historical context and relevant quotes adds meat to the author’s own words. Franklin doesn’t shy from political discussion, but largely his emphasis is on civil society and African American community, not government. There appears to be no question that Robert Franklin has written an excellent book to read, but as Walker Moore notes, “The lingering question remains: ‘who will accept the call?’”

Meier and Rudwick show how black history, originally a Jim Crow specialty ignored by nearly the entire historical profession, has evolved into one of the liveliest and most active areas of study. A remarkable self-examination of the authors' own profession, this volume blends research in primary and secondary sources with extensive interviews of nearly 200 scholars--including the most highly respected names in the field.

Brotherman books us passage to the world that Black men experience as adolescents, lovers, husbands, fathers, workers, warriors, and elders. On this journey they encounter pain, confusion, anger, and love while confronting the life-threatening issues of race, sex, and politics--often as strangers in a strange land.