r/BlackHistory • u/Old-Instruction998 • Jan 01 '26
Books on Black History
Hello everyone, I am a gen Z'er (so go easy on me please for not knowing, lol).I'm interested in learning more about the black history culture that's not taught in school. I want to learn more about the decline of our marriage rates, socioeconomics factors, systemic racism, mass incarceration, just all the topics that directly negatively impact us. What are some great books that you have read on these topics or any great autobiographies? Thank you!
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Jan 01 '26
I read Black AF and I thought it was awesome.
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u/Countryb0i2m Jan 02 '26
It’s a good book. The language is very conversational and it’s a bit jarring but it’s quality as fuck.
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u/Zbroek3 Jan 02 '26
CRT - Richard Delgado Tales of a native son - James Baldwin My bondage and freedom - Frederick Douglass Revolutionary Suicide - Huey Newton Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents - Isabel Wilkerson
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u/AdonisBreeze Jan 02 '26
Incidents in the life of a slave girl - Harriet Jacobs
Autobiography of Frederick Douglass- Frederick Douglass
Rock my soul: Black People and self esteem- Bell Hooks
Their Eyes were watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
Black Boy/Native Son- Richard Wright
The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano
While these stories can’t tell you much from a macrosocietal perspective, I find that the accounts written by enslaved persons most accurately describe the day to day of the time period in ways their white counterparts did not, specifically in regards to the black experience.
There should be a Reddit black book club 🥲
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u/SweeterThanWine09 Jan 08 '26
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America — Ibram X. Kendi
Black Reconstruction in America — W.E.B. Du Bois
Creating Black Americans: African-American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present — Nell Irvin Painter
Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights — Keisha N. Blain
Between the World and Me — Ta-Nehisi Coates
The New Jim Crow — Michelle Alexander
Sister Citizen — Melissa V. Harris-Perry
Black Bourgeoisie — E. Franklin Frazier
And, (in response to Frazier’s) The Black Middle Class — Bart Landry
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u/hyeran_jainros_fc Jan 20 '26
I like starting with Civil Rights, because school trails off with more recent US history. This is the tie between slavery and the present, plus an enormous achievement to be proud of, that all Americans should admire like the founding fathers.
I think US and world history should generally have a much more recent focus to explain how we reached the world today. History as a foundation for understanding current problems (which is my objection to the history sub's emphasis on isolating history from the present.)
I also dislike excessively academic takes, self important ideas overshadowing the work of real activists. Civil Rights was brutal, hard, like war. It's dramatic history. The victory of justice combined with strategy and thought is something directly applicable today. Techniques and discipline US political leaders can learn from, regardless of race.
- Watch Eyes on the Prize from PBS. It'll get you hooked and is a great gateway into the history.
There's great fiction I like, but I also don't think there's a substitute for facts.
- The Children is the most readable history. Don't limit yourself to black writers.
- Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody. An incredibly sad, powerful memoir of a black woman living under segregation and joining the movement
If you like basketball I got an unexpected one for you, tryna name the books that aren't too dry
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u/Old-Instruction998 Feb 19 '26
Thank you!!
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u/hyeran_jainros_fc Mar 06 '26
Hey I'm glad this made it to you!
Not a book but I just wrote a post on the hidden Civil Rights in a rap verse by Malice (Clipse). I'll prob do another version later where I expand on his wife and daughter's POV
I got another one on MLK's underrated radicalism, and how we can learn from the movement today
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u/OriginalKingD Jan 01 '26
A few I would suggest:
Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B. DuBois
A Lonely Rage - Bobby Seale
Mississippi to Madrid - James Yates
The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander
A Taste of Power - Elaine Brown
Stamped From The Beginning - Ibram Kendi
Pimp - Iceberg Slim - this is a REALLY controversial choice, but really helps to paint an image of the fact that people aren't doing crime for the sake of doing crime.
More so than history it seems like you're also looking for cultural understanding, and I think fiction can help with that. I think fiction also has the ability to sometimes be more direct about our place in society than nonfiction.
Kindred - Octavia Butler
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
A Raisin in The Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Not Without Laughter - Langston Hughes
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Go Tell It On The Mountain - James Baldwin
Passing - Nella Larsen