Recommended Reading for Black History Month
We still have a week left for Black History Month and I (Brian) wanted to share some resources that have blessed me. Most of these I have read, and am recommending based on that. There are a couple that I have tried to read and it wasn’t the right time or I wasn’t smart enough to get it.
There will be one book by a white author. In general, we should all read a diverse group of authors, some from different centuries, denominations, races and genders. To lean more about the Black experience in America, I strongly suggest reading African-American authors, with this one exception.
White Awake by Daniel Hill
I recommend this book because the author shares his experience of desiring to be an ally and anti-racist, but still making many common mistakes along the way. He shared how he learned from Black Pastors in his town. His experience is relatable and offers good wisdom for any who want to help.
The rest are authors of color, arranged in order of difficulty according to my opinion (that difficulty may be intellectual or may be emotional):
Lighter/Easier:
“I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness” by Austin Channing Brown. She shares her personal experiences at showing up at each new job and people being confused/surprised she is black. And shares that her parents named her so that her name wouldn’t hold her back, at least on resumes. That has been researched for 20 years: people with “black” sounding names are still less likely to get a callback even if their credentials/experience/education are exactly the same as someone named “Austin Channing Brown.” Follow links if you want more details.
National Bureau of Economic Research NPR
I second Zach’s “The Cross and the Lynching Tree” by Dr James H. Cone. This collection of essays may actually be at the intermediate level.
If you haven’t read more than a few quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., you really should. “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” is a meaty essay that still can challenge all of us. It was written as a response to criticism from fellow pastors.
Heavier
A deep read and wonderful, especially if you love history, is Ibrahim X. Kendi’s “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definite History of Racist Ideas in America.” I confess to still being in the 5th section but have enjoyed it. Each section is represented by a significant historical figure representing that age. I especially enjoyed learning more about WEB DuBois. This long book is helpful for understanding some important concepts in discussing race and history such as: assimilation, segregation, anti-racism, uplift suasion. I somewhere started a glossary but can’t find it.
Cotton Mather
Thomas Jefferson
William Lloyd Garrison
W.E.B. Du Bois
Angela Davis
Kendi’s thesis is that many racial stereotypes as well as policies followed the desire to keep the financial benefits of slavery.
One main documentary that is provocative only in its bleak honesty, Ava Duvernay’s “13th,” on Netflix. It’s an emotional watch. I remember a college history professor telling us that “the North won the War, but the South won Reconstruction.” This historical doc shows how policy reversed early gains of Reconstruction and how up until this very year there are many systemic problems in our society that are harmful to minorities.
And finally: a couple of works/authors that I haven’t read deeply into and much of that is my fault, but I hope to get back to.
Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is written at college textbook level.
Howard Thurman Jesus and the Disinherited.
We are grateful for the many voices and contributors from African-Americans over the past centuries.
