Black Voices & Culture: Non-Fiction Books for Adults

Explore our curated list of non-fiction books by Black and African American voices in celebration of Black History Month.

Updated January 7, 2025
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We refuse : a forceful history of Black resistance
Jackson, Kellie Carter
Ebook
An "unsparing, erudite, and incisive" (Jelani Cobb, staff writer, The New Yorker) reframing of the past and present of Black resistance--both nonviolent and violent--to white supremacy Named a Best Book of 2024 by Smithsonian * Kirkus * Chicago Review of...
Madness : race and insanity in a Jim Crow asylum
Hylton, Antonia
Ebook
In the tradition of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, this New York Times bestseller is a page-turning account of one of the nation's last segregated asylums..."a book that left me breathless" (Clint Smith). For centuries, Black patients have been absent from...
Our hidden conversations : what Americans really think about race and identity
Norris, Michele
Audiobook
Hell put to shame : the 1921 Murder Farm massacre and the horror of America's second slavery
Swift, Earl
Audiobook
The survivors of the Clotilda : the lost stories of the last captives of the American slave trade
Durkin, Hannah
Ebook
NAMED A TOP BOOK OF 2024 BY AMAZON AND WASHINGTON POST "Hannah Durkin lets the enslaved speak for themselves, and they tell a story not only of unimaginable suffering but also of courage and survival."--Wall Street Journal "The Survivors of the Clotilda, a comprehensive account of...
The barn : the secret history of a murder in Mississippi
Thompson, Wright
Ebook
The instant New York Times bestseller * Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Slate, Vanity Fair, TIME, Buzzfeed, Smithsonian, BookPage, KCUR, Kirkus, and Boston Globe * Nominated for a PEN America...
Medgar & Myrlie : Medgar Evers and the love story that awakened America
Reid, Joy-Ann
Ebook
#1 New York Times Bestseller NAACP Image Award Winner From Joy-Ann Reid, a triumphant work of biography that repositions slain Civil Rights pioneer Medgar Evers at the heart of America's struggle for freedom, and celebrates Myrlie Evers's extraordinary activism after her husband's...
The message
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Ebook
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The renowned author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell--and the ones we don't--shape our realities. "Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a...
Grown woman talk : your guide to getting and staying healthy
Malone, Sharon
Audiobook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "A must-read for anyone who cares about their quality of life . . . Dr. Sharon Malone is the first person I turn to for a whole host of issues, especially my health."--MICHELLE OBAMA A practical guide to aging and health for women who have...

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