Black History Month 2026

Borrow these books from your local SCLS branch.

Updated February 4, 2026
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Let nobody turn us around voices of resistance, reform, and renewal : an African American anthology
Marable, Manning
Ebook
This anthology of black writers traces the evolution of African-American perspectives throughout American history, from the early years of slavery to the end of the twentieth century. The essays, manifestos, interviews, and documents assembled here, contextualized with critical commentaries from...
I know why the caged bird sings
Angelou, Maya.
Ebook
Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou's debut memoir is a modern American...
Honey and spice: a novel
Babalola, Bolu.
Ebook
I'm still here Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness.
Brown, Austin Channing.
Ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * From a leading voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female that exposes how white America's love affair with "diversity" so often falls short of its ideals. "Austin...
You are your best thing : vulnerability, shame resilience, and the Black experience -- an anthology
Burke, Tarana
Ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching:...
Gifted hands The Ben Carson Story
Carson, Ben.
Ebook
Gifted Hands reveals the remarkable journey of Dr. Ben Carson from an angry, struggling young boy with everything stacked against him to the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. As a boy, he did poorly in school and struggled with anger. If it...
The souls of black folk
Du Bois, W. E. B.
Ebook
W. E. B. Du Bois's seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, not only captures the experience of African Americans in the years following the Civil War but also speaks to contemporary conditions. At a time when American public schools are increasingly re-segregating, are increasingly underfunded...
The Black church : this is our story, this is our song
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
Ebook
The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series. "Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work." --Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again "Engaging. . . . In Gates's telling, the Black church shines bright...
Homegoing A Novel
Gyasi, Yaa.
Ebook
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE'S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE * WINNER OF THE PEN / HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION * Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and...
The 1619 Project a new origin story
Hannah-Jones, Nikole
Ebook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER * A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present. "[A] groundbreaking compendium . . ....
A raisin in the sun
Hansberry, Lorraine
Paper Book
"Never before, the entire history of the American theater, has so much of the truth of black people's lives been seen on the stage," observed James Baldwin shortly before A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959. Indeed Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning drama about the...
Black AF history : the un-whitewashed story of America
Harriot, Michael
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE * AMAZON'S TOP 20 HISTORY BOOKS OF 2023 * B&N BEST OF EDUCATIONAL HISTORY * THE ROOT'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023 * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023 From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot,...
The truths we hold : an American journey
Harris, Kamala
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her acclaimed memoir, former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivers "a life story that genuinely entrances" (Los Angeles Times) as she looks back on how she was shaped by the core truths that unite us. ...
All about love New visions.
hooks, bell
Ebook
A New York Times bestseller and enduring classic, All About Love is the acclaimed first volume in feminist icon bell hooks' "Love Song to the Nation" trilogy. All About Love reveals what causes a polarized society, and how to heal the divisions that cause suffering. Here is the truth about...
Their eyes were watching God
Hurston, Zora Neale.
Paper Book
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick "A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don't know how to live properly." --Zadie Smith One of the most important...
The house of Eve
Johnson, Sadeqa.
Ebook
"Amazing...I was completely surprised by the ending of this beautifully told and written book." --Reese Witherspoon "A triumph of historical fiction" (The Washington Post), an instant New York Times bestseller, and a Reese's Book Club pick, set in 1950s...
Silver sparrow
Jones, Tayari.
Ebook
From the New York Times Bestselling Author of An American Marriage "A love story . . . Full of perverse wisdom and proud joy . . . Jones's skill for wry understatement never wavers." --O: The Oprah Magazine "Silver Sparrow...
Four hundred souls : a community history of African America, 1619-2019
Kendi, Ibram X.
Ebook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present--edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on...
March. Book one
Lewis, John
Paper Book
#1New York TimesBestseller Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon and key figure of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to...
Night flyer : Harriet Tubman and the faith dreams of a free people
Miles, Tiya
Ebook
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography * A Washington Post Notable Book * Finalist for the PEN America Literary Award *One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best History Books of the Year * One of AAIHS's Best Black History Books of 2024 "Though...
The bluest eye
Morrison, Toni.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A PARADE BEST BOOK OF ALL TIME * From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner--a powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity that asks questions about race, class, and gender with characteristic subtlety and grace. * With a new introduction by Jacqueline...
Becoming
Obama, Michelle
Paper Book
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States   #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WATCH THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER * ONE OF...
South to America : a journey below the Mason-Dixon to understand the soul of a nation
Perry, Imani
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South--and thus of America--by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration." -...
A passionate mind in relentless pursuit : the vision of Mary McLeod Bethune
Rooks, Noliwe
Ebook
An intimate and searching account of the life and legacy of one of America's towering educators, a woman who dared to center the progress of Black women and girls in the larger struggle for political and social liberation When Mary McLeod Bethune died, tributes in newspapers...
Hidden figures : the American dream and the untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race
Shetterly, Margot Lee
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of race...
How to say Babylon A memoir.
Sinclair, Safiya.
Ebook
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner A New York Times Notable Book A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! A Best Book of 2023 by the New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, Shelf Awareness<...
Did you hear about Kitty Karr? A novel
Smith Paul, Crystal.
Ebook
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK BOOK OF THE MONTH PICK A multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz When Kitty Karr Tate, a White icon of the silver screen, dies and bequeaths...
How the word is passed : a reckoning with the history of slavery across America
Smith, Clint
Paper Book
This "important and timely" (Drew Faust, Harvard Magazine) #1 New York Times bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America--and how both history and memory continue to shape our everyday lives. Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint...
Black Klansman : race, hate, and the undercover investigation of a lifetime
Stallworth, Ron
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller! The extraordinary true story and basis for the Academy Award winning film BlacKkKlansman, written and directed by Spike Lee, produced by Jordan Peele, and starring John David Washington and Adam Driver. When detective...
Just mercy A Story of Justice and Redemption
Stevenson, Bryan.
Ebook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX * A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice--from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time...
Jubilee Recipes from two centuries of african american cooking: a cookbook.
Tipton-Martin, Toni.
Ebook
"A celebration of African American cuisine right now, in all of its abundance and variety."--Tejal Rao, The New York Times JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER * IACP AWARD WINNER * IACP BOOK OF THE YEAR TONI TIPTON-MARTIN NAMED THE 2021 JULIA CHILD AWARD RECIPIENT AND...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick Winner of the Pulitzer Prize * Winner of the National Book Award   Published to unprecedented acclaim,The Color Purple established Alice Walker as a major voice in...
Up from slavery an autobiography
Washington, Booker T.
Ebook
Booker T. Washington's classic memoir of enslavement, emancipation, and community advancement in the Reconstruction Era.   Born into slavery on a tobacco farm in nineteenth-century Virginia, Booker T. Washington became one of the most powerful intellectuals of...
Black cake A novel
Wilkerson, Charmaine.
Ebook
NOW A HULU STREAMING SERIES * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY * Two estranged siblings delve into their mother's hidden past--and how it all connects to her traditional Caribbean black cake--in this immersive family saga, "a...
American spy A novel.
Wilkinson, Lauren
Ebook
"American Spy updates the espionage thriller with blazing originality."--Entertainment Weekly "There has never been anything like it."--Marlon James, GQ "So much fun . . . Like the best of John le Carré, it's extremely tough to put down."--NPR ONE OF...
Master slave husband wife : an epic journey from slavery to freedom
Woo, Ilyon
Paper Book
Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Biography "A rich narrative of the Crafts, an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848, with light-skinned Ellen disguised as a disabled white gentleman and William as her manservant, exploiting assumptions about race, class, and...

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