2020 Black History Month Resources

[Carol]

The good news is that the US and Canada recognize February as Black History Month, and this year is a Leap Year, so we get February 29th, thus reducing (but not eliminating) the validity of a ton of jokes about being short-changed on the month designated, and giving us a great opportunity to give some love to Black women authors. I learned today that Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK observe October as Black History Month, so we'll augment our thread no doubt then.

The 2020 theme for African American History Month is “African Americans and the Vote,” so it would be great to specifically flag books that we find, like, add to our TBRs, hear good things about, that fit that theme. If you think of it, bold or otherwise flag your comments if they fit the 2020 theme, to make it easy for all of us to find.

Please share in this thread any great lists, resources, newsletters, blogs or the like highlighting Black women authors, as well as any on-theme books you read in February and titles you recommend, or recommend avoiding, as applicable.

[Carol]

Also, for anyone curious about the origins of Black History Month, I found this informative Wiki today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_H...

[Carol]

Here's a Publisher's Weekly article from November 2019 identifying new releases of Black authors, including nonfiction, poetry, childrens fiction and more. Note, it includes men.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

African American Literature Book Club's "122 books of interest to readers of Black Literature coming out soon." includes popular fiction, LitFic, genre fiction and more. Also includes men.

https://aalbc.com/books/comingsoon.php

"Black British Female Authors You Should Read" published by BlackHistory Month 365. (Not only are there great recommendations, but I hadn't heard of half of these authors, showing that no matter how global we all think English-language markets are, we have to specifically seek out media on the other side of the pond or we'll miss out on great women's lit.)

https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/...

[Carol]

The Cincinnati (and Hamilton County) public library site published a link to new arrivals in African-American NonFiction that wowed me, not least for the full summaries, pg. info, et al. Here are (many of) the women authors and books mentioned. Also, at the bottom, there's a link to subscribe to the list, going forward.

The Toni Morrison Book Club by Juda Bennett. A group memoir!

F*ck Your Diet: And Other Things My Thighs Tell Me by Chloé Hilliard

James Farmer by Judy Schermerhorn

Malcolm X by Jillian Redmond

Mary McLeod Bethune by Mary Hasday

Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain

Slavery in Colonial America, 1619-1776 by Betty Wood

You Don't Look Like a Lawyer: Black Women and Systemic Gendered Racism by Tsedale M Melaku

Rosa Parks by Melissa Harbison

Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words by Susan Reyburn

Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerri K. Greenidge

She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

https://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/spo...

[Laurie]

I plan on reading a few books for Black History month, but no books that are 2020 releases although I have two released in 2019. These are great resources though and prompted additions to my tbr

[Carol]

I learned of this 2019 nonfiction book for the first time today, as the NYTimes highlighted and recommended its paperback release : They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers, and am now immediately seeking a copy. Jones-Rogers is a professor at UC-Berkeley. It undercuts with hacks /primary sources the belief some find comforting — that white women went along with slavery’s evils but silently opposed them.

[Carol]

Bay Area Authors Provide Their Recs:

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/book...

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray

Dreaming Me: Black, Baptist, and Buddhist--One Woman's Spiritual Journey by Jan Willis

[Carol]

Honestly, although it also includes male authors, I adore Powell’s landing page this month. So many great links, interviews, suggestions...

https://www.powells.com/black-history...

And one more excellent resource. Here’s a link to the Detroit Public Library’s 2019 African American Book List. On page 24, there’s a recommended list of women authors and works; on page 25, there’s another list, this one of Critical Studies: 20th and 21st Century Black Women’s Fiction.

https://d2qp1eesgvzzix.cloudfront.net...

Share your recommendations and reading plans any time.

[Carol]

Artbook& shared a great list of staff picks for this month, and the landing page alone is lovely, given the beauty of the covers of these books. i don't think I've ever seen a Black History Month list covering this subject matter and I found it stunning and likely a category I miss.

https://www.artbook.com/blog-staff-pi...

I endeavored to pull out books where women were the subject, the editor, or provided text; however, errors are likely given the call I was on. Feel free to point them out if you like.

Bodys Isek Kingelez, edited with text by Sarah Suzuki



Charles White: Black Pope, text by Esther Adler

Common Wealth: Art by African Americans in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, text by several authors including women and men.

Ellen Gallagher: Accidental Records, text by Adrienne Edwards

Faith Ringgold, edited by Melissa Blanchflower "an affordable introduction to the quilts, paintings and posters of Faith Ringgold, a preeminent chronicler of Black life in America

Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series, edited by Leah Dickerman (Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York)

Basquiat's "defacement": The Untold Story, text by Chaédria LaBouvier, Nancy Spector, J. Faith Almiron, Greg Tate.

Mickalene Thomas: I Can't See You Without Me. Foreword by Sherri Geldin. Text by Nicole R. Fleetwood, Beverly Guy-Sheftall et al.

Whitewalling: Art, Race, & Protest in 3 Acts by Aruna d'Souza

Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture by Beth Lesser

Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. Edited with text by Mark Godfrey, Zoé Whitley. Contributions by Linda Goode Bryant, Susan E. Cahan, David Driskell, Edmund Barry Gaither, Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth Jarrell, Samella Lewis.


Sights in the City: New York Street Photographs. Introduction by Marla Hamburg Kennedy. Interview by Cheryl Dunn.


Jill Freedman: Resurrection City, 1968. Text by Jill Freedman

Louisiana Medley: Photographs by Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick. Edited by Kathryn E. Delmez. Text by Susan H. Edwards, Makeda Djata Best, Deborah Willis.

Vincent Desailly: The Trap. Edited by Nadine Barth

Beyond Mammy, Jezebel & Sapphire: Reclaiming Images of Black Women. Edited by Sigrid Asmus. Introduction by Jessica Hunter-Larsen, Megan Valentine. Foreword by Catherine M. Pears. Text by Heidi R. Lewis, Roland Mitchell, Takiyah Nur Amin, Velva Boles, Claire Garcia, Jean Gumpper, Kate Leonard, Venetria K. Patton, Sha'Condria Sibley, Karen Riley Simmons, Claudine Taaffe.

Four Generations: The Joyner / Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art. Edited by Courtney Martin.

[Carol]

More nonfiction options, this time on Black cooking and food history.

Bound to the Fire: How Virginia's Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine by Kelley Fanto Deetz

High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris

The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin

[Story]

You are an amazing researcher, Carol! Thanks for these.

[Carol]

Thank you, Story! For some reason, there are fewer articles this year than in past years compiling Black History month recs, but since new releases often are too expensive or not available to many members, I'm glad to be digging a little deeper into nonprofit and library lists.

[Carol]

and one more, perhaps for reading the next 11 months, "Read Black Romance Novels for Black History Month"

https://bookriot.com/2020/02/25/read-...

I loved the introductory framing of this article. Plus, women authors discussed in it:

Beverly Jenkins
Piper Huguley
Alyssa Cole
Rebel Carter
Suzette D. Harrison
Lindsay Evans
Savannah J. Frierson
Vanessa Riley and more