Black History Month Reading List
The Blackest and shortest month of the year is coming to a close. Every February is a brief chance to see Black achievements in the spotlight. The Black history that makes it to the headlines are the moments that appeal to the masses- Martin Luther King giving the ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ or Rosa Parks sitting on the back of the bus. These moments allow us to look at the past with the comfort of distance and let us believe that we’ve come so far. As this month comes to an end, we’re celebrating a mashup of literary work that puts Blackness, both past and present, into perspective. We have also taken special interest in including literary works by Black Canadian authors who are creating the context and scholarship to widen the knowledge of erased struggles of Black Canadians both historically and newcomers alike. These authors are Robyn Maynard, Sajae Elder, M. NourbeSe Philip, Desmond Cole, Cecil Foster, Cheryl Thompson, and Chantal Gibson. Thank you!
By the way, we’ve linked the books here to Black-owned bookstores that you can purchase from. However, these titles are available at public libraries across the city and we encourage everyone to use their local library before budget-cuts suck up any more of their resources.
1) Tabula Rosa: The Radical Rosa Parks via WNYC Studios. Listen here.
2) Beyonce Wrapped Capitalism in Orange Boxes and Called it Empowerment by Najma Shariff. Read here.
3) Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada by Robyn Maynard. Buy here.
4) Marlon James: The Book of Night Women. Buy here
5) Toni Morrison and Angela Davis on Connecting for Progress via the New York Public Library. Listen here. or on Soundcloud here.
6) Citizen by Claudia Rankine. Buy here.
7) The FBI’s War on Black Bookstores by Joshua Clarke-Davis. Read here.
8) Is Prison Really Necessary: Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind by Rachel Kushner. Read here.
9) Who Owns Stories About Blackness via Still Processing? Listen here.
10) The Case for Reclaiming the Black Beauty Supply by Sajae Elder. Read here.
11) Meet Amina Wadud: The Rock Star Islamic Feminist. Read here.
12) Blank: Essays and Interviews by M. NourbeSe Philip. Buy here.
13) Malcolm X is Still Misunderstood- and Misused by Omar Suleiman. Read here.
14) The Skin Were In by Desmond Cole. Buy here.
15) They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada by Cecil Foster. Buy here.
16) Beauty in a Box: Detangling the Roots of Canada’s Black Beauty Culture by Cheryl Thompson. Buy here.
17) How She Read by Chantal Gibson. Buy here.
