For my final post for Black History Month, I will add to the books I suggested back in "Post #2". I have six more books for you to consider reading.
THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK:
WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR, FOURTH EDITION
by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Alzaldúa

Originally released in 1981 and reissued in 2015, This Bridge Called
My Back is a testimony to women of color feminism as it emerged in
the last quarter of the twentieth century. Through personal essays,
criticism, interviews, testimonials, poetry, and visual art, the collection
explores, as coeditor Cherríe Moraga writes, "the complex confluence
of identities—race, class, gender, and sexuality—systemic to women
of color oppression and liberation." The fourth edition contains an
extensive new introduction by Moraga, along with a previously
unpublished statement by Gloria Anzaldúa. The new edition also
includes visual artists whose work was produced during the same
period as Bridge, including Betye Saar, Ana Mendieta, and Yolanda
López, as well as current contributor biographies. [Amazon description]
* * * *
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
by Mata Angelou

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother
in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache
of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight
years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked
by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences
for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for
herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of
great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will
allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. [Amazon description]
by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences
for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for
herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of
great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will
allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. [Amazon description]
* * * *
MULES AND MEN
by Zora Neale Hurston

For the student of cultural history, Mules and Men is a treasury
of Black America’s folklore as collected by Zora Neale Hurston,
the storyteller and anthropologist who grew up hearing the songs
and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed and oral
history of the South since the time of slavery. Set intimately
within the social context of Black life, the stories, "big old lies,"
songs, voodoo customs, and superstitions recorded in these
pages capture the imagination and bring back to life the humor
and wisdom that is the unique heritage of Black Americans.
[Amazon description]
within the social context of Black life, the stories, "big old lies,"
songs, voodoo customs, and superstitions recorded in these
pages capture the imagination and bring back to life the humor
and wisdom that is the unique heritage of Black Americans.
[Amazon description]
* * * *
FREEDOM IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE: FERGUSON,
PALESTINE, AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF A MOVEMENT
by Angela Y. Davis

In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches,
world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis
illuminates the connections between struggles against state
violence and oppression throughout history and around the
world.
Reflecting on the importance of black feminism,
intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's
struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation
struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South
African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections
and analyzes today's struggles against state terror, from
Ferguson to Palestine.
Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us
to imagine and build the movement for human liberation. And
in doing so, she reminds us that "Freedom is a constant
struggle." [Amazon description]
* * * *
THE FIRE NEXT TIME
by James Baldwin

At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life
in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences
of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and
provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale
Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists
of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of
the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both
black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism.
Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon,
ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...
all presented in searing, brilliant prose." [Amazon description]
* * * *
HOW THE WORD IS PASSED: A RECKONING WITH
THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY ACROSS AMERICA
by Clint Smith
* * * *
HOW THE WORD IS PASSED: A RECKONING WITH
THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY ACROSS AMERICA
by Clint Smith
Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads
the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and
landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those
that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how
slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective
history, and ourselves.
It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate
where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent
need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people.
It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former
plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the
enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the
story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security
prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work
across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the
story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of
thousands of Confederate soldiers.
A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the
legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American
history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our
country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view—
whether in places we might drive by on our way to work,
holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like
downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in
enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply
imprinted. [Amazon description]
* * * *
I hope you will find any of these books I've mentioned here or in my earlier post (Post #2) interesting enough to read them. If you have any other suggestions, please click on Post a Comment below.
We need to learn our history. Black history is American history.
Terry