In his insightful TED-talk “What it’s like to be the child of immigrants,” Michael Rain praised Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s writing as a bold and skillful balancing act.
“Navigating the multiple cultures that you’re a part of – as an immigrant or first-generation person in the West – is quite an endeavor,” said Rain, “Doing this while carrying your Blackness and Africanness, in addition to maintaining your humanity, is a journey.”
In fact, many brilliant books by black authors do the very same thing – help the readers stay curious, courageous, compassionate, and humane on their journey in the turbulent waters of today’s globalized civilization.
The list below offers you an opportunity to listen to some of the most eloquent black voices in the modern literature and let them help you imagine a future in which, in the words of Mandy Len Catron, we will all have “more possibilities for how to be at home in the world.”
Many books by black authors are not only literary masterpieces but also powerful messages to humanity that are changing the world even while you are reading this.
1. Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston
This classic of the Harlem Renaissance is considered to be one of the most essential books of the XX century.
The story follows the life of Janie Crawford, one of the most indefatigable, independent, and loveable black female characters.
With its poetic, lush, extremely beautiful writing, this novel is a true masterpiece that is worth reading and re-reading.
2. Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) by James Baldwin
This semi-autobiographical American classic is Baldwin’s first book and a powerful read.
Its endearing protagonist is a clever teenager growing up in 1930s Harlem who tries to find his place in the world and define his relationship with the notions of race, class, and religion.
This honest, serious, and complex book full of symbolism and poignant insights will draw you in like a psychological whirlpool.
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the first and most well-known memoir of Maya Angelou, an outstanding poet, and civil rights activist.
Focusing on the writer’s childhood and adolescence, the book discusses such complex subjects as identity, racism, rape, and sexuality.
This seminal work of literature is a hymn to personal dignity and love of freedom.
4. The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker
This novel has not only received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction, but it has also won the hearts of the audience and been adapted as a film and a musical.
It brings into the light the incredible strength of spirit exhibited by the black women living in the Southern United States in the 1930s, who had to endure humiliation, violence, and powerlessness, and yet found a way to preserve their humanity and love for their families.
5. Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison
This book is an absolute must-read not only because it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was called “the best work of American fiction from 1981 to 2006” by The New York Times, but also because it is one of the most powerful and haunting novels about the trauma of slavery you will ever come across.
6. White Teeth (2000) by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith’s 10th rule for writing fiction runs, “Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it.”
This is precisely what the author is attempting to do in her award-winning best-seller White Teeth, which dives into the subject of post-colonialism with ruthlessness and determination.
7. Salvage the Bones (2012) by Jesmyn Ward
Though this book explores very dark subjects, its language is beautiful, rich, and poetical. It zooms in on a working-class African-American family that survives Hurricane Katrina.
This National Book Award Winner is a dramatic story about extreme ordeals and hard choices, but also about non-conditional love and sense of community.
8. Between the World and Me (2015) by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ award-winning non-fiction book is an eloquent letter to his teenage son about the realities associated with being black in the United States.
This beautifully written, thoughtful, and poignant exploration of America’s racial history is as timely and relevant as a book can be.
9. We Should All Be Feminists (2015) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Lana Mazareh in her TED Talk “3 thoughtful ways to conserve water” quotes Adichie who claims that she started calling herself “a happy African feminist who does not hate men and who likes to wear lip gloss and high heels for herself and not for men” to upend the stereotypes traditionally attached to the feminist movement.
The prominent water conservation activist goes on to say, “Although I may not be African, do not wear lipstick often, and quickly get tired from high heels, I felt she was speaking about me.”
This quote grasps Adichie’s amazing ability to speak to every reader, no matter what background they come from.
Highly relatable and relevant, this book will not leave you indifferent.
10. Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019) by Marlon James
This intense novel about a hunter named Tracker and his quest to find a missing boy is as gripping and intriguing as fantasy novels go.
Make sure to read the first part of the Dark Star trilogy before Michael B. Jordan’s screen version is shot and released.
The list offered above is, of course, a highly subjective selection.
Yet, each of these books is definitely a literary gem and a ‘recording’ of a bold and clear voice that deserves being heard