Lindsay L. O'Connor

On this first day of Black History Month, I wanted to share some of my favorite books by Black authors. You can search #loconnor_blackauthors on Instagram to see reviews of these as well and others. Here is a post with picture books for Black History Month.

Of course, we read books by Black authors and about Black history all year long, but I also think it’s important to set aside time to highlight and celebrate these amazing storytellers, historians, spiritual leaders, prophets, teachers, theologians, poets, and activists. May we hold in one hand celebration and gratitude and in the other, a holy discontent that moves us deeper into actionable solidarity for the continual co-creation of a more just world.

Slide 1

1 All About Love – bell hooks

2 God Speaks Through Wombs – Drew Jackson

3 How the Word is Passed – Clint Smith

4 Dear White Peacemakers – Osheta Moore

5 The Sun Does Shine – Anthony Ray Hinton

6 The Body is Not an Apology – Sonya Renee Taylor

7 All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep – Andre Henry

8 Jesus and the Disinherited – Howard Thurman

9 The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead

Slide 2

1 Hood Feminism – Mikki Kendall

2 Pushout – Monique W. Morris

3 Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson

4 Swing – Kwame Alexander

5 The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas

6 You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey – Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

7 Red Lip Theology – Candice Benbow

8 Hard Times Require Furious Dancing – Alice Walker

9 Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid

Slide 3

1 Caste – Isabel Wilkerson

2 If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin

3 My Grandmother’s Hands – Resmaa Menakem

4 Everybody Come Alive – Marcie Alvis Walker

5 God is a Black Woman – Christena Cleveland

6 The Enneagram for Black Liberation – Chichi Agorom

7 This Here Flesh – Cole Arthur Riley

8 The Color of Compromise – Jemar Tisby

9 The Color Purple – Alice Walker

Slide 4

1 Lent of Liberation – Cheri L. Mills

2 The Trumpet of Conscience – Martin Luther King, Jr.

3 I Won’t Shut Up – Ally Henny

4 I’m Still Here – Austin Channing Brown

5 The Color of Water – James McBride

6 Black Liturgies – Cole Arthur Riley

7 The Deeply Formed Life – Rich Villodas

8 Be the Bridge – Latasha Morrison

9 I Bring the Voices of My People – Chanequa Walker-Barnes