10 Black AF Books We’re Checking For In 2023
Summertime is a perfect backdrop to get it in with a few good books, but the fast-approaching fall season is even better. While many of us are taking it to the streets and hollering, “We back outside,” a number of folks are looking forward to some good ole reading pleasure surrounded by the simplicity and beauty of nature—the steamy days in summer and cool crisp air in autumn. A good story, cocktail and refreshments are pure satisfaction for many book lovers out there. It’s a whole mood—one BLACK ENTERPRISE is happy to facilitate. Here are 10 books by black authors to indulge as you as transition between the seasons.
1) One Blood
One Blood is a novel written by six-time New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner. One Blood is inspired by the author’s own adoption journey, and tells the tale of three generations of women and their fight with forgiveness, love and survival, during major movements in Black American history.
2) Bigger Than Bravery Black Resilience And Reclamation In A Time Of Pandemic
This anthology curated by Valerie Boyd highlights a world in which the Black authors convey the systematic racism, fear and uncertainty black folk endured and transcended during the global pandemic brought on by COVID-9.
The text includes critical work from authors Alice Walker, Imani Perry, Kiese Laymon, Honorée Fanonne Jeffries, Pearl Cleage and BLACK ENTERPRISE’s own director of digital content, Ida Harris.
3) Black Woman Will Save The World
April Ryan records her journey from working class Baltimore to the elite rank of Washington, D.C. Ryan highlights her reporting career and the Black political leaders who she calls “She-roes” who stand on the frontline of America’s constitutional, civil and economic fight to make the world a better place.
4) The Rhythm Of Time
Written by Questlove, the six-time Grammy award- winning musician, with S. A. Cosby, an award- winning author from southeast Virginia, The Rhythm Of Time is a story of friendship, music and time travel. Best friends Rahim Reynolds and Kasia Collins travel back in time to 1997 by way of a man-made phone.
5) Black AF History
Black AF History—written by Michael Harriot— is a story of unlearning what we think we know and exposing the whitewashing of Black history in America. Micheal Harriot unapologetically reveals the dark facts of American history through research, as well as highlighting the Black experience and the lies that have undermined Black peoples’ existence in America.
6) Power: The Rise Of Black Woman In America
Charity C. Elder gets into Black women’s ability to overcome oppression. Power puts a spotlight on the success of the Black women’s adversity, and how they have been integral in shaping the framework of American history.
7) The New Brownies Book
This coffee table book was inspired by W. E. B. Dubois, and reimagined by Karida Brown and Charly Palmer, as a love letter to Black Families, but more specifically Black children. Dubois released the original Brownies Book over a century ago in 1920 with Jessie Resmon Fauset and includes works by Langston Hughes, Nella Larson and Sojourner Truth. The New Brownies Book will release in October and included works by Langston Hughes, Ntozake Shange, Alfred Conteh—and again, BE’s own Ida Harris.
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