100 Essential Adult Nonfiction Books by Black Writers
Discover 100 essential memoirs, biographies, essays, histories, and works of social commentary by African American and Black diaspora writers, thinkers, and scholars. Arranged alphabetically by title.
- 107 Days by
- The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by
- Across That Bridge by
- An African History of Africa by
- Afrocentric Style: A Celebration of Blackness & Identity in Pop Culture by
- All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by
- The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by
- Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by
- Becoming by
- Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by
- Between The World And Me by
- Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by
- Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by
- The Black Box: Writing the Race by
- Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires by
- Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by
- Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State by
- Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by
- Brainwashed by
- Breath, Eyes, Memory by
- The Broken King by
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by
- Coming Home by
- The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women’s Magic by
- The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by
- Dreams From My Father by
- Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities by
- Finding Me: A Memoir by
- Fire Shut Up In My Bones by
- The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump by
- Heavy: An American Memoir by
- The Hemingses Of Monticello: An American Family by
- Hidden Figures by
- His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by
- How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life’s Hidden Prisons by
- How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by
- I Am Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free by
- I Did a New Thing: 30 Days to Living Free by
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by
- The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America by
- Just As I Am by
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by
- Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by
- Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by
- Letter to My Daughter by
- A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable’s Malcolm X by
- Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by
- The Light Of The World: A Memoir by
- The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by
- A Long Way Gone by
- Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest by
- Lovely One: A Memoir by
- Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative by
- Matriarch: A Memoir by
- Mayor For Life: The Incredible Story of Marion Barry Jr. by
- Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America by
- Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by
- Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by
- Men We Reaped by
- The Message by
- Misunderstood: A Memoir by
- Mom & Me & Mom by
- The Moor’s Account by
-
Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—And Pocketed $40 Million by
Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—And Pocketed $40 Million
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by
- The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by
- New Prize for These Eyes: The Rise of America’s Second Civil Rights Movement by
- No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal by
- On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by
- The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by
- Outliers: The Story of Success by
- Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by
- Power Moves: Ignite Your Confidence and Become a Force by
- A Promised Land by
- Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores by
- Ralph Ellison: A Biography by
- Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature by
- Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by
- Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership by
- Salvage: Readings from the Wreck by
- Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement by
- The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by
- Spectacle: The Astonishing Life Of Ota Benga by
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by
- Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by
- Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde by
- There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by
- Things I Should Have Told My Daughter by
- A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America by
- Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation by
- The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home by
- The Warmth of Other Suns (Paperback): The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by
- We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by
- W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963 by
- Where Did Our Love Go: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community by
- Who Better Than You?: The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming Big by
- Who’s Afraid Of Post-Blackness?: What It Means To Be Black Now by
- The Yellow House: A Memoir by
- Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home by
Reader Comments (0)
Log In to Join the Conversation
Commenting is reserved for registered AALBC members to maintain high-quality discussions.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Advertisement
