Autobiography

An autobiographical novel of the author's youth in Kouroussa, French Guinea, depicting traditional Malinke society and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

Abrahams' autobiography detailing his experiences growing up colored in South Africa, his education, and eventual exile.

Memoir of Wright's childhood and young adulthood in the Jim Crow South, depicting poverty, racism, and hunger.

Hurston's autobiography from her childhood in Eatonville, Florida, to her career as a writer and anthropologist.

Hughes's autobiography covering his childhood, travels, and the Harlem Renaissance.

Malcolm X's life from childhood to his transformation from criminal to Nation of Islam minister to independent leader.

Biomythography of Lorde's coming of age as Black lesbian in 1950s New York.

Autobiography subtitled 'Essay Toward an Autobiography of a Race Concept' exploring race and ideology.

Douglass's first autobiography detailing his life as a slave and his escape to freedom, becoming a powerful abolitionist text.

Douglass's expanded second autobiography with deeper analysis of slavery and his development as an intellectual.

Final autobiography covering Douglass's entire life including post-Civil War period and diplomatic career.

Jacobs's account of her life as a slave and her escape, focusing on sexual exploitation of enslaved women.

First of seven autobiographies chronicling Angelou's childhood in the segregated South and her coming of age.

Second autobiography covering Angelou's young adult years as single mother navigating post-WWII America.

Davis's account of her life, FBI most wanted status, imprisonment, and political activism.

Mandela's autobiography from childhood through his release from 27 years in prison.

Newton's autobiography explaining Black Panther Party philosophy and his political evolution.

Seale's account of founding Black Panthers, written while imprisoned.

Shakur's account of her life, Black Liberation Army membership, and escape to Cuba.

A raw autobiographical account of childhood poverty, hunger, and survival in Tangier. Learning to read at 20, crime, drugs, and the streets. Translated by Paul Bowles, it became an international sensation and was banned in Morocco for decades.

A memoir about Danticat's father and uncle, two brothers separated by migration, and their parallel deaths in 2004, one from illness, the other in US immigration detention after Hurricane Ivan. A profound meditation on family and American policy toward Haiti.

An educated Guyanese engineer, unable to find work due to racism in postwar Britain, becomes a teacher in London's East End, a memoir of navigating race, class, and the possibilities of connection across the color line.

Mphahlele's autobiography of growing up in the Marabastad township in Pretoria, navigating apartheid's violence and humiliations, and his journey to becoming a writer and exile.

Camara Laye's lyrical memoir of his childhood in Kouroussa, Guinea — his father's blacksmith shop filled with gold and spirits, the rituals of initiation, and the bittersweet departure for school in France.

An alternative translation/edition of The African Child — Camara Laye's account of his Guinean childhood, his father's sacred blacksmith work, and his journey to France.