Browse

Spanning 300 years from 18th century Ghana to contemporary America, tracing two family lines descended from half-sisters—one sold into slavery, one who marries a British slaver.

Julius, a Nigerian immigrant and psychiatry student in New York, wanders Manhattan reflecting on identity, immigration, history, and alienation.

Epic poem marking the birth of Negritude movement, exploring Black identity, colonialism, and the poet's return to Martinique with revolutionary fervor.

Poetry collection celebrating African culture, identity, and the concept of Negritude, blending French verse with African rhythms and imagery.

Poetry collection reflecting on African soldiers' experiences in WWII and colonialism's impact, celebrating African resilience and culture.

Ifemelu and Obinze's love story spanning Nigeria and America, exploring race, immigration, identity, and what it means to be Black in America versus Africa.

A seminal work on decolonization and the psychopathology of colonization, arguing that decolonization is inherently violent and analyzing the role of class, race, and culture in liberation movements.

Analysis of the psychology of racism and dehumanization inherent in colonial domination, examining how colonized people internalize the colonizer's view.

Seminal work on race in America introducing the concept of 'double consciousness' and arguing for the importance of higher education for Black Americans.

History of the Haitian Revolution led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, the only successful slave revolt that led to the founding of an independent state.

Analysis of how European colonialism systematically exploited Africa's resources and labor while blocking African development, creating underdevelopment.

Semi-autobiographical novel exploring race, religion, and family in Harlem through the story of John Grimes coming of age on his fourteenth birthday.

Set in Paris, an American man grapples with his sexual identity and his relationship with an Italian bartender named Giovanni.

Set in Greenwich Village and Harlem, explores interracial and same-sex relationships in 1950s New York following the suicide of jazz drummer Rufus Scott.

Two essays examining race relations in America, blending memoir with social criticism, warning of explosive racial tensions.

Collection of essays on race in America and Europe, combining personal reflection with social analysis.

Essays on writers, civil rights, and living as a Black American in Europe and the American South.

Love story set in Harlem about Tish and Fonny, whose plans are derailed when Fonny is falsely accused of rape.

Story of Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl who prays for blue eyes, exploring internalized racism and beauty standards.

The story of two Black women friends in Ohio whose lives take vastly different paths, exploring good and evil, community, and independence.

Milkman Dead's journey of self-discovery tracing his family history, blending myth with African-American experience.

A love story set on a Caribbean island exploring class, race, and culture through the relationship between Jadine and Son.

Sethe, an escaped slave, is haunted by the ghost of her daughter whom she killed to save from slavery, exploring trauma's legacy.

Set in 1920s Harlem, a married couple's story following Joe's shooting of his young lover, written in jazz-like rhythms.

Story of an all-Black town in Oklahoma and the convent of women nearby that the town's men attack, exploring purity and exclusion.

Set in 1680s America, explores the origins of slavery and racism through multiple voices on a farm in New York.

Essays examining how white American writers construct Blackness in their work and what this reveals about whiteness.

Epistolary novel following Celie, a Black woman in rural Georgia, who finds her voice through relationships with other women.

Novel following a civil rights worker's spiritual journey and political awakening in the 1960s South.

Three generations of a Black sharecropping family in rural Georgia, examining cycles of violence and oppression.

Collection of essays introducing the term 'womanist' and exploring Black women's creativity and spirituality.

An unnamed Black narrator recounts his journey from the South to Harlem, exploring invisibility and identity in American society.

Essays on literature, music, and Black American culture, including reflections on writing Invisible Man.

Essays on American culture, race, and identity, continuing themes from Shadow and Act.

Bigger Thomas, a young Black man in 1930s Chicago, accidentally kills a white woman, exposing the brutal reality of racism.

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

Collection of novellas depicting racial oppression and violence in the Deep South.

Existentialist novel about Cross Damon who fakes his death and reinvents himself, exploring freedom and morality.

Lectures on colonialism, racism, and the psychology of oppression delivered in Europe.

Janie Crawford's journey through three marriages in search of love and self-discovery in rural Florida.

Collection of African-American folklore from Florida and hoodoo practices from New Orleans.

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

Story of John Pearson, a Baptist preacher whose gifts are undermined by his weakness for women, inspired by Hurston's father.

Hughes's first poetry collection capturing the rhythms of jazz and blues with poems celebrating Black life.

Coming-of-age story of Sandy Rogers growing up in a small Kansas town, exploring Black middle-class life.

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

Long poem sequence capturing Harlem life in jazz-inspired rhythms, including famous 'Harlem' poem.

Career-spanning collection of Hughes's most important poems celebrating Black American life.

Experimental work combining poetry, prose, and drama depicting Black life in the rural South and urban North.

First poetry collection including famous poems 'Heritage' and 'Incident' exploring race and identity.

Second poetry collection continuing exploration of race and romanticism in classical verse forms.

Jake, a Black soldier returning from WWI to Harlem, navigates the vibrant nightlife and working-class life.

Black men from across the diaspora gather in Marseilles, exploring pan-African identity and Black internationalism.

Poetry collection including militant sonnet 'If We Must Die' written after Red Summer of 1919.

Open letter written while imprisoned for protesting segregation, defending nonviolent civil disobedience.

Speech delivered during March on Washington calling for civil and economic rights and end to racism.

Account of Birmingham campaign of 1963 and the broader civil rights movement.

King's final book analyzing the future of civil rights movement and calling for economic justice.

King's account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and development of his nonviolent philosophy.

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