Black Coffee Poet’s Book Recommendations For Black History Month 2014
By Jorge Antonio Vallejos
I remember growing up and listening to my Black friends (my first crew comprised of 5 Caribbean boys and I) make correct claims that our school system never taught books written by Black writers. And they would point out the one green page that was used to teach Black history to students.
One page!
I hope things have changed.
Below is a list of books I have enjoyed and recommend. In the photo to the left I am holding a collection of poems by Audre Lorde (1934-1992) who was seminal to women of colour and queer women writers being published, read, and heard. Yesterday was Lorde’s birthday; Lorde is not physically with us anymore; I hold and list her book in honour of the historical and groundbreaking work she did.
All the books listed are great. The list includes writers of different genders; straight and queer writers; writers from North America, the Caribbean, and the continent of Africa.
The book on this list that has impacted me the most is The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity and Change by bell hooks. It’s a must for all men to read! I read, underlined, re-read, journaled, and talked about this book after reading it. And I will re-read it again and again. I have changed and learned and will continue to change and learn, and as is life, I have messed up and will always mess up but I will learn from mess ups, question myself, and change and…
Read, SHARE, Tweet, and enjoy the books on this list!
There are many pages here, none of them green, and all of them worth your time. Enjoy…
Poetry
The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde
rivers…and other blackness..between us by d’bi.young.anitafrika
Mixology by Adrian Matejka
My Best Friend Is White by Klyde Broox
Fiction
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Another Country by James Baldwin
Skinfolk by Nalo Hopkinson
Memoir and Essay
Affirmative Acts by June Jordan
One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainana
Brother I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat
Social Science
Silenced by Makeda Silvera
The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks
Reportage
Far From Over: The Music and Life of Drake by Dalton Higgins
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