There is no doubt that the organizing done by African Americans in Alabama before the recent election of Doug Jones won that election for him--and for the country. Ninety-seven percent of black women in Alabama voted for Doug Jones, compared with only 32% of white women. Sixty-five percent of white women voted for his opponent, Roy Moore, despite allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, despite him saying gay people should be put in jail, despite him saying the country was better off under slavery, and despite him saying Muslims have no place in public life.
On Twitter, writer Austin Channing wrote “Thank black women by supporting black women. Pay us. Vote with us. Hire us. Read our writing. Fund our projects and ministries. Vote us into office. Purchase from our businesses. Amplify us. Stand against racism and sexism.”
In the spirit of that directive, here are 20 books by black women to add to your reading list for 2018. Not only will you be supporting black women writers, but you will be changed by their voices as well:
Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey- Toi Derricote
The Fire This Time - Jesmyn Ward
Salvage the Bones - Jesmyn Ward
Sing, Unburied, Sing - Jesmyn Ward
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander
Women, Race, & Class- Angela Davis
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration- Isabel Wilkerson
Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Have to Explain - Phoebe Robinson
Krik? Krak! - Edwidge Danticat
The Sisters are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America - Tamara Winfrey Harris
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Brown Girls Dreaming - Jacquelyn Woodson
Another Brooklyn - Jacquelyn Woodson
Should you need more suggestions of books by black women, go here.
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