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BOOK LIST:

June Jubilee: Featured Titles for Adults

Updated: May 7, 2024

Book cover for The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
Call Number: 326.0973 S6256

Book cover for Alabama v. King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Criminal Trial That Launched the Civil Rights Movement
Alabama v. King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Criminal Trial That Launched the Civil Rights Movement
Abrams, Dan
Call Number: 323.4092 K53Ab

Book cover of American wings : Chicago's pioneering Black aviators and the race for equality in the sky
American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky
Smith, Sherri L.
Call Number: 629.1309 S659

Book cover for Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”
Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”
Hurston, Zora Neale
Call Number: 326.09 H966

This is the full harrowing, first-person narrative of one man's capture, enslavement, life as a slave and his life after emancipation. Zora Neale Hurston transcribed Kossula's remembrances in the original vernacular, as he recounted his experiences as a 19-year-old, in 1860, and how he was captured, tortured, chained, put on a slave ship and taken to a strange place. The date of his capture is important because it is a reminder that even the 1808 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves did nothing to stop the insidious practice of importing slaves to the United States.


Book cover for Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women
Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women
Burton, Susan
Call Number: 351.765092 B974

Susan Burton's life took a dive into hell when her five-year-old son was killed by a van driving down her street. She began self-medicating, taking increasingly stronger illegal drugs, and for over fifteen years Burton was in and out of prison. By chance she found a private drug rehab facility and turned her life around. Through her organization, A New Way of Life, Ms. Burton is now an advocate for formerly incarcerated women.


Book cover for Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and It’s Urgent Lessons for Our Own
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and It’s Urgent Lessons for Our Own
Glaude, Eddie S., Jr.
Call Number: 323.1 G552

By looking at the life, struggles and work of James Baldwin, Princeton professor Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., reminds us that the fight for equitable change is always with us. Baldwin's brilliant insights are matched by Glaude's brilliant ability to bring new light to old problems, and that complacency and weariness are not acceptable.


Book cover for Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Call Number: 301.45096 C652-1

Considered by none other than Toni Morrison to be “required reading,” Coates' collection of essays delves into what it means to be black in American society. Intimate and personal, yet far-reaching in its criticisms, this book’s unflinching honesty takes the status quo to task. Coates examines race and racism in America, both past and present, through the lens of his own full-life experience, in this open letter to his son.


Book cover for Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party
Bloom, Joshua
Call Number: 322.4 B627Bl

Book cover for The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt
The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt
Watts, Jill
Call Number: 323.1 W351

Book cover for Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood, and Myth
Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood, and Myth
Mouton, Deborah D. E. E. P.
Call Number: 301.41292 M934

Book cover for The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
Call Number: 277.3 G2585

Book cover for Black Futures
Black Futures
Call Number: 301.45096 B6275-40

Book cover for Black Women Directors
Black Women Directors
Baker, Christina N.
Call Number: 791.9 B1675-1

Book cover of Black women taught us : an intimate history of Black feminism
Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism
Jackson, Jenn M.
Call Number: 301.412973 J13

Book cover for Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Perry, Imani
Call Number: 301.45096 P463

Reflecting on African American life, culture and contributions, which are currently confronted by modern racism and violence, Imani Perry writes a letter of exultation and caution to her two sons. Generous in scope and thought, her words speak to all of us, no matter who we are, to do and be better.


Book cover for Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
Brown-Nagin, Tomiko
Call Number: 347.092 M919Br

Among the many “firsts” in the life of Constance Baker Motley, she was the first Black woman appointed as a federal judge and the first Black woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout her life, she fought for equality and justice for all and knew that inequality of any type was a barrier to freedom of expression


Book cover of Cooking for the culture : recipes and stories from the streets of New Orleans to the table
Cooking for the Culture: Recipes and Stories From the Streets of New Orleans to the Table
Boudy, Toya
Call Number: 641.59763 B756

Book cover for Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem: A Memoir
Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem: A Memoir
Day, Daniel R.
Call Number: 746.52 D273

Book cover for The Dead are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
The Dead are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
Payne, Les
Call Number: 322.4092 X1Pa

Book cover of Dear Black girls : how to be true to you
Dear Black Girls: How to be True to You
Wilson, A'ja
Call Number: 301.41292 W746

Book cover for Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Obama, Barack
Call Number: 301.45096 O12 2004

Book cover for Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock
Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock
Margolick, David
Call Number: 371.974 M329

With the goal of becoming a lawyer, fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Eckford was selected as one of nine black students to integrate the all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957.  On the first day of classes the eight other students were advised to arrive at school as a group escorted by local ministers, but without a telephone Elizabeth never received word about this plan.  As she stoically approached the campus by herself, she was mobbed by adult segregationists who hurled the most hateful and violent racial epithets at her.  An iconic photograph captured white student Hazel Bryan, also fifteen, spewing venom at Elizabeth.  Years later Hazel contacted Elizabeth to apologize, and for a time, the two women formed a friendship.


Book cover for Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019
Call Number: 301.45096 F7735

Book cover of HBCU made : a celebration of the Black college experience
HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience
Call Number: 371.974 H4315

Book cover for Heavy: An American Memoir
Heavy: An American Memoir
Laymon, Kiese
Call Number: 301.45096 L427

Book cover for Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
Lee Shetterly, Margot
Call Number: 510.973 L481

During and after World War II among the female human computers, who were subsumed within aeronautics, there was another group of female human computers who were submerged because they were African Americans. This book recounts the lives of some of those African American women who worked as calculators, and then as mathematicians and engineers for NASA and its precursors. This is their story, at long last revealed, as the author shines a light on the stellar work of a group of African American women, whose contributions were not fully known by enough people.

 

 


Book cover for Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers
Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers
Bogle, Donald
Call Number: 791.9 B675-3

Book cover of The house of hidden meanings : a memoir
The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir
RuPaul
Call Number: 812.092 R945-2

Book cover for Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Stevenson, Bryan
Call Number: 347.092 S847 2015

Book cover for Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Bell, Janet Dewart
Call Number: 323.40973 B433

Book cover for Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites During the Jim Crow Era
Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites During the Jim Crow Era
Jefferson, Alison R.
Call Number: 323.409794 J45

Book cover of My America : recipes from a young Black chef
My America Recipes From a Young Black Chef
Onwuachi, Kwame
Call Number: 641.5973 O59

Book cover for Negroland: A Memoir
Negroland: A Memoir
Jefferson, Margo
Call Number: 301.45096 J45
 
Margo Jefferson shares her autobiographical account of growing up within a unique niche of society: the Black elite of upper-crust Chicago.

Book cover for Nine Days: The Race To Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election
Nine Days: The Race To Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election
Kendrick, Stephen
Call Number: 323.4092 K53Ke

Book cover for Ordinary Light: A Memoir
Ordinary Light: A Memoir
Smith, Tracy K.
Call Number: 811 S6625S

Book cover for Parks x Ali
Parks x Ali
Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006.
Call Number: 770.914 P252-15

Book cover of Praisesong for the kitchen ghosts : stories and recipes from five generations of black country cooks
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes From Five Generations of Black Country Cooks
Wilkinson, Crystal
Call Number: 641.5975 W686

Book cover for Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971
Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971
Call Number: 791.9 R3335 folio

Book cover for Saying It Loud: 1966–The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement
Saying It Loud: 1966–The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement
Whitaker, Mark
Call Number: 323.40973 W578

Book cover for Sister Outsider
Sister Outsider
Lorde, Audre
Call Number: 818 L867-1 2020

Book cover for The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations
Morrison, Toni
Call Number: 818 M882-1

Book cover of Southern cooking, global flavors
Southern Cooking, Global Flavors
Gilbert, Kenny
Call Number: 641.5975 G465

Book cover for The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century
The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century
Joseph, Peniel E.
Call Number: 323.40973 J83

Book cover for Three Seconds of Hell
Three Seconds of Hell
Lowder, Penelope

Book cover for Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary
Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary
Williams, Juan
Call Number: 347.092 M3686Wi

Book cover for Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad
Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad
Diemer, Andrew K.
Call Number: 326.0973 S857Di

Book cover of Wake up America : Black women on the future of democracy
Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy
Call Number: 323.40973 W1465

Book cover for The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Wilkerson, Isabel.
Call Number: 301.45096 W681

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wilkerson examines the migration of nearly 6 million African Americans from the South for the North and the West between World War I and the 1970s through the stories of three individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who left rural Mississippi for Chicago in the 1930s; George Swanson Starling, who set out for Harlem in the 1940s; and Robert Joseph Pershing Foster, who became a Los Angeles physician after leaving Louisiana in the 1950s.


Book cover for We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
Coates, Ta-Nehisi
Call Number: 320.973 C6525

Book cover of What have we here : portraits of a life
What Have We Here: Portraits of a Life
Williams, Billy Dee
Call Number: 812.092 W72213

Book cover for White Lies: The Double Life of Walter White and Americas Darkest Secret
White Lies: The Double Life of Walter White and Americas Darkest Secret
Baime, A. J.
Call Number: 323.4092 W589Ba

Book cover for With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism
With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism
Lovett, Laura L.
Call Number: 301.41292 H893Lo

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