Black voices are worth listening to 365 days of the year, not just in February. However, the celebration of Black History Month may serve as a reminder to evaluate the narratives that surround us and with which we choose to engage. Whether you want to introduce new perspectives into your reading or celebrate a rich history, there are many books that center on the Black experience. It can be hard to pick just one. Below you will find some of the Outlook’s favorite books by African American authors from this past year.
Up Against A Crooked Gospel: Black Women’s Bodies and the Politics of Redemption by Melanie Jones Quarles
In “Up Against a Crooked Gospel,” Melanie Jones Quarles names how Black women’s bodies have been exploited by theology — and reclaims embodiment as healing. Heather Russell von Marko offers a review.
The Disturbing Profane: Hip-Hop, Blackness, and the Sacred by Joseph R. Winters
Hip-hop isn’t a threat to holiness — it’s a witness to survival. Joseph R. Winters’ “The Disturbing Profane” reframes the sacred through Black art and expression. Jordan Burton offers a review.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry
“What did I do to be so black and blue?” Louis Armstrong transformed these lyrics into a commentary on the challenges of being Black in a racist world. For Harvard professor and writer Imani Perry, they are a jumping-off point for reflections on Black lives. “The beauty and ingenuity of human beings often coincides with their cruelty,” she muses as she traces the development of indigo dyes, shares the startling history of Liberia, paints a picture of the blue underlying deep Black skin and lifts up the melancholy sound of the uniquely American blues tradition. Well researched and well written, Black in Blues blends the personal and the political. — Amy Pagliarella
Have You Got Good Religion? Black Women’s Faith, Courage and Moral Leadership in the Civil Rights Movement by AnneMarie Mingo
AnneMarie Mingo highlights Black churchwomen’s moral leadership in the Civil Rights Movement, showcasing their faith, courage, and theo-moral imagination. — Hunter Farrell
We’re in This Together: Leo’s Lunch Box by Raphael G. Warnock
Pastor and Senator Raphael Warnock delivers a simple message for children (and their grown-ups): the more you share, the more you receive. He connects the story in which Jesus transformed a boy’s lunch of bread and fish into a feast for 5,000 with a modern story: Leo, whose tummy often rumbles with hunger, receives a magic lunchbox from his mom that ensures he has enough to eat and to give away. We’re in This Together: Leo’s Lunch Box is illustrated with simple yet vibrant pictures that brighten as the children fill with food and fellowship, reminding us that we all benefit when others flourish. — Amy Pagliarella
Theology in the Mode of Monk: An Aesthetics of Barth and Cone on Revelation and Freedom by Raymond Carr
“Carr’s project helps us more fully see, hear (and be challenged by) Barth and Cone in the fullness of their thought and the long polyphonic arc of its development,” writes Derek Elmi-Buursma of Raymond Carr’s new book.
The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward by Malcolm Foley
The Anti-Greed Gospel pairs theology with practical approaches: economic solidarity, creative anti-violence, and prophetic storytelling. — Sterling Morse
The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing by Yolanda Pierce
Yolanda Pierce’s “The Wounds Are the Witness” explores Black faith, memory, and justice, urging us to reclaim our wounds as a path to healing and action. — Nannette Dixon
Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality & This Thing Called Life by Pamela Ayo Yetunde
“Dearly Beloved” reveals how Prince’s music can be a guide for healing, spirituality, and self-love, writes Llewellyn Dixon.
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“The essays on the author’s trips abroad felt as if I, too, gazed west toward the Atlantic, where (Ta-Nehisi) Coates’ ancestors were shipped into enslavement.” — Alfred Walker
Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives by Mitali Perkins
In “Just Making,” Mitali Perkins explores the seemingly bifurcated relationship between creativity and justice and finds that the two are not as opposed as she once thought. — Caroline Barnett
Black Elegies: Meditations on the Art of Mourning by Kimberly Juanita Brown
“Black Elegies” attempts to make visible the seen and unseen registers of grief in those marked by the transatlantic slave trade. — Jordan Burton
Hope is Here! Spiritual Practices for Pursuing Justice and Beloved Community by Luther E. Smith Jr.
Luther E. Smith Jr. proclaims that Hope is Here! as he invites us to practice and pursue justice in our churches and communities. — Amy Pagliarella
Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves by Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Amy Pagliarella and Shani McIlwain review Chanequa Walker-Barnes’ new book where she writes: “We are our bodies. There can be no spiritual life that does not engage the body.”
Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma
How does violence beget even more violence? And how do we move forward when it hits too close to home? Lauren Francis-Sharma tackles these questions with an unsettling work of fiction that integrates apartheid-era injustice and personal trauma. Prudence – now part of a Black power couple in Washington, D.C., and stay-at-home-mother to an autistic son – once observed post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation hearings and experienced horrors of her own while serving as a law intern in South Africa. Casualties of Truth explores personal repercussions while wondering how collective trauma can lie beneath the surface. — Amy Pagliarella
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