Best of
Black-Literature

2017

The Left of Love


Love Belvin - 2017
    But that's not enough. Kennedi wants to experience the full benefits of her femininity at the tender age of twenty-one, a task she takes on at college, and one she’s more than determined to fulfill. He's an aspiring entertainer from the dark side of the inner city. Survival for Isaak is very much an option he plans to conquer. He has to make it out of his impossible circumstances, and sacrifice is definitely the name of the game, even if it means running the risk of sacrificing one of the most delicate and positively influential bonds he’s ever made. A social experiment has never been so revealing and frightening for either one of these unassuming individuals. How could two people from the starkest contrast of rearing build an impenetrable bond in just three months? How long will it take for them to dig through their differences to understand those forces that connect them? At what cost will they find harmony to coexist? Note: This is the first installment of a three book series. It contains expletive language, sexual content, and ends on a cliffhanger. If you do not wish to have these elements in your reads, this is not the venture for you.

Born a Colored Girl


Michael Edwin Q. - 2017
    From her mother's diary, Etta Jean will learn to love the mother she never knew. And from the same diary, a mother will finally give of herself.

Black Girls Rock!: Celebrating the Power, Beauty, and Brilliance of Black Women


Beverly Bond - 2017
    Henson, Erykah Badu, and more!Discover the beautiful complexity, rich cultural traditions, and bountiful contributions of some of today’s most powerful black women with this one-of-a-kind celebration of their diversity, power, fortitude, spirituality, and tenacity! Packed with anecdotes, affirmations, and inspirational essays from women of diverse backgrounds, Black Girls Rock! will empower and inspire you to be your best self.This beautiful compendium of black women’s voices and experiences includes inspirational poetry, exclusive interviews, and powerful and beautiful photographs celebrating black womanhood, and features the most dynamic trailblazers, celebrities, and influencers of our time. Contributors include Kerry Washington, Rebecca Walker, Tracee Ellis Ross, Regina King, Taraji P. Henson, Erykah Badu, Gabrielle Union, Misty Copeland, Jill Scott, Angela Davis, MC Lyte, Janelle Monae, Iyanla Vanzant, Queen Latifah, Mara Brock Akil, Ava Duvernay, Naomi Campbell, Dr. Helene D. Gayle, Bethann Hardison, Susan Taylor, Michaela Angela Davis, Melissa Harris-Perry, Shola Lynch, Tamron Hall, Nadia Lopez, Letitia James, Tai Beauchamp, Imani Perry, and Donna Byrd.

The Day Tajon Got Shot


T'AsiaJeanet - 2017
    He has plans.He's determined.Tajon is the kind of son who cares about his family.He's the kind of brother who stands up for his sister.He's the kind of kid who dreams big dreams to get himself andthose he loves up and out of the hood.Tajon is the one who gets shot.Meet the authors.Ten black teen girls in Washington, DC started writing this book during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. They began with one central question: What really happens in a community when a black youth is the victim of violence by police? Each writer takes on the perspective of a central character - the victim, the police officer, the witness, the parent, the friend - and examines how it feels to be a human being on all sides of this event. Their stories thoughtfully explore issues of race, violence, loyalty, and justice in a community torn apart but seeking connection.

Alienation and Freedom


Frantz Fanon - 2017
    This book furthers his powerful intervention into how we think about identity, race and activism and provides a unique insight into Fanon's literary, psychiatric and journalistic theories.Never before published in English, Alienation and Freedom represents a rare opportunity to read the last writings of a major 20th-century philosopher who's disruptive and moving work continue to shape how we look at the world.

My Bondage and My Freedom (Annotated)


Fredrick Douglas - 2017
    The best of Douglass's autobiographies. Graphic description of slave life.

Mannish Tongues


Jayy Dodd - 2017
    This collection speaks to these charades of understanding / some things about language, something about possessions & higher powers.

The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers


Hollis Robbins - 2017
    Many of these pieces engage with social movements like abolition, women's suffrage, temperance and civil rights, but the thematic centre is black women's intellect and personal ambition. The diverse selection includes well-known writers like Sojourner Truth, Hannah Crafts and Harriet Jacobs, as well as lesser-known writers like Ella Sheppard, who offers a firsthand account of life in a world-famous singing group. Taken together, these incredible works insist that the writing of black women writers be read, remembered and addressed.

Voodoo Hypothesis


Canisia Lubrin - 2017
    Voodoo Hypothesis is a subversion of the imperial construct of "blackness" and a rejection of the contemporary and historical systems that paint black people as inferior, through constant parallel representations of "evil" and "savagery." Pulling from pop culture, science, pseudo-science and contemporary news stories about race, Lubrin asks: What happens if the systems of belief that give science, religion and culture their importance were actually applied to the contemporary "black experience"? With its irreverence toward colonialism, and the related obsession with post-colonialism and anti-colonialism, and her wide-ranging lines, deftly touched with an intermingling of Caribbean Creole, English patois and baroque language, Lubrin has created a book that holds up a torch to the narratives of the ruling class, and shows us the restorative possibilities that exist in language itself.

I'll Do Almost Anything For You


Lore - 2017
    If he intrigued you in that novel, then buckle up and enjoy the ride he’ll give you in his spin-off. Maxwell is a man who is all out for self, which can’t really be held against him; in most cases he’ll admit it if asked. As one of Birmingham’s finest he’s taken an oath to protect and serve, but that’s only when he’s at work. Maxwell works hard, but he plays harder. One, sometimes two at a time, Maxwell is breaking hearts. Seemingly the only thing he’s been successful at is making enemies. Meet Tabitha. Tabitha is Maxwell’s longtime girlfriend turn fiancée. She loves Maxwell more than he’ll ever know. She’s given him more than enough opportunities to get it right. After finding out she’s pregnant with their firstborn, Maxwell steps up or does he? Tabitha’s patience is running short. As strange as it sounds, she hates that she love him so much. Amir is Maxwell’s friend and partner on the streets of Birmingham, who has fallen for Maxwell’s in more ways than one. Amir has his own drama to deal with in his life, but he pushes them off to the side because Maxwell is the most important person in his life. After being beat down for professing his love for Maxwell in A Family That Strays, Amir tries his hand once again. He’s made it clear that he’ll do almost anything for Maxwell. How far is he really willing to go to show Maxwell he truly loves him? I’ll Do Almost Anything For You, is a tale about a gay man who has fallen in love with a straight man. He jumps over hurdles and through loops to gain the attention he’s been yearning since day one.

Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions


Dhoruba Bin Wahad - 2017
    The membership of the NY 21, which includes the mother of Tupac Shakur, is largely forgotten and unknown. Their legacy, however—reflected upon here in this special edition—provides essential truths which have remained largely hidden.

When the Living Sing


Yalie Kamara - 2017
    Prior to becoming an MFA candidate at Indiana University, she worked in the service of youth and adults all over the state of California in the areas of educational access, nonprofit management, and community-based art facilitation. She numerous degrees and is a finalist for the 2017 Brunel International African Poetry Prize and is a 2017 National Book Critics Circle Emerging Critics Fellow.