Celebrating Black History Month

Black History Month dates back to 1915 when historian Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In 1926, the group declared the second week of February as “Negro History Week” to recognize the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history: the week was chosen because of the February birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1986, the week-long event became a month-long event, when it was officially recognized by President Gerald Ford as Black History Month to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Following is a selection of books I've culled together that are written by Black writers, including memoirs, biographies, essays, poetry, art books, cookbooks as well as books for young readers. — Vick

Books: 
The ABCs of Black History By Rio Cortez, Lauren Semmer (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Rio Cortez, Lauren Semmer (Illustrator)
$14.95
ISBN: 9781523507498
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Workman Publishing Company - December 8th, 2020

“This beautiful and bold book should be on every child’s shelf. It illustrates Black history through words and images that highlight both the challenges and achievements of Black Americans. The bold colors and simple rhymes will keep kids engaged while covering deep topics. A wonderful introduction for kids.” — Fables Books, Goshen, IN


The 1619 Project: Born on the Water By Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator) Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780593307359
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: Kokila - November 16th, 2021

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book for young readers chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States.


Juneteenth: Our Day of Freedom (Step into Reading) By Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Kim Holt (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Kim Holt (Illustrator)
$4.99
ISBN: 9780593434789
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Published: Random House Books for Young Readers - May 10th, 2022

Some call it Freedom Day; some call it Emancipation Day; some call it Juneteenth. Young readers can learn more about this important holiday that celebrates the end of chattel slavery in the United States in this Step 3 History Reader.


I Am Ruby Bridges By Ruby Bridges, Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ruby Bridges, Nikkolas Smith (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781338753882
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Published: Orchard Books - September 6th, 2022

Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to integrate the all-white William Frantz Elementary in Louisiana, at the age of six. Based on the pivotal events that happened in 1960 and told from her point of view, this is a poetic reflection on her experience that changed the face of history and the trajectory of the Civil Rights movement.


Martin Luther King Jr.: A Peaceful Leader (I Can Read Level 2) By Sarah Albee, Chin Ko (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Sarah Albee, Chin Ko (Illustrator)
$4.99
ISBN: 9780062432759
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: HarperCollins - January 2nd, 2018

The life of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is told in this biography for early readers.


Change Sings: A Children's Anthem By Amanda Gorman, Loren Long (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Amanda Gorman, Loren Long (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780593203224
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Viking Books for Young Readers - September 21st, 2021

In this stirring, much-anticipated picture book by presidential inaugural poet and activist Amanda Gorman, anything is possible when our voices join together. As a young girl leads a cast of characters on a musical journey, they learn that they have the power to make changes—big or small—in the world, in their communities, and in most importantly, in themselves. 


Black History Activities Workbook, Grades 5 - 8: American Heritage Series By Schyrlet Cameron Cover Image
$9.99
Email info@literatibookstore.com or call for price
ISBN: 9781622238781
Published: Mark Twain Media - February 13th, 2023

That Is My Dream!: A picture book of Langston Hughes's
By Langston Hughes, Daniel Miyares (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780399550171
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anne Schwartz Books - October 3rd, 2017

Dream Variation,” one of Langston Hughes's most celebrated poems, about the dream of a world free of discrimination and racial prejudice, is now a picture book illustrated by Daniel Miyares, the acclaimed creator of Float.


Black History Leaders: Volume 4: Mariah Carey, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston and Lil Nas X By Michael Frizell, Pablo Martinena (Artist), Darren G. Davis Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781959998914
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Published: Tidalwave Productions - February 1st, 2023

From the hit "Fame" and "Female Force" imprints by TidalWave comics, this volume explores the musicians who have made an indelible mark on our culture, including: LaDonna Adrian Gaines, better known as Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco. Lil Nas X, the multi-award-winning rapper who breaks glass ceilings as a gay man in hip-hop. Whitney Houston, an idol to millions with the voice of an angel whose meteoric career defined a generation, couldn't keep her demons at bay, amongst others.


Rick Riordan Presents: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, The Graphic Novel By Kwame Mbalia Cover Image
$12.99
ISBN: 9781368075008
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Rick Riordan Presents - August 9th, 2022

The best-selling and awarding-winning novel about a Black boy who helps folk heroes and gods through storytelling in this graphic novel.


Ambitious Girl By Meena Harris, Marissa Valdez (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Meena Harris, Marissa Valdez (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316229692
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Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - January 19th, 2021

When a young girl sees a strong woman on TV labeled as "too assertive" and "too ambitious," it sends her on a journey of discovery through past, present, and future about the challenges faced by women and girls and the ways in which they can reframe, redefine, and reclaim words meant to knock them down.


She Persisted: Dorothy Height By Kelly Starling Lyons, Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator), Gillian Flint (Illustrator) Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780593528976
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Published: Philomel Books - February 7th, 2023

Growing up as a Black girl in the 1920s and 1930s, Dorothy Height was denied access to a local swimming pool as well as admission to Barnard College because of her race. But she persisted in pushing for change, and became a seminal figure in both the civil rights and women's rights movements. She went on to be awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom.


She Persisted: Marian Anderson By Katheryn Russell-Brown, Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator), Gillian Flint (Illustrator) Cover Image
$5.99
ISBN: 9780593403785
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Published: Philomel Books - June 7th, 2022

When renowned classical singer Marian Anderson wasn't allowed to sing at a theater in Washington, DC, because she was Black, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial, at a concert attended by thousands of people. Marian went on to sing around the world on behalf of the UN and the US State Department, and as a part of the Civil Rights Movement, she also performed at the March on Washington. She went on to win many awards, including the first ever Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, inspiring countless people along the way.


She Persisted: Coretta Scott King By Kelly Starling Lyons, Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger (Illustrator), Gillian Flint (Illustrator) Cover Image
$5.99
Email info@literatibookstore.com or call for price
ISBN: 9780593353523
Published: Philomel Books - January 4th, 2022

Coretta Scott King is known for being the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but she was a civil rights activist and leader in her own right. A singer and an author too, her work made a difference for Black Americans and for all women for decades to come.


The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times By Michelle Obama Cover Image
$32.50
ISBN: 9780593237465
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - November 15th, 2022

“When we are able to recognize our own light, we become empowered to use it,” writes Michelle Obama. A rewarding blend of powerful stories and profound advice that will ignite conversation, The Light We Carry inspires readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world.


Obama: An Intimate Portrait By Pete Souza, Barack Obama (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Pete Souza, Barack Obama (Foreword by)
$60.00
ISBN: 9780316512589
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Published: Little, Brown and Company - November 7th, 2017

Relive the extraordinary Presidency of Barack Obama through White House photographer Pete Souza's behind-the-scenes images and stories, with a foreword from the President himself.


The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story By Nikole Hannah-Jones (Created by), The New York Times Magazine (Created by), Caitlin Roper (Editor), Ilena Silverman (Editor), Jake Silverstein (Editor) Cover Image
By Nikole Hannah-Jones (Created by), The New York Times Magazine (Created by), Caitlin Roper (Editor), Ilena Silverman (Editor), Jake Silverstein (Editor)
$38.00
ISBN: 9780593230572
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: One World - November 16th, 2021

This book speaks directly to the BLM moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction, and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.


Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen By George McCalman Cover Image
$40.00
ISBN: 9780062913234
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Published: HarperOne - September 27th, 2022

A breathtaking collection of original portraits depicting black heroes, famous and unsung, who made their mark on activism, science, politics, business, medicine, technology, food, arts, entertainment, and more. 


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Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler's Guide to the People, Places, and Events that Made the Movement (Travel Guide) By Deborah D. Douglas Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9781640499157
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Moon Travel - January 12th, 2021

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail offers a vivid glimpse into the story of Black America's fight for freedom and equality.


The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Vintage Classics) By Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad (Editor) Cover Image
$22.00
ISBN: 9780679764083
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - October 31st, 1995

The definitive sampling of a writer whose poems were “at the forefront of the Harlem Renaissance and of modernism itself, and today are fundamentals of American culture." — OPRAH magazine


Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration By Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781982176563
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Gallery Books - November 22nd, 2022

Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts aims to gift her community with a collection of lyrical essays about the way joy has evolved, even in the midst of trauma, in her own life. Detailing these instances of joy in the context of Black culture allows us to recognize the power of Black joy as a resource to draw upon, and to challenge the one-note narratives of Black life as solely comprised of trauma and hardship.


How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America By Clint Smith Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316492928
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Little, Brown and Company - December 27th, 2022

A transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, illustrating how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view, whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply imprinted.


Heads of the Colored People: Stories By Nafissa Thompson-Spires Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781501168000
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: 37 Ink - January 22nd, 2019

Nafissa Thompson-Spires grapples with race, identity politics, and the contemporary middle class in this “vivid, fast, funny, way-smart, and verbally inventive collection.” — George Saunders


South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation By Imani Perry Cover Image
$32.99
ISBN: 9780062977403
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: Ecco - January 25th, 2022

“An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration.” — Isabel Wilkerson


Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption By Bryan Stevenson Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780812984965
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: One World - August 18th, 2015

An unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.


Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior By Ed Clayton, Donald Bermudez (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ed Clayton, Donald Bermudez (Illustrator)
$7.99
ISBN: 9781536222906
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Candlewick - February 8th, 2022

Follow the inspiring life of Martin Luther King Jr. in a moving, vital, and informative book by an author and an illustrator with close ties to Dr. King’s family.


Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker, 1965–2000 By Alice Walker, Valerie Boyd (Editor) Cover Image
By Alice Walker, Valerie Boyd (Editor)
$32.50
ISBN: 9781476773155
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Published: Simon & Schuster - April 12th, 2022

For the first time, the edited journals of Alice Walker are gathered together to reflect the complex, passionate, talented, and acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner for The Color Purple. She intimately explores her thoughts and feelings as a woman, a writer, an African-American, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a lover, a sister, a friend, a citizen of the world.


Call Us What We Carry: Poems By Amanda Gorman Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9780593465066
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Viking Books - December 7th, 2021

The breakout poetry collection by acclaimed poet Amanda Gorman.


Finding Me: An Oprah's Book Club Pick By Viola Davis Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9780063037328
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: HarperOne - April 26th, 2022

“It’s clear from the first page that Davis is going to serve a more intimate, unpolished account than is typical of the average (often ghost-written) celebrity memoir. Finding Me reads like Davis is sitting you down for a one-on-one conversation about her life, warts and all.” — USA Today


Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race By Margot Lee Shetterly Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780062363602
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - December 6th, 2016

Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of the four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future.


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All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake By Tiya Miles Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781984855015
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - February 1st, 2022

In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag for her with a few items, and, soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley’s granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. 


Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic By Valerie Boyd (Editor), Alice Walker (Contribution by), Kiese Laymon (Contribution by) Cover Image
By Valerie Boyd (Editor), Alice Walker (Contribution by), Kiese Laymon (Contribution by)
$18.95
ISBN: 9781940596471
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Lookout Books - November 15th, 2022

An anthology of Black resilience and reclamation, with contributions by Pearl Cleage, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Honor e Fanonne Jeffers, Tayari Jones, Kiese Laymon, Imani Perry, Deesha Philyaw, Khadijah Queen, Jason Reynolds, Alice Walker, and more. Born of a desire to bring together the voices of those most harshly affected by the intersecting pandemics of Covid-19 and systemic racism, Bigger Than Bravery explores comfort and compromise, challenge and resilience, throughout the Great Pause that became the Great Call.


The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South: A James Beard Award Winner By Michael W. Twitty Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062379276
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Amistad - July 31st, 2018

A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry — both black and white — through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.


Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed [A Cookbook] By Bryant Terry Cover Image
$27.50
ISBN: 9781607745310
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ten Speed Press - April 8th, 2014

Renowned chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry reworks and remixes the favorite staples, ingredients, and classic dishes of the African Diaspora to present more than 100 wholly new, creative culinary combinations that will amaze vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.


Tanya Holland's California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West [A Cookbook] By Tanya Holland, Maria C. Hunt (With), Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz (With), Alice Walker (Foreword by) Cover Image
$35.00
ISBN: 9781984860729
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: Ten Speed Press - October 25th, 2022

80+ comfort-filled recipes that trace the roots of modern California soul food to the Great Migration, from the acclaimed chef and author of Brown Sugar Kitchen.


Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen By Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, Lester Walker, Osayi Endolyn Cover Image
$40.00
ISBN: 9781648290169
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Artisan - October 25th, 2022

Part cookbook. Part manifesto. Created with big Bronx energy, Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs that celebrate Black food and Black culture, and inspire larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment.


Faith Ringgold: Politics / Power By Faith Ringgold (Artist), Michele Wallace (Text by (Art/Photo Books)), Kirsten Weiss (Text by (Art/Photo Books)) Cover Image
By Faith Ringgold (Artist), Michele Wallace (Text by (Art/Photo Books)), Kirsten Weiss (Text by (Art/Photo Books))
$49.95
ISBN: 9783948318130
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: Weiss Berlin - March 22nd, 2022

During the 1960s and 1970s, Ringgold, a dedicated and impassioned civil rights advocate, established her voice as a feminist and within the Black Arts Movement. Alongside reproductions of key works made between 1967 and 1981, Faith Ringgold: Politics / Power provides an overview of Ringgold's seminal artistic and activist work, and its historical context during these years, including accounts by the artist herself.


Henry Taylor: B Side By Henry Taylor (Artist), Bennett Simpson (Editor), Johanna Burton (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Henry Taylor (Artist), Bennett Simpson (Editor), Johanna Burton (Foreword by)
$60.00
ISBN: 9781636810560
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Delmonico Books - November 1st, 2022

The official catalog accompanying the major Henry Taylor retrospective at MoCA LA which creates a grand pageant of contemporary Black life in America.


Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series By Jacob Lawrence (Artist), Leah Dickerman (Editor), Elsa Smithgall (Editor) Cover Image
By Jacob Lawrence (Artist), Leah Dickerman (Editor), Elsa Smithgall (Editor)
$35.00
ISBN: 9781633450400
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: Museum of Modern Art - February 28th, 2017

The Migration Series is now a landmark in the history of modern art. Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series grounds Lawrence's work in the cultural and political debates that shaped his art and demonstrates its relevance for artists and writers today. The series is reproduced in full; short texts accompanying each panel relate them to the history of the Migration and explore Lawrence's technique and approach. The book includes 11 newly commissioned poems, by Rita Dove, Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, Tyehimba Jess, Yusef Komunyakaa, Patricia Spears Jones, Natasha Trethewey, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Crystal Williams and Kevin Young, that respond directly to the series.


Nick Cave: Forothermore By Nick Cave (Artist), Naomi Beckwith (Editor), Madeleine Grynsztejn (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Nick Cave (Artist), Naomi Beckwith (Editor), Madeleine Grynsztejn (Foreword by)
$65.00
ISBN: 9781942884965
Availability: Usually Available in 2-5 Days
Published: Delmonico Books - June 21st, 2022

The definitive volume on the ever-evolving and shape-shifting work of the Chicago-based artist, Nick Cave: Forothermore highlights the way Cave's practice has shifted and continues to shift in response to our history and current moment of cultural crisis. Including several new, never-before-seen works, the book shows an artist at the height of his power.