Celebrating Black History Month

By Coll Rowe | January 10 2023 | History

In honor of Black History Month, Penguin Random House Education is highlighting stories about the history of Black America from the Colonial Era to the Civil Rights Movement to the Present, with topics ranging from women’s history and cultural history to music, art, and film and community. The list includes essential stories, non-fiction, and history.

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African American History

African American Studies

Vigilance
The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad
978-0-593-53438-0
Here is the remarkable and inspiring story of William Still, an unknown abolitionist who dedicated his life to managing a critical section of the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia—the free state directly north of the Mason-Dixon Line—helping hundreds of people escape from slavery.
$30.00 US
Nov 01, 2022
Hardcover
432 Pages
Knopf

The Black Church
This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
978-1-9848-8035-2
From the New York Times bestselling author of Stony the Road and one of our most important voices on the African American experience comes a powerful new history of the Black church as a foundation of Black life and a driving force in the larger freedom struggle in America.
$20.00 US
Jan 18, 2022
Paperback
304 Pages
Penguin Books

The 1619 Project
A New Origin Story
978-0-593-23057-2
Visit 1619books.com to access free online curricular materials for the book.
$38.00 US
Nov 16, 2021
Hardcover
624 Pages
One World

A Black Women's History of the United States
978-0-8070-0199-8
A vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are--and have always been--instrumental in shaping our country
$17.00 US
Mar 16, 2021
Paperback
296 Pages
Beacon Press

Under the Skin
The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation
978-0-385-54488-7
Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
$30.00 US
Jun 14, 2022
Hardcover
288 Pages
Doubleday

Half American
The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad
978-1-9848-8039-0
The definitive history of World War II from the African American perspective, written by civil rights expert and Dartmouth history professor Matthew Delmont
$30.00 US
Oct 18, 2022
Hardcover
400 Pages
Viking

Four Hundred Souls
A Community History of African America, 1619-2019
978-0-593-44934-9
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A "choral history" of African Americans covering 400 years of history in the voices of 90 writers, edited by the bestselling, National Book Award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi and award-winning historian Keisha N. Blain.
$20.00 US
Feb 01, 2022
Paperback
528 Pages
One World

Requiem for the Massacre
A Black History on the Conflict, Hope, and Fallout of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
978-1-64009-502-1
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of The Year
$27.00 US
Nov 01, 2022
Hardcover
336 Pages
Counterpoint

The Forerunner
A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America
978-0-593-32058-7
From one of America’s most transformative politicians and activists, a powerful and inspiring memoir that sheds light on a harrowing personal journey and reveals how urgently we need our political leadership to prioritize meeting the needs of our most marginalized communities.
$28.00 US
Oct 04, 2022
Hardcover
272 Pages
Knopf

His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
978-0-593-49061-7
“Since we know George Floyd’s death with tragic clarity, we must know Floyd’s America—and life—with tragic clarity. Essential for our times.”—Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist
$30.00 US
May 17, 2022
Hardcover
432 Pages
Viking

All That She Carried
The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
978-1-9848-5501-5
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • KIRKUS PRIZE FINALIST • In this "remarkable book" (New York Times), a renowned historian traces the life of an object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft an extraordinary testament to people left out of the archives.
$18.99 US
Feb 01, 2022
Paperback
416 Pages
Random House Trade Paperbacks

Until I Am Free
Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America
978-0-8070-0725-9
Explores the Black activist’s ideas and political strategies, highlighting their relevance for tackling modern social issues including voter suppression, police violence, and economic inequality.
$16.95 US
Oct 04, 2022
Paperback
200 Pages
Beacon Press

To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness

Freedom Dreams
The Black Radical Imagination
978-0-8070-0703-7
The 20th-anniversary edition of Kelley’s influential history of 20th-century Black radicalism, with new reflections on current movements and their impact on the author, and a foreword by poet Aja Monet
$19.95 US
Aug 23, 2022
Paperback
336 Pages
Beacon Press

The Black Panther Party
A Graphic Novel History
978-1-9848-5770-5
A bold and fascinating graphic novel history of the revolutionary Black Panther Party.
$19.99 US
Jan 19, 2021
Paperback
192 Pages
Ten Speed Graphic

The Ground Breaking
The Tulsa Race Massacre and an American City's Search for Justice
978-0-593-18299-4
Now in paperback, the definitive, newsbreaking account of the reopened investigation into the Tulsa Race Massacre and its aftermath
$18.00 US
May 17, 2022
Paperback
336 Pages
Dutton

Boogie Down Predictions
Hip-Hop, Time, and Afrofuturism
978-1-913689-28-5
Essays that explore the connections between time, representation, and identity within hip-hop culture.
$25.00 US
Sep 13, 2022
Paperback
352 Pages
Strange Attractor Press

The Mis-education of the Negro
978-0-14-313746-7
The most influential work by “the father of Black history”, reflecting the long-standing tradition of antiracist teaching pioneered by Black educators
$15.00 US
Jan 31, 2023
Paperback
224 Pages
Penguin Classics

Black Archives
A Photographic Celebration of Black Life
978-1-9848-5929-7
A photographic celebration and exploration of Black identity and experience through the twentieth century from the founder and curator of the hit multimedia platform Black Archives.
$35.00 US
Feb 14, 2023
Hardcover
288 Pages
Ten Speed Press

At the Dark End of the Street
Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power
978-0-307-38924-4
Winner of  Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the Lillian Smith Award
$18.00 US
Oct 04, 2011
Paperback
416 Pages
Vintage

Shine Bright
A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
978-0-593-13273-9
American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)
$18.00 US
Feb 14, 2023
Paperback
336 Pages
Roc Lit 101

The Young Crusaders
The Untold Story of the Children and Teenagers Who Galvanized the Civil Rights Movement
978-0-8070-5543-4
An authoritative history of the overlooked youth activists that spearheaded the largest protests of the Civil Rights Movement and set the blueprint for future generations of activists to follow.
$18.95 US
Jan 25, 2022
Paperback
328 Pages
Beacon Press

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
978-0-525-56300-6
A new Vintage Classics edition of the abolitionist leader’s classic autobiography.
$12.00 US
Mar 06, 2018
Paperback
160 Pages
Vintage

Becoming Abolitionists
Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom
978-1-66260-166-8
One of the New York Times' 6 New Paperbacks to Read Now in paperback and with new material, a 2021 Kirkus Best Book of the year in both Nonfiction and Current Events, the book Naomi Klein called: “a triumph of political imagination and a tremendous gift to all movements struggling towards liberation.”
$18.00 US
Oct 04, 2022
Paperback
320 Pages
Astra House