For black booksellers and publishers who have been promoting their titles for years, it’s encouraging that people are now turning to books to further their own knowledge, rather than solely expecting the black community to educate them. Here are some of the most popular books on diversity, race, and anti-racism for adults and children to read right now.
For Adults
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Between The World and Me by Ta- Nehisi Coates
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle by Katherine McKittrick
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
For Children
Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester
Lovely by Jess Hong
Whose Toes Are Those by Jabari Asim
Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
My Hair is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera
Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Sesame Street: We’re Different, We’re the Same by Bobbi Kates
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
I Walk With Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët
The Color of Us by Karen Katz
If there are any books you feel should be in the lists above email Emily@everythingjerseycity.com.
