#OwnVoices:
Black History Month & Beyond
 
Be sure to log in at SLOLibrary.org before placing your holds 
 
Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail : A Traveler's Guide to the People, Places, and Events That Made the Movement
by Deborah D. Douglas

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail offers a vivid glimpse into the story of Black America's fight for freedom and equality. From eye-opening landmarks to celebrations of triumph over adversity, experience a tangible piece of history with Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail.
The sword and the shield : the revolutionary lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
by Peniel E. Joseph

The author of Stokely: A Life challenges popular misconceptions in a dual portrait of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. that reveals how in spite of conflicting ideologies the pair inspired each other’s achievements. 25,000 first printing.
Everywhere you don't belong
by Gabriel Bump

Raised by a civil-rights activist grandmother on the South Side of Chicago, Claude McKay Love searches for a sense of belonging before a riot compels his departure for college, where he discovers he cannot escape his past. A first novel. Tour.
The three mothers : how the mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin shaped a nation
by Anna Malaika Tubbs

From Gates Scholar and First Lady of Stockton, CA, comes the first book to celebrate the three great women who raised and shaped America's most pivotal heroes: MLK, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. 75,000 first printing. Illustrations.
The prophets : a novel
by Robert Jones

Two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation find refuge in each other while transforming a quiet shed into a haven for their fellow slaves, before an enslaved preacher declares their bond sinful. A first novel.
The vanishing half
by Brit Bennett

Separated by their embrace of different racial identities, two mixed-race identical twins reevaluate their choices as one raises a black daughter in their southern hometown while the other passes for white with a husband who is unaware of her heritage.
Memorial Drive : a daughter's memoir
by Natasha D. Trethewey

The former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Native Guard shares a chillingly personal memoir about the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather. 150,000 first printing.
Wow, no thank you : essays
by Samantha Irby

A new collection of humorous and edgy essays from the author of Meaty and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life that highlight the ups and downs of aging, marriage and living with step-children in small-town Michigan. Original.
Here for it : or, how to save your soul in America : essays
by R. Eric Thomas

A humorist and playwright provides a heartfelt and humorous memoir-in-essays about growing up seeing the world differently, finding unexpected hope and every awkward, extraordinary stumble along the way.
Hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick : stories from the Harlem Renaissance
by Zora Neale Hurston

Featuring eight lesser-known stories, a collection of Harlem Renaissance tales by the revered folklorist and author of Their Eyes Were Watching God explores subjects ranging from class and migration to racism and sexism. 100,000 first printing.
Such a fun age : a novel
by Kiley Reid

Seeking justice for a young black babysitter who was wrongly accused of kidnapping by a racist security guard, a successful blogger finds her efforts complicated by a video that reveals unexpected connections. A first novel.
Trailblazer : a pioneering journalist's fight to make the media look more like America
by Dorothy Butler Gilliam

Presents a comprehensive view of racial relations and the media in the Unuted States that draws on the author's personal and professional experiences to celebrate the behind-the-scenes victories that have shaped decades of struggle
Begin again : James Baldwin's America and its urgent lessons for our own
by Eddie S. Glaude

James Baldwin grew disillusioned by the failure of the Civil Rights movement to force America to confront its lies about race, and the author explores what Americans can learn from Baldwin’s struggle in the era of President Trump.
Caste : the origins of our discontents
by Isabel Wilkerson

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns identifies the qualifying characteristics of historical caste systems to reveal how a rigid hierarchy of human rankings, enforced by religious views, heritage and stigma, impact everyday American lives
The last negroes at Harvard : the class of 1963 and the eighteen young men who changed Harvard forever
by Kent Garrett

A Harvard graduate who attended as one of 18 African-American recruits in an early affirmative-action program describes how he reconnected with his fellow graduates half a century later to learn their remarkable stories. 30,000 first printing. Illustrations.
The nickel boys : a novel
by Colson Whitehead

A follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning, The Underground Railroad, follows the harrowing experiences of two African-American teens at an abusive reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida
Real life
by Brandon Taylor

Keeping his head down at a lakeside Midwestern university where the culture is in sharp contrast to his Alabama upbringing, an introverted African-American biochem student endures unexpected encounters that bring his orientation and defenses into question.
The dead are arising : the life of Malcolm X
by Les Payne

A revisionary portrait of the iconic civil rights leader draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with surviving family members, intelligence officers and political leaders to offer new insights into Malcolm X’s Depression-era youth, religious conversion and 1965 assassination.
Trouble is what I do
by Walter Mosley

Detective Leonid McGill is forced to confront the ghost of his felonious past when a nonagenarian Mississippi bluesman is targeted by an infamous assassin. By the Edgar Award-winning author of Down the River Unto the Sea. 25,000 first printing.
Deacon King Kong
by James McBride

In the aftermath of a 1969 Brooklyn church deacon’s public shooting of a local drug dealer, the community’s African-American and Latinx witnesses find unexpected support from each other when they are targeted by violent mobsters. Tour.
Lakewood : a novel
by Megan Giddings

Forced to drop out of school to help support her family, Lena takes a lucrative job as a secret laboratory subject before devastating side effects make her question how much she can sacrifice. A first novel. 30,000 first printing.
Transcendent kingdom
by Yaa Gyasi

A follow-up to the best-selling Homegoing finds a sixth-year PhD candidate grappling with the childhood faith of the evangelical church in which she was raised while researching the science behind the suffering that has devastated her Ghanaian immigrant family.
His truth is marching on : John Lewis and the power of hope
by Jon Meacham

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hope of Glory presents a timely portrait of veteran congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis that details the life experiences that informed his faith and shaped his practices of non-violent protest. Illustrations.
Wandering in strange lands : a daughter of the Great Migration reclaims her roots
by Morgan Jerkins

From an acclaimed cultural critic and the New York Times best-selling author of This Will Be My Undoing comes the story of her journey to understand her northern and southern roots, the Great Migration and the displacement of black people across America. 40,000 first printing
Party of two
by Jasmine Guillory

"A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking. Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe's mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can't resist-it is chocolate cake, after all. Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble-not just some privileged white politician she assumed him to be. Because of Max's high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?"
Remembrance : Four Women, One Powerful Legacy... Their Gifts Will Shape the World
by Rita Woods

Looks at present-day Ohio, 1791 Haiti, and 1857 New Orleans, in which house girl Margot is sold just before her 18th birthday and her promised freedom, and, desperate, she escapes and tries to find Remembrance, a rumored stop on the Underground Railroad. Tour.
Vanguard : how black women broke barriers, won the vote, and insisted on equality for all
by Martha S. Jones

Examines the struggle of African American women to achieve equality and political power by examining the lives and work of black women, including Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Fannie Lou Hamer. 15,000 first printing.
The city we became
by N. K. Jemisin

This first book of an exciting new series by a Hugo Award-winning author takes readers into the dark underbelly of New York City, where a roiling, ancient evil stirs in the halls of power, threatening to destroy the city and her six newborn avatars. 150,000 first printing.
Riot baby
by Tochi Onyebuchi

The author of the award-winning young-adult novel Beasts Made of Night tackles youth, race and the carceral state with magical flair, in his adult-science-fiction debut.
Stakes is high : life after the American dream
by Mychal Denzel Smith

Exposing the stark contradictions at the heart of American life, the New York Times bestselling author presents this important work in which he holds all of us accountable for looking away from the fissures and casual violence that are ever-present. 75,000 first printing
Reclaiming her time : the power of Maxine Waters
by Helena Andrews-Dyer

A lavishly designed, full-color illustrated tribute to the life, wisdom and legacy of iconic American Congresswoman Maxine Waters includes coverage of her anti-apartheid work, her support of affirmative action and her passionate opposition to the Iraq War. 75,000 first printing. Illustrations.