The United States recognizes February as Black History Month, a celebration of the achievements and cultural significance of African Americans. These contributions include harrowing works of literature often encompassing historical and modern struggles of these groups, while simultaneously celebrating their strength and their role in shaping American culture. To highlight African American literature and perspectives, the Falconer assembled a list of essential reads. 

“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas 

This No. 1 New York Times Bestseller follows a 16-year-old girl named Starr Carter, who exists between the starkly dichotomous worlds of her impoverished black neighborhood and her elite prep school, divided between two realities. This fragile code-switch equilibrium shatters when she witnesses her best friend Khalil being killed at the hands of a police officer. Starr must grapple with the aftermath of what becomes a national headline, fighting to find her voice and tell the story that really happened.

“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson

Woodson grew up as an African American during the aftermath of the Jim Crow laws and segregation in the 1960s and 1970s. She tells her story through poems that describe the shift between her close-knit, familial life in South Carolina and the bustle of urban New York. Detailing themes of racial discrimination, the book illustrates how Woodson harnessed the power of words to express this oppression and liberate herself from its stifling effects.

“New Kid” by Jerry Craft

Jordan Banks is one of the few students of color at his new, prestigious private school, which starkly contrasts with the diversity of his neighborhood in Washington Heights. As Jordan begins to assimilate into his new academic environment, he finds himself drifting from his old community, simultaneously experiencing microaggressions at school that make him wonder how he will find his place among its cliques. Jordan finds solace in his sketchbook, illustrating his emotions and interactions as he traverses through contrasting worlds, encountering challenges, forging unlikely friendships and indulging in the liberty of youth. “New Kid” describes the isolation and tension found in novel environments and the satisfaction of finding one’s community.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou

Inundated with unique prose and profound literary technique, Angelou illustrates tales from her childhood in the segregated American South. She manages to capture the viscerality of her coming-of-age and the liberation that words presented her in an increasingly oppressive society. Angelou personifies herself after the namesake of her novel, learning to sing despite the enclosure of racism.

“Children of Blood and Bone” by Tomi Adeyemi

Tomi Adeyemi’s debut young adult fantasy novel centers around Zélie Adebola and her valiant attempt at restoring her kingdom’s magic, denied by an oppressive monarchy. To do so, Zélie must complete a perilous quest and confront not only external threats but also internal turmoil and self-discovery. Inspired by West African mythology, “Children of Blood and Bone” serves as an allegory for contemporary and universal issues, such as systemic oppression and the abuse of power, delivering profound messages alongside exquisite writing.

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston played a large role in shaping American culture with her literature and is widely considered one of the most influential African American authors of the 20th century. Her work typically focuses on the culture and traditions of everyday black communities and she also collects unique African American traditions that would have otherwise disappeared. In her novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” she focuses on Janie Crawford’s journey towards independence throughout a series of marriages as Crawford finds her own power and identity within the unforgiving South. Hurston’s novel illuminates the importance and nuances of black culture, as well as struggles to find freedom and a voice in the face of blatant sexism and racism. She shows how these women persevered to find a place in society, as well as introduced complex, black, female characters that had been pushed to the back shelves of literature. Her work helps display the beauty of black communities and celebrates her people’s constant fight for recognition. 

“March:” Books One, Two and Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell 

The only graphic novels on this list, the three books that encompass the “March” series chronicles John Lewis’s activism during the Civil Rights Movement and numerous steps made towards equality, including sit-ins, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the 1965 Selma voting rights campaign, Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While the stories are a demonstration of the constant and often violent struggle toward equality and preserving racism, they also shed light on the importance and influence of youth activism, as well as the overarching hope for positive changes, such as voting rights. Lewis provides a firsthand account of how these people, including himself, successfully fought against a corrupt system, forever changing American society and culture. 

“Call Us What We Carry” by Amanda Gorman

 A collection of 70 expertly crafted poems, “Call Us What We Carry” is Amanda Gorman’s debut as a published author. Her works are embedded with themes of shared grief, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19, collective historical trauma, identity and the shared weight that many of her fellow African Americans have had to and continue to “carry.” She carries the lasting legacy of slavery, the systematic racism built into the “American identity” that robs individuals of opportunity and the grief that follows acts of racial injustice. Yet, nestled in words filled with heavy emotions and darker themes, Gordon adds language that brings hope into the picture, imagining a continuous push towards a greater quality and a future generation instilled with the power to shape society for the better. She highlights how black culture has continued to persevere, no doubt inspired by the influential Black Lives Matter Movement and how fights for change have been acts of triumph in the face of systematic oppression. 

“Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson

A work of literature based on a true story that explicitly criticizes the enduring racial stigma within the justice system, “Just Mercy” commands a push towards eradicating systemic racism within the law. The story follows the case of Walter McMillian, a man accused of murdering a white woman and on death row, although the evidence against him is riddled with racial bias, false testimonies, dishonesty and evident prejudice. Bryan Stevenson, McMillian’s lawyer, who specializes in helping those who cannot afford expensive legal representation, works tirelessly through the novel to navigate and beat the corrupt system, helping children and the mentally ill, along with McMillan. The novel not only calls out a justice system that intentionally encourages the unfair treatment of people of color, but also highlights the imperative work of those fighting for a fairer system, including Stevenson and his Equal Justice Initiative. 

“The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead

While the underground railroad was not historically an actual train route, Colson Whitehead took a more modern approach in his novel “The Underground Railroad” by making it an actual train network. Cora, an enslaved young woman experiencing abhorrent brutality on a plantation in Georgia, uses this very network to escape from the plantation alongside another enslaved man named Caesar. As they travel from state to state under the constant pursuit of Cora by slavecatcher Ridgeway, they are exposed to racism in different formats, with the secret experimentation on black individuals in South Carolina and the hunting and murder of black individuals in North Carolina. Cora is captured in North Carolina by Ridgeway and taken with, but she eventually escapes again, fleeing further south. She continues to be hunted in Tennessee, but finds some community in Indiana. The novel is a striking illustration of the brutality of slavery and commemorates the bravery of those who escaped for the hope of a better future and freedom. It shines a spotlight on the resilience of African American individuals during a period of constant fear and violent oppression, while forcing readers to acknowledge the seemingly ancient and dystopian racial systems that still carry a deep impact on American culture today.