Saturday, May 30, 2020

A book list for collegiate black men



Since 2004, I've taught a course for first-year collegiate black men and various upper-level African American courses that attracted several guys.

Here's a list of twenty-five books that I've covered with collegiate black men over the years.

Autobiographies 
• The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845). By Frederick Douglass. Another classic. 
• Black Boy (1945). By Richard Wright. Stands as a classic alongside Malcolm and Frederick Douglass.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965). By Malcolm X and Alex Haley. This one remains a classic.
• The Beautiful Struggle (2008). By Ta-Nehisi Coates. Moving story of a black boy growing up in Baltimore.
Decoded (2010). By Jay-Z. A fun, informative read. Contains variety of cool images.
• Between the World and Me (2015). By Ta-Nehisi Coates. Moving letter to son with deep cultural history.

Fiction
• Song of Solomon (1977). By Toni Morrison. A multifaceted, far-reaching novel. One of her best.
• Middle Passage (1990). By Charles Johnson. Captivating narrative about slavery and more.
• The Intuitionist (1999). By Colson Whitehead. A really inventive narrative about race and elevators.
Seed to Harvest (2007). By Octavia Butler. Expansive narrative about telepaths, slavery, and other issues.
• The Underground Railroad (2016). By Colson Whitehead.  Pathbreaking take on slavery & escape.

Poetry
• Brutal Imagination (2001). By Cornelius Eady. Poems from perspective of alleged bd man.
Vintage Hughes (2004). By Langston Hughes. Large selection of poems from one of our major figures.
leadbelly (2005). By Tyehimba Jess. Persona poems focusing on Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter. 
The Big Smoke (2013). By Adrian Matejka. Guys really enjoyed this one on boxing champ, Jack Johnson.

Comics
• A Right to Be Hostile (2003). By Aaron McGruder. Comical story arcs about Huey Freeman and his brother.
• Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther (2015). By Reginald Hudlin. Good narrative about T'Challa and the folks.
Noble Vol. 1 (2017). By Brandon Thomas. A action-thriller with a lead black hero.
• Black Panther Volume 1 (2017). By Ta-Nehisi Coates and others. Compelling tale, brilliantly drawn.
Black Panther: Killmonger - By Any Means (2019). By Bryan Hill. A mini-series on the notorious villain. 
• Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1 (2020). By Bryan Hill and others. Good story featuring Black Lightning, others.

Nonfiction 
Outliers: The Story of Success (2008). By Malcolm Gladwell. A good, intriguing read.
The New Jim Crow (2010). By Michelle Alexander. A tough, important book on mass incarceration.
The Warmth of Other Suns (2010). By Isabel Wilkerson. Expansive, interrelated narratives about Great Migration.
We Were Eight Years in Power (2017). By Ta-Nehisi Coates. Collection of essays by Coates.

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