author & activist (1924-1987)
Notable works: Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), Giovanni's Room (1956)
"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive." - James Baldwin, "The Creative Process" (1962)
Explore all of his works in our collection here
author & MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient (1947-2006)
Notable works: Kindred (1988), Parable of the Sower (1993)
"I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining." - Octavia Butler, interview with The Indypendent (2006)
Explore all of her works in our collection here
author, journalist, & MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient (1975-)
Notable works: Between the World and Me (2015), The Water Dancer (2019)
"The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books. I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, free. Slowly, I was discovering myself." - Ta-Nehisi Coats, Between the World and Me
Explore all of his works in our collection here
novelist (1961-2021)
Notable works: The Blackbirds (2016), The Son of Mr. Suleman (2021)
"The path to love wasn't a smooth road. Love would show up while you were busy with another love, leaving you to decide." - Eric Jerome Dickey, The Blackbirds
Explore all of his works in our collection here
author & literary critic (1913-1994)
Notable works: Invisible Man (1952)
"The world is a possibility if only you'll discover it." - Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Explore all of his works in our collection here
novelist & former lawyer (1976/1977-)
Notable works: The Wedding Date (2018), The Proposal (2021)
"...Because romance is about relationships, right? It’s not just about romantic relationships. It’s about the way people relate to other people. To write a good romance, you have to figure that out. And good romance writers can do that better than anyone." - Jasmine Guillory, interview with Writer's Digest (2021)
Explore all of her works in our catalog here
author & anthropologist (1891-1960)
Notable works: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer." - Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Explore all of her works in our collection here
author & musician (1957-)
Notable works: The Color of Water (1995), The Good Lord Bird (2013), The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023)
"But at the end of the day, there are some questions that have no answers, and then one answer that has no question: love rules the game. Every time. All the time. That’s what counts." - James McBride, The Color of Water
Explore all of his works in our collection here
novelist, professor, & Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient (1931-2019)
Notable works: The Bluest Eye (1970), Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987)
"Make up a story. ... For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don't tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief's wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear's caul." - Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture in Literature (1993)
Explore all of her works in our collection here
author (1989-)
Notable works: The Deep (2019), An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017)
"'What is belonging?' we ask. She says, 'Where loneliness ends.'" - Rivers Solomon, The Deep
Explore all of their works available in our collection here
author & MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient (1969-)
Notable works: The Underground Railroad (2016), The Nickel Boys (2019)
"We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness." - Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys
Explore all of his works available in our collection here
Available on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, listen to your favorite library staff members deep dive into classics, hidden gems, and new favorites - all found in your library's stacks!
Watch Out! A Spike Lee Double Feature
Join us for a Spike Lee double feature of Do the Right Thing (1989) and BlacKkKlansman (2018)! This episode finds Kelsea inventing the word dramatacize, Meredith mispronouncing the name of yet another famous person, and Emory getting a jump on all of us this tax season.
Watch Out! Judas Jean Jacket
It's Black History Month and we're talking alien encounters and FBI informants with Nope (2022) and Judas and the Black Messiah (2021). This episode finds Emory thrilling on the nostalgia, Emily leaning in to conspiracy, and Meredith taking a back seat to her sinuses.
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Americanah F ADICHIE available in other formats:
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Giovanni's Room F BALDWIN available in other formats:
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The Vanishing Half F BENNETT available in other formats:
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My Sister, the Serial Killer F BRAITHWAITE available in other formats:
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The Water Dancer F COATES available in other formats:
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The Reformatory F DUE available in other formats:
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Invisible Man F ELLISON available in other formats:
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The Proposal F GUILLORY available in other formats:
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The Other Black Girl F HARRIS available in other formats:
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Their Eyes Were Watching God F HURSTON available in other formats:
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Passing F LARSEN available in other formats:
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Luster F LEILANI available in other formats:
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Deacon King Kong F McBRIDE available in other formats:
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Beloved F MORRISON available in other formats:
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Such a Fun Age F REID available in other formats:
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No Gods, No Monsters F TURNBULL available in other formats:
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The Color Purple F WALKER available in other formats:
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The Underground Railroad F WHITEHEAD available in other formats:
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Native Son F WRIGHT |
Dead Dead Girls M AFIA available in other formats:
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As the Wicked Watch M HALL available in other formats:
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The Trap M RAABE available in other formats:
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The City We Became SF JEMISIN |
Goliath SF ONYEBUCHI
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The Deep SF SOLOMON |
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eaudiobook
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings BIO ANGELOU available in other formats:
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Basquiat: A Graphic Novel BIO BASQUIAT |
Heavy BIO LAYMON available in other formats:
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Notes from a Young Black Chef BIO ONWUACHI |
The Dead Are Arising BIO X |
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The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song 277.308996073 G2591b 2021
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Hood Feminism 305.420973 K332h 2020
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A Black Women's History of the United States 305.48896073 B5341b 2020 |
The Three Mothers 306.87430896073 T884t 2021 |
Black Klansman 322.4209788 S7829b 2018 available in other formats:
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Black Fortunes 338.092396073 W7411b 2018 |
Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl's Love Letter to the Power of Fashion 391 F6991d 2019 |
Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture 391.508996 D112t 2020 |
The Annotated African American Folktales 398.208996073 A6152a 2018 |
A Little Devil in America |
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There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé |
Sister Outsider 814.54 L867s 2020 available in other formats:
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Driving the Green Book: A Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance 973.304934 H1741d 2023 |
The 1619 Project 973 S6253s 2021 available in other formats:
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The Black History Book 973.0496 B6271b 2021 |
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How the Word is Passed 973.0496073 S6421h 2021 |
The Black History of the White House 975.3 L968b 2011 |
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) DVDE 322.420973 M9741 2007 |
Amazing Grace (2019) DVDE 782.254 Am157 2019
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When We Were Kings (1996) DVDE 796.83092 W5671 2019 |
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Beloved (1998) DVD BELOVED |
BlacKkKlansman (2018) DVD BLACKKKLANSMAN |
Chi-Raq (2015) DVD CHI-RAQ |
Dope (2015) DVD DOPE |
Fences (2016) DVD FENCES |
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For Us, the Living (1983) DVD FOR |
42 (2013) DVD FORTY-TWO |
Get on Up (2014) DVD GET |
Get Out (2017) DVD GET |
Girls Trip (2017) DVD GIRLS |
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Harriet (2019) DVD HARRIET |
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) DVD IF |
Inside Man (2006) DVD INSIDE |
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) DVD JUDAS |
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) DVD LAST Check out Circulation Clerk Emory's review! |
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Loving (2016) DVD LOVING |
Marshall (2017) DVD MARSHALL |
Moonlight (2016) DVD MOONLIGHT |
Nope (2022) BLU & DVD NOPE |
Pariah (2011) DVD PARIAH |
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Red Tails (2012) DVD RED |
Selma (2014) DVD SELMA |
Straight Outta Compton (2015) DVD STRAIGHT |
12 Years a Slave (2013) DVD TWELVE
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Widows (2018) DVD WIDOWS Check out Circulation Clerk Emory's review! |
kanopy has also curated a collection of films for Black History Month! Stream movies, documentaries, and short films from the comfort of your home with your library card.
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The New Jim Crow available as:
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March available as:
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Dawn available as:
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Kindred available as:
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Africaville available as:
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Breath, Eyes, Memory available as:
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Dhalgren available as:
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The Skin I'm In available as:
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The Wedding Date available as:
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The New Moon's Arms available as:
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How to Be an Antiracist available as:
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The Twelve Tribes of Hattie available as:
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Behold the Dreamers available as:
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Redefining Realness available as:
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Tar Baby available as:
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Becoming available as:
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Crafts That Celebrate Black History available as:
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Forty Acres available as:
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Salvage the Bones available as:
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Sing, Unburied, Sing available as:
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