Get Lit! A Civil Rights Love Story, Love for EBONY Fashion Fair and More Reads by Black Authors This February
Written by Gary Trust on February 7, 2024
In the month that revels in love, indulge your passion for reading with these works. MSNBC anchor Joy A. Reid delves into the lives of Medgar and Myrlie Evans, offering a compelling narrative of a love story that played a significant role in shaping American history. Eunice W. Johnson and EBONY Fashion Fair are celebrated in a new book. Open your heart and feel the heat from our selection of Black authors to read this February.
Miles of Style
Lisa D. Brathwaite (February 6)
Eunice W. Johnson, who founded EBONY with husband John H. Johnson, launched EBONY Fashion Fair in 1958. The revolutionary fashion show featured Black models showcasing couture design in Black communities across the nation. Mrs. Johnson’s vision come to life in brilliant color in this kid-friendly picture book by Brathwaite and illustrated by Lynn Gaines.
Price: $21
Medgar And Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America
Joy A. Reid (February 6)
MSNBC host Joy A. Reid shares the extraordinary lives and overlooked legacy of civil rights icons Medgar and Myrlie Evers, offering a intimate look at their inspiring love story and their crucial work for civil rights, with Medgar’s widow Myrlie’s blessing.
Price: $30
Redwood Court
DéLana R. A. Dameron (February 6)
The poet author revisits her childhood with this debut narrative chronicling an all-Black-cul-de-sac in Columbia, South Carolina. Protagonist Mika Tabor defines herself with help from the people who raise her, from her grandparents and siblings to her attentive neighbors.
Price: $28
RADICAL REPARATIONS: Healing the Soul of Our Nation
Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter (February 6)
The author argues for a radical shift in the thought of reparations for Black Americans, driven by comprehensive solutions offered by today’s educators, historians, activists, organizers, Afrofuturists and socially conscious citizens.
Price: $30
A Right Worthy Woman: A Novel
Ruth P. Watson (February 6)
Inspired by real-life entrepreneur Maggie Lena Walker, a schoolteacher turned secretary-treasurer who founded a newspaper, a bank and a department store, this aspirational novel is now out on paperback.
Price: $18
How to Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir
Shayla Lawson (February 6)
Traveling can itself be a political act, according to author Shayla Lawson. They share their story of being Black, femme, nonbinary and disabled while exploring the world and discovering deeper meanings in love, time and self.
Price: $29
Thick With Trouble
Amber McBride (February 13)
Difficult, unruly, fearsome, defiant—this a chorus of unapologetic women who laugh, cry, mesmerize and bring outsiders to their knees in the author’s collection of poems that reckon with the force and complexity of Black womanhood.
Price: $20
The Breathe Life Holy Bible: Faith in Action
Thomas Nelson (February 13)
Through the BREATHE acronym: Believe, Reconcile, Exalt, Act, Trust, Hope and Elevate, this book invites you to experience scripture and receive practical biblical encouragement.
Price: $50
Now You See Me: 100 Years of Black Design
Charlene Prempeh (February 20)
With nods to fashion, architecture and graphic design, this picturesque coffee books offers detailed designer biographies featuring interviews with contemporaries like stylist Law Roach and interdisciplinary artist and designer Samuel Ross.
Price: $35
Ours
Phillip B. Williams (February 20)
This mystical novel follows Saint, who has brought formerly enslaved people to a magically protected town named Ours. A coveted haven at first, cracks begin to show and some question whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage.
Price: $29
No Better Time: A Novel of the Spirited Women of the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Directory Battalion
Sheila Williams (February 27)
Author Sheila Williams uses real-life stories of her family’s WWII past to tell the stories of those in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. The author addresses the complications of racism and misogyny, while emphasizing the love of country and duty for Black women.
Price: $30
The American Daughters: A Novel
Maurice Carlos Ruffin (February 27)
Mother and daughter Sanite and Ady are inseparable, until these enslaved African people are separated by circumstances they can’t control. Left hopeless and directionless by the separation, Ady then meets Lenore, a free Black woman, who sparks her journey toward liberation and a new future.
Price: $28
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