In honor of Black History Month—and in recognition that Black history is always unfolding—we asked faculty, staff, alum, community partners, and students to share a book by a Black author that has shaped how they understand Black life, culture and history. Their recommendations remind us that these stories are ongoing, essential, and deeply human. 

Explore the list, borrow from your local library, and support the places doing the year-round work of preserving and celebrating Black history.

If you would like to share your recommendations, let us know at ecoe@uw.edu!

DR. JOY WILLIAMSON-LOTT, Dean of The Graduate School  

W. E. B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk. Though it was published in 1903, the themes he explored—human suffering, the enduring value of education, or the importance of truth, beauty and goodness—have contemporary resonance. It's beautifully written with deep insights, passion, sorrow and hope. 
 

LANESHA DEBARDELABEN, Social and Cultural Foundations doctoral candidate

I was in sixth grade when my uncle, knowing how much I loved to read, handed me a book and told me I should try it. I did, and it changed my life. The book was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I was already an avid reader, but discovering that Malcolm X had largely educated himself by studying the dictionary opened my eyes to the idea of “education for liberation.” Many books have shaped me, like Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, among others, but the one that marks a clear line between who I was before reading it and who I became after has always been The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

DR. DJANGO PARIS, James A. & Cherry A. Banks Chair of Multicultural Education

I would like to recommend The Forgetting Tree: A Rememory by Rae Paris, faculty in Creative Writing in the UW English Department. In this book, Rae uses prose, poetry, and photographs to understand sites of racial terror against Black people and also the powerful resistances, joy, and liberatory work of Black people. Set across sites from the south to the southwest to the west coast—always on Indigenous lands—this book is part memoir, part history, and also a mapping and unsettling toward a more liberatory future.  I have learned so much from this book, as an educator, scholar, and person. As award-winning author Kiese Laymon puts it, “It is necessary reading for anyone serious about loving Black people."

DR. DANA NICKSON, Assistant Professor in Education Foundations, Leadership, & Policy

I recommend The Yellow House by Sarah Broom! In this memoir, Broom writes about her life and family history through the lens of her family's shotgun house in East New Orleans, Louisiana. Through family stories, Broom vividly shows that despite the ways this house was physically battered by a country that has dispossessed many Black cities and neighborhoods, the relationships and presence of her family transformed this yellow house into a home. The Yellow House speaks to the relational and multifaceted ways that Black people build homes not only as physical space, but through relationships, memories, and their collective labor.

DR. MATTHEW GARDNER KELLY,  Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy

I would nominate Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns. Wilkerson tells the story of the six million Black Americans who migrated to the North and West between 1915 and 1970 during the Great Migration. She shows how the individual decision of millions of Black Americans to leave the Jim Crow South reshaped the cultural, political, and social landscape of the entire U.S., in ways that are too often unacknowledged. More than that, The Warmth of Other Suns is the most engaging and beautifully written history I have ever encountered. She reminds us of the power in a single choice. And her intimate and vivid account of three Black Americans choosing to migrate reminds us that Black history is not just about the past but understanding the world we all live in today.

DR. JAMES A. BANKS, Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies Emeritus

I have used and been greatly enriched and informed by various editions of this classic Black history book since I was a graduate student at Michigan State University in the late 1960s. I also relied on it heavily when I wrote my own Black history book for junior high school students, March Toward Freedom: A History of Black Americans, the first edition of which was published in 1970. John Hope Franklin was the dean of African American history. Franklin died in 2009. The current edition of the book was revised by Professor Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, an eminent historian at Harvard University: From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, 9th Edition  by  John Hope Franklin  (Author), Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham  (Author)

From Slavery to Freedom remains the most revered, respected, and honored text on the market. The preeminent history of African Americans, this best-selling text charts the journey of African Americans from their origins in Africa, through slavery in the Western Hemisphere, struggles for freedom in the West Indies, Latin America, and the United States, various migrations, and the continuing quest for racial equality. Building on John Hope Franklin's classic work, the ninth edition has been thoroughly rewritten by the award-winning scholar Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. 

VANESSA STONE, assistant director of Marketing and Communications

Two books I keep coming back to: My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter  by Aja Monet and How to Slay: Inspiration from the Queens and Kings of Black Style by Constance C.R. White. Monet’s poetry hits like a Thelonious Monk track—angular, bold and unforgettable. She honors mothers, daughters and sisters who fight with courage and song, a powerful reminder that the personal is always political. White’s How to Slay is a love letter to Black style, tracing icons from Josephine Baker to Rihanna. Part history lesson, part fashion fantasy, and entirely irresistible.

NOAM SOKER HEIST, Stewardship and Events Manager at the Haring Center for Inclusive Education 

I recommend The Vanishing Half  by Brit Bennett for anyone who enjoys historical fiction with rich, complicated characters. This novel follows twin sisters who take very different paths in life, and along the way it explores identity, race, and belonging in really thoughtful ways. It’s an engaging, fast-moving read that also invites you to pause and think about the many layers of racism and how they shape people’s lives and choices. I found it both enjoyable and thought‑provoking. This read pulled me in and stays with me long after I finished reading.

EBONY MOXEY, Multimedia Specialist

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Jordan Peele. A bold collection of Black horror stories that confront fear, power, survival, and imagination—where the supernatural meets real histories and lived truths. A great read for horror fans!

HAILEY CAPPS, Graduate Admission and Enrollment Adviser

Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams. Stacey Abrams is an author, entrepreneur, producer, and political leader. In this book, she pairs her powerful personal story with thoughtful, practical guidance for leading when you don’t fit the traditional mold.

CHARLEEN WILCOX, Director of Marketing & Communications

I was drawn to Passing by Nella Larsen in grad school because it explores racial passing and the ways biracial and mixed-race bodies—like mine—are perceived and understood. I also recommend viewing Adrian Piper’s Calling Card (I Am Black) and Self-Portrait as a Nice White Lady, which powerfully examine how Black and mixed-race identities are questioned and defined in public space.