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It’s Black History Month! Let’s learn some things! I love a themed month/week/day/party, and for this week’s newsletter, I tried to find some good books that weren’t Hidden Figures, for it is referenced OFTEN. However, it is also very good, so consider picking it up if you have not. Okay, onto the books!
Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray by Rosalind Rosenberg
Activist and lawyer Pauli Murray was the first African American to earn a law degree from Yale (1965!), worked with Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and argued that “the same reasons used to condemn race discrimination could be used to battle gender discrimination.” I love legal arguments so much (evidence! reason!) and Murray was all about them.
The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers edited by Hollis Robbins, Henry Louis Gates Jr.
I also love an anthology! This collection comprises pieces from forty-nine writers, ranging from “Sojourner Truth, Hannah Crafts, and Harriet Jacobs, as well as lesser-known writers like Ella Sheppard, who offers a firsthand account of life in the world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers.” The subjects are wide-ranging, but include nineteenth-century social issues such as abolition, women’s suffrage, temperance, and the ever-relevant civil rights.
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
We don’t just cover adult nonfiction here! Okay, I mostly do. This focuses on 40 Black women who changed the world, including Phillis Wheatley, Bessie Coleman, and Dr. Mae Jemison. Each profile includes an excellent portrait and a brief biography. I would have loved this book when I was a kid and I love it now.
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Davis
Davis does something super cool here and “demonstrates how the roots of the blues extend beyond a musical tradition to serve as a consciousness-raising vehicle for American social memory.” She does this by looking at three extremely influential blues singers through a feminist lens and providing “the historical, social, and political contexts” you need to interpret their music.
That’s it for this week! For more nonfiction new releases, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.