This post was originally published on Defender Network

During our sojourn in these (dis)United States of America, there have been two things individuals and institutions committed to the myth of white supremacy have consistently fought tooth and nail to block us from accessing: voting rights and books.

Each allows us to voice what’s most important to us and those we love. Both our voting rights and books, especially books, allow us to develop our voice and our vision to see beyond the “right now” and into the “not yet.”

Books allow us to travel the world and the multiverse, expanding our perception and conception of what’s possible for us, for our people, and for humanity.

That said, certain books are must-reads for every Black person. Failure to read them can result in your Black Card being revoked because they provide so much information and/or inspiration that we cannot chance moving correctly in this world without what those reads offer.

Here are books Defender readers say need to be on every Black person’s list. If you have any to add, please send us those titles (with author names).

Let’s read!

Book Lists

Jawanza Clark

  • “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
  • “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin
  • “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
  • Anything by Toni Morrison—preferably “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved”

Anthony Love

  • “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos of Community?” by MLK Jr.
  • “Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
  • “Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin
  • “Dust Tracks on a Road” by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Any Toni Morrison book

Kwabena Nkromo

  • “The Destruction of Black Civilization” by Chancellor Williams
  • “The Souls of Black Folks” by W.E.B. DuBois
  • “Two Thousand Seasons” by Ayi Kwei Armah
  • “Segu” by Maryse Conde

Ingrid Traylor Williams

  • “Roots” by Alex Haley
  • “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
  • Anything by Toni Morrison or J. California Cooper
  • “The 1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. DuBois

Mshinda Nyofu

  • “Introduction to Black Studies” by Dr. Maulana Karenga
  • “Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
  • “Stokely Speaks” by Stokely Carmichael & Charles V. Hamilton

Denise Bates

  • All of the above and…
  • “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson
  • “How the Word Is Passed” by Clint Smith
  • “The Bluest Eye,” “Jazz,” “Song of Solomon,” etc. by Toni Morrison
  • “The 1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah Jones

Zuberi Robert Woods

  • “Message to the People.” By Marcus Garvey

Vanessa Latrice

  • “Miseducation of the Negro” by Carter G Woodson

Marvin Ferguson

  • “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. DuBois

Aswad Walker

  • “The Philosophies and Opinions of Marcus Garvey,” edited by Amy Jacques Garvey
  • “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler
  • “Black Christian Nationalism: New Directions for the Black Church” by Albert B. Cleage Jr.
  • “Futureland” by Walter Mosley
  • “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison
  • “The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality” by Cheikh Anta Diop
  • “Assata: An Autobiography” by Assata Shakur
  • “Reclaiming Stolen Earth: An Africana Ecotheology” by Jawanza Eric Clark
  • “The Debt” by Randall Robinson
  • “The Reckoning” by Randall Robinson
  • “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson
  • “Introduction to African Civilizations” by John G. Jackson
  • “The Easy Rawlins Series” by Walter Mosley
  • “Of Water and the Spirit” by Malidoma Somé
  • “The Healing Wisdom of Africa” by Malidoma Somé
  • “My Glorious Brothers” by Howard Fast
  • “Zealot” by Reza Aslan
  • “Tribes” by Joel Kotkin
  • “White Rage” by Carol Anderson