What's on CUAA's Black History reading list? Check it out!
CUAA’s Black History reading list
Any time is a great time to study Black history. Black History Month, however, is an intentional time when Black history is centered. Black History Month recognizes the important role of Black Americans in the history of the United States. (You can read more about the history of this month here.)
Shanitra Cheff, Concordia’s Director of Multicultural Engagement, shares why it’s important to read Black history:
“Reading and committing time to truly understand Black history is still essential. All students, not just African-American pupils, should be taught about it. Mathematics, geography, and American history are taught to students because they are vital. Black history, which focuses on the past and present contributions of African Americans, is likewise significant and should be taught in all educational settings.”
Concordia University Ann Arbor’s Zimmerman Library offers many titles to help you dig deeper into Black history. Check out our 2022 Black history reading list!
They Say : Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race
Authors: James West Davidson and James West Davidson
Breaking White Supremacy : Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel
Author: Gary Dorrien
A Spectacular Leap : Black Women Athletes in Twentieth-Century America
Author: Jennifer H. Lansbury
Frederick Douglass : Selected Speeches and Writings
Philip S. Foner, Yuval Taylor, and Yuval Taylor
W. E. B. du Bois’s Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America
Author: The W. E. B. Du, Britt Rusert, and Whitney Battle-Baptiste
Transforming America : Barack Obama in the White House
Authors: Steven E. Schier, John J. Pitney Jr., John J. Coleman, James L. Guth, John F. Harris, James Hohmann, Bertram Johnson, Richard E. Matland, Nancy Maveety, and James M. McCormick
Painting the Gospel : Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago
Author: Kymberly N. Pinder
Jazz Internationalism: Literary Afro-Modernism and the Cultural Politics of Black Music
Author: John Lowney
This Light of Ours : Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement
Authors: Leslie G. Kelen, Julian Bond, Clayborne Carson, Director Clayborne Carson, and Matt Herron
Other recommended works
Poetry
Sometimes I Never Suffered: Poems
Author: Shane McCraeHouse
Repairs
Author: Angela Jackson-Brown
Owed
Author: Joshua Bennett
How Much We Must Have Looked Like Stars To Stars
Author: Alysia Nicole Harris
Christian living
Gospel Haymanot: A Constructive Theology and Critical Reflection on African and Diasporic Christianity
Author: Vince L. Bantu
Black Lives Matter to Jesus: The Salvation of Black Life and All Life in Luke and Acts
Author: Marcus Jerkins
Not seeing a book you want?
If you’re looking for a book, but you’re not finding it through our library, click here to view our interlibrary loan system.
Do you want to know more?
If you’re interested in learning more about life at Concordia University Ann Arbor, visit us here.
— Vanessa Lane is the Content Marketing Lead at Concordia University and can be reached at vanessa.lane@cuaa.edu. When she's not at work, she can be found playing with her kids or watching NBA basketball with her husband.
If this story has inspired you, why not explore how you can help further Concordia's mission through giving.