For Black History Month, we reached out to members of Spokane’s Black community and asked them to share a couple of their favorite books or books they felt were important for others to read. This is an #OwnVoices list in more than one way, it is selected by #OwnVoices and the books themselves are written by #OwnVoices.
#OwnVoices is a term coined by the writer Corinne Duyvis, and refers to an author from a marginalized or under-represented group writing about their own experiences/from their own perspective, rather than someone from an outside perspective writing as a character from an underrepresented group.
Recommended by Kiantha Duncan, Spokane NAACP President
African Americans in Spokane by Jerrelene Williamson, Spokane Northwest Black Pioneers
Book
This is My America by Kim Johnson
Book
Recommended by Carl Richardson, Artist and SFCC Professor
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me: Poem by Maya Angelou, Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Book
Recommended by Inga Laurent, GU Professor and Inlander Writer
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
Book | eBook
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticant
Book | Audiobook
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora
Book | Large Print | eBook
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Book | Large Print | Audiobook (compact disc) | eBook
Recommended by Ginger Ewing, Executive Director, Terrain
Black Futures edited by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
Book
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
Book | eBook | Audiobook
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by Deray McKesson
Book
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Book | Large Print | eBook | Audiobook(compact disc) | Audiobook(Libby)
Recommended by Shantell Jackson, Multidisciplinary Artist and Poet
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Book
Stop Telling Women to Smile by Tatyana Fatzlalizadeh
On Order
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet
Book | eBook | Audiobook(compact disc) | Audiobook(Libby) |
Caste: The Origin of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Book | eBook | Audiobook(compact disc) | Audiobook(Libby) |
Black Futures edited by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
Book
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston
Book | eBook
Recommended by Bob Lloyd, Artist and Photographer; Retired Professor of Art, EWU
The Plot to Betray America: How Team Trump Embraced Our Enemies, Compromised Our Security, and How We Can Fix It by Malcolm W. Nance
Book
Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter by Charlton D. McIlwain
Audiobook