Black History, Sequential Art, and the Power of Representation – AAIHS
*This post is part of our blog series on The World of the Black Panther. This series, edited by Julian Chambliss and Walter Greason, examines the Black Panther and the narrative world linked to the character in comics, animation, and film. Adequate—and accurate—representation of one’s culture is critical to any racial group’s collective self-esteem. Because we live in a visual society, images of people, events, religion, and places are often perceived as truth. These depictions, whether they are accurate or inaccurate, tend to define one’s reality—regardless of statistical truth. For people of African descent, it is essential that we become wise stewards of our own collective representation.
Why You Should Read African-American Literature Year-Round
Black History Month is important for many reasons. It’s important because of how widespread and systematic racism is, even in 2018, and it’s important simply because black history is American history. A fantastic way to celebrate the month is to read books written by African-American authors, though the novels don’t need to leave your to-be-read (TBR) list when March comes around.
African-American Literature
William Wells Brown William Wells Brown was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer.
10 African-American Authors Everyone Should Read
The majestic Maya Angelou, whom I met years ago at San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church, once remarked, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Sadly, this agony was once common to millions of African-Americans, whose stories often went untold or unheard, let alone published and read by the world. Nevertheless, many inspiring and irreplaceable voices heroically surfaced over the years. They belong in the canon of great American authors not solely because of their race, but because they deftly address the perennial concerns of all humanity. It’s Black History Month, in case you forgot.
1000 Black Girl Books Resource Guide – GrassROOTS Community Foundation
This resource guide was created in direct response to the multiple requests made by educators, parents and students. Like Marley Dias, so many of you have asked for books with black girls as the main characters. And because of you, we have received thousands of books. Here we are sharing with you the first 700 book titles. We have not yet catalogued all the books. As a small organization with only two full-time staff, our resources are limited.
Top 150 Recommended African-American Children’s Books
Children’s book, authors, booksellers, and avid readers contributed their favorite children’s books, published bewteeen 1972 and 2019, to this list. We know children and young readers will enjoy most, if not all, of these books, because they have already brought joy to countless children. We recommend printed books for young readers, or when reading to a child. Here is a printable list of all the books on this list and a beautiful collage of the book’s covers.
Corinne Duyvis
Q: I know #ownvoices started in the kidlit world, but can I use it to recommend adult novels? Go for it. Q: What about comic books? Q: Is this about race?
Jason Reynolds
Nine African Children’s Books by Africans — World Literature for Kids Month
This brief tour of African children’s literature is part of a month-long series on Bookwitty celebrating world literature for children as part of WorldKidLit Month, on twitter at #WorldKidLit. African children’s literature—by African authors—is among the most underrepresented in UK and US bookshops. The excellent world-literature advocacy organization “Outside in World,” which offers information about a wealth of world children’s literature from six of the seven continents, has only five titles from all of Africa. Of these, four are from South Africa. One, a folktale called True Friends, is a Groundwood Books title from Tanzania. Earlier this year, superstar Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie said we don’t have enough children’s literature that tells African stories.
