Books about the Black experience.

I love to read. If anyone else here enjoys reading as much as I do, here is a list of books worth your attention. These books are all by and/or about Black people. Reading them can give you a better understanding of the Black experience.
1)"Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe
2) "Black like Me" by John Howard Griffin
3) "For Us, the Living" by Myrlie Evers
4) "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Haley with Malcolm X
5)" A Choice of Weapons" by Gordon Parks
6) "Soul on Ice" by Eldridge Cleaver
7) "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
"Pillar of Fire" by Taylor Branch
9) "Roots" by Alex Haley
10) "Succeeding Against the Odds" by John H. Johnson

I'm sure most public libraries will have these books.

 

for this thread!!



This is a good one!!

 

Thank you. I will look for this at my library. Sounds like a good one.

 

I've read 4 of the ones on the OP list.

I really don't think Maya Angelou is that substantial as a writer. She certainly had a strong presence and personality, but her writing separate from her persona is mediocre IMO. I think as we move away from her being in living memory, the writings will not stand up.

While not about black people or by a black writer, I think A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a worthwhile read reflective of the more modern experiences of poverty and such that may inform readers' lives.

 

Thank you. I'm going to ask for this one at my library also. Which of the 4 above have you read? I'm just curious. P.S. We'll have to agree to disagree about Maya Angelou. She is my favorite author. When she died last year I felt like I'd lost a family member.

 

Uncle Tom, Caged Bird, Malcolm X and Roots. I was maybe 12 when I read Roots so I can't say that I was fully appreciative of that in the way I might have been had I read it as an adult. Of the 4, the Autobiography of Malcolm X was my favorite, but after having said what I said about Angelou, in full disclosure it may be that his personality and the body of information about his activism and such apart from that book has elevated it some in my mind beyond what was on the written pages as well. He is the figure I find most fascinating from that era of history, both the good and bad.

 

Terrific thread, Moriah!!

 

Thank you, Arborville.

 

From babylon to timbuktu - Rudolph windsor