While there are several exceptional options for books written about and by African American women, these are either from our library collection or from reads by our staff. Feel free to give more recommendations in the comments.
Young Readers
- Nothing but Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson by Sue Stauffacher and Greg Couch
- Madam C.J. Walker: Pioneer Businesswoman by Katherine E. Krohn
- Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad (Graphic History) by Michael Martin
- The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles and George Ford
- A Salute to Historic Black Women (Empak) by Richard L. Green
- Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin
- Mary McLeod Bethune: A Great Teacher by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
- Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
- Freedom Like Sunlight: Praisesongs for Black Americans by J. Patrick Lewis and John Thompson
- Aunt Clara Brown: Official Pioneer (On My Own Biography) by Linda Lowery and Janice Lee Porter
- Powerful Words: More Than 200 Years of Extraordinary Writing by African Americans by Wade Hudson and Sean Qualls
Nonfiction
- Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
- Seeing the Unspeakable: The Art of Kara Walker by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw
- Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay
- Maya Angelou: Poems by Maya Angelou
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850–1920 by Rosalyn Terborg-Penn
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- We Are Never Meeting In Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby
- Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai
- Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
- African American Women of the Old West by Tricia Wagner
- My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King
- Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
- In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
- Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands by Mary Seacole
- Crusade For Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells by Ida B. Wells
- The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
- Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah by The Lady Chablis
- Women, Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis
- When And Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America by Paula Giddings
- Within the Plantation Household: Black & White Women of the Old South by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
- Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography by Donald Bogle
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: A Play by August Wilson
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
- In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walkers
- Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison
- This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
- The Guide to Black Washington: Places and Events of Historical and Cultural Significance in the Nations Capital by Sandra Fitzpatrick and Maria R. Goodwin
- Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High by Melba Pattillo Beals
- Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol by Nell Irvin Painter
- The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
- The Red Record by Ida B. Wells
- The Alchemy of Race and Rights: Diary of a Law Professor by Patricia J. Williams
- Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
- Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood by Jill Watts
- Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne by James Gavin
- Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by Amy Hill Hearth and Sarah Louise and Annie Elizabeth Delany
- Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison
- Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter
- Barbara Jordan: American Hero by Mary Beth Rogers
Fiction
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Films/Documentaries
- Anita: Speaking Truth to Power (2013)
- Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965 (1987)
- What Happened, Miss Simone? (2016)
- A Ballerina’s Tale (2015)
- Miss Sharon Jones! (2015)
Feel free to let us know what you think of our selections, or add your own in the comment section below!
Gals Guide 