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.
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
- 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
Fiction
- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
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 