Read Until You Understand
novels, poetry, literary criticism, and history books by Black authors referenced in Farah Jasmine Griffinβs Read Until You Understand; The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature β forming a type of Black literary canon






Black American Classics
Essential literature by African American authors that changed the world, but somehow none of us were expected to read in school. Note: Most of these are available for free from Project Gutenberg.






Essentials from the Harlem Renaissance
Books and poetry collections from the Harlem Renaissance, the most significant Black Arts movement in modern history.






Red Summer & Strange Fruit
Books describing the horrors of Jim Crow and the bravery of those standing against it. Recommendations welcome!






What to read after watching Sinners
Finally watched Sinners (2025) written and directed by Ryan Coogler Starting list from thebookclub.eu on ig and ft. domdeereads β‘






The Color Line Archives
To understand the racial hierarchy in the United States, you have to understand the language Black and mixed race people have been using to describe it since the end of the American Civil War.
Reconstruction gave birth to "the Color Line" phrase. It describes the legal and social boundaries between Black and White and the entire racial hierarchy that exists between them in the United States.
An essential resource for the American mixed and multiracial experience.






Mary Karr's Required Reading: Memoirs & Hybrids
Abridged list curated by Mary Karr in Art of Memoir (2015). I've selected only the books she's denoted to be "better written" as the original list is seven pages long.






Diverse Baseline Challenge
These Diverse Baseline Challenge was created by @bookish.millennial & @themargherita.s (on instagram). In 2025, the goal is to read 1 book by a racialized author each month. This challenge is meant to encourage readers to try genres they historically donβt reach for, find new-to-them racialized authors, and to encourage reflection on our reading habits.
This is a mix of recommendations by the challenge organizers and myself.






Reads based on Sinners characters (domdeereads)
All the credits to Instagram account @domdeereads






Musings from Unquiet Minds
Collection of nonfiction(essays, speeches, poetry, social commentary, memoirs etc) written by Black Americans or about Black History.






Authors Investigated by the FBI






MLK Jr Reads
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Dr. MLK Jr





