Nonfiction Books by Black Authors
- Nonfiction, Science
- Publication Year: 2026
A fresh, charming, socially conscious tour of the mysteries of space-time, from the award-winning author of The Disordered Cosmos. In her highly acclaimed debut, distinguished cosmologist and particle physicist Dr....
- Literary Criticism & Theory, Nonfiction, Sociology
- Publication Year: 2026
An illuminating, electrifying exploration of the work of Toni Morrison by award-winning novelist and Harvard professor Namwali Serpell. Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and one of our most beloved writers, has...
- by Jesmyn Ward
- Demographic Studies, Essays, History, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2026
The collected creative nonfiction of a singular American writer, Jesmyn Ward, including widely shared classics, three never-before-published speeches, and an introductory essay. Respair (noun, obsolete), fresh hope after despair. From...
- by Freda Epum
- Feminism and Feminist Theory, Memoir, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2025
Merging memoir, poetry, and criticism, this radical literary revue traces a first-generation Nigerian American’s search for home and belonging on her own terms. In The Gloomy Girl Variety Show, Freda...
- Nonfiction, Self-Help
- Publication Year: 2025
Have you ever paused to think about what the hustle is costing you? · an approach to sustainable wellness that meets you where you are · let go of perfectionism...
- by Char Adams
- History, Nonfiction, US History
- Publication Year: 2025
Longtime NBC News reporter Char Adams writes a deeply compelling and rigorously reported history of Black political movements told through the lens of Black-owned bookstores, which have been centers for...
- Memoir, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2025
Award-winning journalist Natasha S. Alford grew up between two worlds as the daughter of an African American father and Puerto Rican mother. In American Negra, a narrative that is part...
- Biographies, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2025
An original memoir in essays that interrogates how identities are shaped and informed in online spaces and how the relationship between race and the Internet has changed in his three...
- by Zadie Smith
- Essays, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2025
A profound and unparalleled literary voice, Zadie Smith returns with a resounding collection of essays. In this eagerly awaited new collection, Zadie Smith brings her unique skills as an essayist...
- Discrimination and Racism, History, Nonfiction, US History
- Publication Year: 2025
In late October 1780, a slave ship set sail from the Netherlands, bound for Africa’s Windward and Gold Coasts, where it would take on its human cargo. The Zorg (a...
- by Imani Perry
- Demographic Studies, History, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2025
A surprising and beautiful meditation on the color blue—and its fascinating role in Black history and culture—from National Book Award winner Imani Perry Throughout history, the concept of Blackness has...
- by Sarah Lewis
- Cultural Anthropology, Demographic Studies, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
The award-winning art historian and founder of Vision & Justice uncovers a pivotal era in the story of race in the United States when Americans came to ignore the truth...
- Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, it never occurred to Uché Blackstock and her twin sister, Oni, that they would be anything but physicians. In the 1980s, their mother headed...
- Memoir, Nonfiction, Sports
- Publication Year: 2024
A powerful reflection on basketball, life, and home. Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1990s, Hanif Abdurraqib witnessed a golden era of basketball, one in which legends like LeBron...
- Biographies, Demographic Studies, Literary Criticism & Theory, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
A bold, innovative biography that offers a new understanding of the life, work, and enduring impact of Audre Lorde. We remember Audre Lorde as an iconic writer, a quotable teacher...
- Memoir, Memoir and Biography, Sports
- Publication Year: 2024
From the nine-time women’s basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist—a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home. On February 17, 2022, Brittney Griner...
- by MJ Harris
- Business and Entrepreneurship, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
It ain’t easy getting your shit together, but this book is the solution. And Tabitha Brown says, “you can trust him.” If any of this sounds like you, it’s best...
- History, Nonfiction, US History
- Publication Year: 2024
A lyrical meditation on how Black Americans have envisioned utopia―and sought to transform their lives. How do the disillusioned, the forgotten, and the persecuted not merely hold on to life...
- by Ijeoma Oluo
- Activism and Social Justice, Cultural Anthropology, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre, an eye-opening and galvanizing look at the current state of anti-racist activism across...
- Memoir, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
A transformative memoir that reimagines the conventions of love and posits a radical vision for healing. In Another Word for Love, Carvell Wallace excavates layers of his own history, situated...
- Essays, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2024
Dubbed a voice of her generation, poet and writer Morgan Parker has spent much of her adulthood in therapy, trying to square the resonance of her writing with the alienation...
- History, Nonfiction, US History
- Publication Year: 2024
The story of the Combahee River Raid, one of Harriet Tubman’s most extraordinary accomplishments, based on original documents and written by a descendant of one of the participants. Most Americans...
- by Akilah Cadet
- Cultural Anthropology, Discrimination and Racism, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction, People with Disabilities
- Publication Year: 2024
This is the story of how I became an unapologetic Black disabled woman in a white world. This book is for people who look and live structurally like me to...
- Activism and Social Justice, Biographies, Nonfiction, Political Commentary
- Publication Year: 2024
What does self-care look like when struggling to make ends meet, living with a disability, or navigating intersectional marginalization? How can you prioritize well-being while divesting from systems built to...
- Adoption, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2023
An adoption expert and transracial adoptee herself examines the unique perspectives and challenges these adoptees have as they navigate multiple cultures. “Your parents are so amazing for adopting you! You...
- Nonfiction, Personal Growth and Self Development
- Publication Year: 2023
From the bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace, a road map for understanding and moving past family struggles—and living your life, your way. Every family has a story. For...
- Essays, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2023
A must-have anthology of the leading Black women and femmes shaping today’s food and hospitality landscape—from farm to table and beyond—chronicling their passions and motivations, lessons learned and hard-won wisdom,...
- Ethnic Studies, History, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2023
From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black...
- History, Nonfiction, Race and Ethnic Relations
- Publication Year: 2023
This sweeping survey of Black history shows how Black humanity has been erased and how its recovery can save the humanity of us all. Using history as a foundation, The...
- Memoir, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
This is not a self-help book. It’s a wake-up call! Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins’ smash hit memoir, demonstrated how much untapped ability we all have but was merely an...
- Activism and Social Justice, Biographies, Discrimination and Racism, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina,...
- Demographic Studies, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
A gorgeous collection of 145 original portraits that celebrates Black pioneers—famous and little-known—in politics, science, literature, music, and more—with biographical reflections, all created and curated by an award-winning graphic designer....
- by Imani Perry
- Discrimination and Racism, History, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America. We...
- Inspiration and Personal Growth, Nonfiction, Personal Growth and Self Development
- Publication Year: 2022
Disrupt and push back against capitalism and white supremacy. In this book, Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, encourages us to connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and...
- Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction, Race and Ethnic Relations
- Publication Year: 2022
Dear White Woman, Please Come Home is Kimberlee Yolanda Williams’ invitation to white women longing for authentic friendship with Black and brown women, the kind of friendship with no place...
- Ethnic Studies, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
A breakdown of the economic and social injustices facing Black people and other marginalized citizens inspired by political activist Kimberly Jones’ viral video, “How Can We Win.” “So if I...
- Feminism and Feminist Theory, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
In this personal and poignant collection, author Frederick Joseph examines the culture of masculinity through the lens of a Black man. What does it mean to be a man today?...
- by Elie Mystal
- Essays, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
Allow Me to Retort is an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them. Elie Mystal explains...
- Business and Entrepreneurship, Nonfiction, Personal Growth and Self Development, Race and Ethnic Relations
- Publication Year: 2022
We need a fundamental shift in our values—a pivot in how we think, act, work, and connect. Despite what we’ve been told, the most critical mainspring of social change isn’t...
- Activism and Social Justice, Nonfiction, Personal Growth and Self Development, Race and Ethnic Relations
- Publication Year: 2022
Heal Your Way Forward is a seminal work in antiracism, guiding white and white-identifying folks to utilize activism for intergenerational healing. In 2018, myisha t hill created the @ckyourprivilege handle...
- Celebrity, Culture and Heritage, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
In an inspiring follow-up to her critically acclaimed, #1 bestselling memoir Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s...
- Culture and Heritage, Essays, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
“Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an eminent Dean of American journalism, a vital voice whose work chronicled the civil rights movement and so much of what has transpired since then. My People...
- by Ross Gay
- Essays, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2022
An intimate and electrifying collection of essays from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Delights. In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prizewinning poet and author...
- by Adam Serwer
- History, Nonfiction, Political Commentary, US History
- Publication Year: 2021
To many, our most shocking political crises appear unprecedented—un-American, even. But they are not, writes The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer in this prescient essay collection, which dissects the most devastating moments...
- by Sunny Hostin
- Memoir, Memoir and Biography, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2021
The Emmy Award-winning legal journalist and co-host of The View Sunny Hostin chronicles her journey from growing up in a South Bronx housing project to becoming an assistant U.S. attorney...
- Memoir, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2021
A full-throated and provocative memoir in letters from the New York Times bestselling author, “a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self” (Esquire) In...
- Demographic Studies, Discrimination and Racism, Nonfiction
- Publication Year: 2021
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty people stolen from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric...
- Business and Entrepreneurship, Career, Inspiration and Personal Growth, Personal Growth and Self Development
- Publication Year: 2021
While anyone can make achieve success, the reality is not everyone has equitable access to the necessary tools to reach it. This stems from an inequity rooted in our networks....
- Business and Entrepreneurship, Inspiration and Personal Growth, Nonfiction, Personal Finance, Personal Growth and Self Development
- Publication Year: 2021
Are you ready to fill your life with more peace, power, and joy? We Should All Be Millionaires details a realistic, achievable, step-by-step path to creating the support, confidence, and...
107 Days
For the first time, and with surprising and revealing insights, former Vice President Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American...