Learn up: 10 books you should read during Black History Month

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Toni Morrison’s heartbreaking novel Beloved illustrates the importance of healing and redemption. It tells the story of a young slave living in the South named Sethe, who flees with her infant daughter to Ohio to seek a better life. After only 28 days of freedom, however, Sethe is recaptured; but before she's extradited back, Sethe kills her daughter in a heartbreaking act to spare her a painful life of slavery. Beloved's themes of the supernatural and motherhood explore the loss of African-American identity as a result of slavery.

Invisible Man, narrated by a nameless man who describes his life growing up in a Southern black community, is a watershed work about the African-American experience. Influenced by the likes of T.S. Eliot and James Joyce, author Ralph Ellison writes with a free-flowing and indirect style, forcing readers to think more complexly about issues of manhood, race, and society. Ellison questions what it means to be black in a country that doesn't provide African-Americans with any social, economic, or political standing—essentially making them invisible. 

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me was one of the most talked-about books in 2015. Written as a letter to his teenage son, Coates reflects on what it means to be black today, tracing the community's history of oppression and incarceration. Toni Morrison argued that with Between the World and Me, Coates proved himself a worthy successor to James Baldwin. As the ongoing policing of black men continues in the U.S., Coates’ landmark work is an essential read that explores how far we have left to go in convincing all Americans that black lives really do matter.

The entirety of James Baldwin’s slim book, published in 1953, takes place in one day. With a quiet but simmering rage, 14-year-old protagonist John Grimes reveals the secrets that haunt him and his family. Readers follow this young queer boy, as he pursues sexual and spiritual self-knowledge, and tries to carve out a life for himself as a black American male in 1950s America. It's a provocative narrative that demonstrates the power of reinvention, and Baldwin is a beautiful storyteller. Be sure to bring tissues.

In 2013, Hilton Als released White Girls, a fascinating bit of cultural criticism. Despite what its title suggests, the book tries to shift the conversation surrounding American culture away from white hands. In addition to sharing intimate stories from his own history as a black gay male writer in a very white world, he mixes essays on literature and television with exposés on why African-American men are so attached to negative stereotypes. Als can sometimes be a difficult writer to follow; White Girls is really a series of disconnected pieces on black history and identity, so we recommend reading passages, and sitting on his reflections overnight. 

Margo Jefferson’s 2015 memoir Negroland traces her life growing up in an elite black community in Chicago during America's pre-Civil Rights era. Jefferson writes about how her experience living in “Negroland," one that was “sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty.” Her memoir is a fascinating look into a community that achieved social acceptance—due to its class and wealth—long before other black Americans did. She also reveals the painful side to this kind of life, describing the accompanying moral and psychological contradictions that led to depression and suicidal thoughts. A raw, deeply moving book, Jefferson’s story sheds unique insights into this mostly “invisible” part of African-American life in the 20th century.

Bell Hooks, (stylized as "bell hooks"), remains a key figure in bridging the gap between second-wave feminism and African-American politics. Since the former was largely made up of women from middle-class white backgrounds, Hooks' Ain’t I a Woman? explores why black women have a lower status, and are marginalized in the white feminist movement, as well as American society at large. Her landmark book wrestles with how race, gender, and class feed into negative stereotypes of black women. More than 30 years later, Ain't I a Woman? still rings true in its passionate attempt to resuscitate black female identity in the U.S.

Written as a series of letters to God, Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of Celie, a 14-year-old girl living in the South, who is repeatedly raped and abused by the men around her. The Color Purple looks at how African-American women live a life of oppression at the hands of men, showing the importance of sisterhood. In the novel, Walker blurs traditional gender roles for men and women, offering up Celie as a strong heroine who uses her letters to God as an outlet for self-discovery. A beautiful but often confronting read, The Color Purple shares a timeless message.

Malcolm X remains one of history's most significant civil rights activists, and his fascinating autobiography remains a classic work that defined the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. In it, Malcolm X makes an urgent call for the social and economic equality of African-Americans; he criticizes the false promise of the American Dream, as well as the racial prejudice that has long marginalized black people in the U.S. Published after his assassination, Malcolm X’s autobiography is a must-read on the struggles and courage that defined African-Americans' pursuit of freedom.

Out of print for nearly 30 years, Zora Neale Hurston’s urgent book is about a young African-American woman named Janie, who makes her way through a cruel and unforgiving world. Republished in the 1970s, Their Eyes Were Watching God was later hailed as a great American classic for showing the inner world of a black woman. As Janie survives poverty, tragedy, and a life marked by oppression, she courageously tries to overcome the circumstances of her background and the limitations of her blackness in white society. Ultimately, Janie discovers life in a harsh world that sees you through a stereotypical lens, rather than truly acknowledges your identity.