18 Banned Books By Black Authors That You Should Read

Photo by Iñaki del Olmo on Unsplash

Over the past year, numerous books have been banned across the United States; being stripped from the shelves of our schools and libraries. Where reading was once deemed fundamental, it now appears white America wants us to forget all of the inhumane things that were done to minorities; pretending racism and oppression never existed. Unfortunately, some Americans feel the best way to rewrite, and whitewash our history is to ban certain books. 

As we close out Banned Books Week, I ask that you go out and support Black authors whose books have been banned. 

In addition to buying their books, I encourage you to start a Little Free Library in your community, where people can give a book, and take a book at no charge. 

It’s time we start to fight back and use our dollars to say, “enough is enough!” 

18 Banned Books By Black Authors That You Should Purchase and Read

1. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

2. Beloved by Toni Morrison

3. The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones

4. This Is My America by Kim Johnson

5. Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert

6. Black Looks: Race and Representation by bell hooks

7. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

8. Hood Feminism by Nikki Kendall

9. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

10. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

11. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

12. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

13. This Is Your Time by Ruby Bridges

14. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

15. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

16. Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

17. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

18. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Is there a banned book by a Black author that is not on this list, that you would recommend for others to read? If so, comment below.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you use a link to purchase a book, our publication will receive a tiny profit.

Dr. Carey Yazeed is a Behavioral Scientist and creator of the workbook, Unbreak My Soul: How Black Women Can Begin to Heal From Workplace Trauma.