This blog post is part of the Woodson Project—a series of events, posts, and book lists on subjects including empowering Black families, amplifying Black voices, exploring Black identity and intersectionality, and discovering Black influencers in STEAM. The project was created by branch staff from across NYPL to honor Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who in 1926 created Negro History Week—the precursor to Black History Month.

This booklist highlights some of the many materials in the New York Public Library collection that are published, licensed, or distributed by Black-owned companies or Black-centric imprints within larger publishing houses. Stepping in to help fill the void often left by the traditional publishing industry, these organizations produce and promote books that focus on issues and themes relevant to a Black audience and reflect the history and experiences of the Black community.

The titles below are just a sampling—you can do a keyword search in our catalog to find more books by these publishers and imprints.

For Children

Dear Corinne, Tell Somebody! Love Annie: A Book About Secrets by Mari Evans

Published by Just Us Books

Corinne's friend Annie is alarmed when Corinne suddenly becomes withdrawn and, through a series of letters, gets her to reveal her frightening secret, but then she must convince Corinne to tell someone who can help.

 

 

 

In Praise Of Our Fathers And Our Mothers: A Black Family Teasure By Outstanding Authors And Artist by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Husdon

Published by Just Us Books

Forty nine distinguished writers, artists and photographers contributed to this important anthology. A wonderful tribute to the enduring spirit of the black family and community, this is a book the entire family can enjoy reading together. Contributors include Newbery, Caldecott, Pulitzer, Coretta Scott King and other award-winning writers and visual artists --Gwendolyn Brooks, Ashley Bryan, Virginia Hamilton, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Leo and Diane Dillon, Floyd Cooper, Nikki Grimes, Tom Feelings, Haki Madhubuti, Javaka Steptoe, Walter Dean Myers and a host of others.

Nathaniel Talking by Eloise Greenfield; illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist

Published by Black Butterfly Children's Books

In brief poems, a nine-year-old boy shares his views on his mother's death, knowledge, friends, school, his father, and the future.

 

 

One MIllion Men And Me by Kelly Starling Lyons; illustrated by Peter Ambush

Published by Just Us Books

With her Daddy, Nia travels by bus to Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1995, to march with a million Black men to pray and be strengthened. Includes author's note about the Million Man March.

 

 

 

Scientist, Healers, And Inventors: An Introduction For Young Readers by Wade Hudson

Published by Just Us Books

Profiles nearly fifty historical and contemporary African Americans who have made their marks in science, technology, and medicine, including Benjamin Banneker, Joycelyn Elders, and Madame C.J. Walker.

 

 

ForYoung Adults

Dirty South by Darrell King

Published by Triple Crown Publications

Marion "Snookey" Lake and his nephew are kingpins of the drug world, who relocate to Georgia to escape the Feds and spread their dominance, only to meet with resistance from local Sea Island thugs.

 

 

 

 

No Mistakes: The African American Teen Guide To Growing Up Strong by Robin Henry

Published by Amber Books

Teachers are always telling you to read another book, right? This is different. My students, African-American teens from the ‘hood, asked me to put this valuable information in writing so they could use it now and later. Please believe—there are no jokes in the real world. Everybody is trying to make it and some folks are struggling just to survive.

 

 

They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems by Quraysh Ali Lansana

Published by Third World Press

The spirit and voice of Harriet Tubman is captured in this verse. The poems traces the journeys of Tubman and her fugitives through the backwoods of America while taking a look at the cruelty of slavery.

 

 

 

 

Adult Books

The African American Family's Guide To Tracing Our Roots: Healing, Understanding & Restoring Our Families by Roland C. Barksdale-Hall

Published by Amber Books

In this guide for every African American who has ever thought about researching their family history, award-winning historian Roland Barksdale-Hall helps to better understand familial lineage by increasing the level of awareness about cultural and historical identities, which have helped shape families’ values, beliefs, and attitudes.

 

 

Black Business Secrets: 500 Tips, Strategies, And Resources For The African American Entrepreneur by Dante Lee

Published by Smiley Books

Black Business Secrets discusses the entrepreneurial skills that African-American business owners must master in order to compete in a world where most new companies fail within three years. Whether you're a weekend entrepreneur or a career-changing professional, Lee's motto—"don't be a worrier, be a warrior"—applies. From personal branding to best practices, this empowering blueprint offers surefire tips and strategies designed to ensure business survival and success.

 

Brainwashed: Challenging The Myth Of Black Inferiority by Tom Burrell

Published by Smiley Books

In this powerful examination of "the greatest propaganda campaign of all time"—the masterful marketing of Black inferiority, aka the BI Complex—Burrell poses ten disturbing questions that will make Black people look in the mirror and ask why, nearly 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, so many Blacks still think and act like slaves.

 

 

 

Our Name Be Witness by Marvin K. White

Published by Redbone Press

Poetry. African American Studies. LGBT Studies. "Comprised of catalogs of dreams, questions, advice, recipes and observation, Our Name Be Witness describes the complicated communities that are the foundations of our neighborhoods, our aspirations, and our hearts. Raw and honest, Marvin K. White's third collection reminds us that 'every time you tell the truth, you become the truth.' In one of the most striking of this book's freewheeling prose poems, White claims, 'Writing is magic. Is a grounding thing. Connects floating stories to paper and earth.' Indeed"—Camille Dungy.

 

Seize The Time by Bobby Seale

Published by Black Classic Press

A comprehensive introduction to The Black Panther Party with insight into organizational ideology, social impact, and political intervention.

 

 

 

 

 

Contributors: Ramon Carela, Asuncion Cora, Whitney Davidson-Rhodes, Esther Jackson, Carolyn Lawerence, Dhariyah Luqman, Allison Nellis, Micheal Okoli, Rachel Roseberry, Wayne Walters

 

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.