There is a wealth of impactful literature and cinema out there exploring race and culture, so we’ve pulled together the following recommendations to help you and your family learn in a way that suits you. We've also included a workshop pack full of activities for schools and youth groups to use.
You can also find virtual events throughout the year that can help build your knowledge on Black History Month (external link).
Books
Our libraries will aim to stock a selection of these books in October - look out for the Black History Month banners in your local library.
Non-fiction
- Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite
- White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
- Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- How To Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad
- The Good Immigrant compiled by Nikesh Shukla
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Women Race and Class by Angela Davis
- White Rage by Carol Anderson
- Brit-ish by Afua Hirsh
- My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay
- Familiar Stranger by Stuart Hall
- Voices of the Windrush Generation by David Matthews
- Slay In Your Lane by Elizabeth Uviebinene and Yomi Adegoke
- A Burst of Light by Audre Lorde
- Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri.
Fiction
- Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
- Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Small Island by Angela Levy
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie
- Ordinary People by Diana Evans
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- White Teeth by Zadie Smith
- Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Citizen: An American Life by Claudia Rankine
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo.
Books for teenage readers
- The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
- Think Like a White Man by Nels Abbey
- Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
- We Could Be Brothers by Derrick Barnes
- Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia
- The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu
- LOTE by Shola von Reinhold
- Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie
- Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World by Bolu Babalola
- Under Solomon Skies by Berni Sorga-Millwood.
Books for children
Films
- 12 Years a Slave
- Queen and Slim
- Selma
- Green Book
- Get Out
- Fences
- American Son (Netflix)
- Loving
- Imperial Dreams
- Hidden Figures
- The Stuart Hall Project
- Belle
- Django Unchained
- The Butler
- BlacKkKlansman (Netflix)
- Straight Outta Compton
- Black Panther
- Fruitvale Station (Netflix)
- Mudbound (Netflix)
TV shows (Netflix and BBC)
- When They See Us
- Seven Seconds
- Dear White People
- Black AF
- Self-made
- Pose
- Small Axe (BBC).
Documentaries (Netflix)
- 13th
- LA 92
- The Innocence Files
- The Death And Life Of Marsha P Johnson
- Trial By Media: 41 Shots
- Skin
- Time: The Kalief Browder Story
- Who Killed Malcolm X?
- Strong Island
- They’ve Gotta Have Us
- Becoming.
Resources for schools and youth groups