13 Noteworthy Books by Black Authors Featured On Amazon's Best-Sellers List
Our world is changing every day. In the United States, England, and New Zealand, people are taking to the streets to protest on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of us are working to make positive changes in our societies and governments, and many of us are also taking time to educate ourselves about racism in our culture. Some of us are watching documentaries, doing research online, and speaking with others about our opinions. But perhaps the most prominent way many of us are learning—especially while maintaining quarantine—is by reading books from Black authors.
Over the past few weeks, recommendations for books from Black writers have filled our social media feeds. And Amazon has shown that customers aren’t just posting about these books—they’re actually buying them. The website’s Best-Selling Books list, which is updated hourly, continues to show growing interest in books from Black authors. Right now, the majority of Amazon’s Best-Selling Books were written by Black authors. And not all of these books are directly about race; the list covers everything from novels to memoirs, to children’s books, and more.
Many of these best-selling titles explore topics like racism and oppression in-depth. “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America” which currently sits at the list number 5 spot, promises to explore the story of racism and how it has affected American history. While “So You Want to Talk About Race”, “How to be Antiracist”, and “The Color of Law”—all in the top 10—explore the sections in society in which race has made an impact. Other books offer readers a different way to learn more about Black culture and experience. “The Antiracist Baby” teaches children and adults the steps for building an equitable world. “Just Mercy,” tells the story of one lawyer and calls for the fix in America’s justice system. And by a literature icon, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” tells the joyful yet painful childhood of Maya Angelou surrounded by bigotry. This list goes to show that education yourself is easy—you just have to decide through what lens you’d like to learn.
1. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, $14.79
“In ‘How to Be an Antiracist,’ Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.”
2. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, $12.48
“Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America—it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.”
3. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, $11.69
“In ‘So You Want to Talk About Race,’ Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to ‘model minorities’ in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.”
4. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, $7.88
“‘Just Mercy’ is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.”
5. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum, $11.39
“Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.”
6. The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett, $16.20
“Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, ‘The Vanishing Half’ considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.”
7. Antiracist Baby Board Book by Ibram X. Kendi, $8.99
“With bold art and thoughtful yet playful text, ‘Antiracist Baby’ introduces the youngest readers and the grown-ups in their lives to the concept and power of antiracism. Providing the language necessary to begin critical conversations at the earliest age, ‘Antiracist Baby’ is the perfect gift for readers of all ages dedicated to forming a just society.”
“In 1955 the killers of Emmett Till, a black Mississippi youth, were acquitted because they were white. Forty years later, despite the strong DNA evidence against him, accused murderer O. J. Simpson went free after his attorney portrayed him as a victim of racism. The age of white supremacy has given way to an age of white guilt—and neither has been good for African Americans. Through articulate analysis and engrossing recollections, acclaimed race relations scholar Shelby Steele sounds a powerful call for a new culture of personal responsibility.”
9. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, $9.99
“Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander’s unforgettable argument that ‘we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.’ As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is ‘undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.’”
10. I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown, $15.83
“For readers who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, ‘I’m Still Here’ is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.”
11. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, $8.99
“In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.”
12. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, $13.11
“In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of ‘race,’ a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?”
13. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, $6.11
“Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.”
Quoted descriptions are from the books themselves, available on their respective Amazon pages.
The Edge condemns racial injustice. We invite you to submit opinion pieces, stories, educational resources you have tried and other pieces of information you think can help continue the much needed discussion for change and equality, to elonedge@gmail.com. We hope to create a space for collaboration and education and encourage you to help us do so.