I’m currently working on a library reading list for college students. While there are a few random books, the majority of titles relate in some way to the current state of the country (United States) and how our future could look if certain people in office get their way or get elected (let's r/Defeat_Project_2025). The list is missing something, and I could really use some suggestions on black feminism. They can be either fiction or non-fiction.
by vayda_b
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{{The Color Purple by Alice Walker}}
{{Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward}}
Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins is a classic.
Without knowing what’s on your list, it’s impossible to give you suggestions to fill the gaps.
{{White skin, brown scars}}
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Women & Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Ain’t I A Woman by bell hooks
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Feminism is For Everybody by bell hooks
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
White Tears Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad
How We Get Free edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Miss Major Speaks by Toshio Meronek and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin
This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jenkins
Sister Citizen by Melissa Harris-Perry
Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom
The Will to Change by bell hooks
All About Love by bell hooks
While these are unfortunately still on my reading list, *Medical Apartheid*, by Harriet Washington, and *Pushout* by Monique Couvson, might be of interest to you.
EDIT to add: *Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments*
All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave, edited collection by Akasha Gloria Hull; Patricia Bell-Scott; Barbara Smith
Home Girls, edited by Barbara Smith
Anything by Audre Lorde, Patricia Hill Collins, and June Jordan
Not a book, but the essay “The Race for Theory” by Barbara Christian is good. Also, the Combahee River Collective Statement is foundational and should be read before any books, as it is regularly referenced implicitly and explicitly.
*We Should All Be Feminists*, by Adiche. It’s not specifically Black but it’s a wonderful book that you’ll give to friends.