Hi everyone! I'm looking for classic books written by Black authors that don’t focus on racism, slavery, colonialism, or submission to white people. And, to make it even harder, I’m also not looking for fantasy. Am I asking for the impossible here? 😅
Any hidden gems I might have missed?
Thanks in advance!
by overgnightmare
6 Comments
The count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. He’s technically not fulllll Black but i would say close enough :p.
Here are some:
* The author Samuel R. Delany. He wrote a lot of sci fi. I’ve been gradually reading his best-known books in release order. I would recommend Babel-17 if you want fun, bizarre pulp sci fi, or Nova if want a more literary space opera that takes itself seriously. Next on my list is Stars In My Pockets Like Grains of Sand.
* The author Octavia E. Butler. She also wrote mostly sci fi. However, I have *not* read her best known classic, Parable of the Sower, which I believe takes place in the far-future year of 2024 (haha), so I don’t know if it’s about racism. The Xenogenesis series is set farther in the future and isn’t focused on specific moments of human history like racism or slavery.
* *Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory* by Adrian R. Lewis.
There’s definitely racism in it, but it’s not about racism… *Devil in a Blue Dress* by Walter Mosely is a great detective novel with mostly black characters.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
I think what you are asking is complex because what makes a book a “classic” has essentially been decided by white men mostly and we are only starting to counter that. Novels by black people that have been embraced by universities and teaching and prizes tend to be about slavery and racism, or at least have that as a theme. I definitely agree with the two suggested already of Devil in a Blue Dress and Giovanni’s Room. Toni Morrison’s Jazz might fit the bill but it isn’t one of her traditionally praised novels.