8 Black Authors You’ll Want to Read This Summer

Elevate

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Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy

by Tiffany D. Cross; Amistad (July 6)

A fresh-thinking and fearless political analyst and commentator discusses America’s history of racial oppression and voter suppression within a critical call to action for civic engagement as election season approaches. Her readable, thought-provoking discussion connects the dots between the media’s lack of diversity, electoral power, changing demographics and the tumultuous times we face today.

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This Is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls, and Being Dope

by Shayla Lawson; Harper Perennial (June 30)

In her first collection of essays, Lawson, a poet and writer-in-residence at Amherst College, offers reflections on being a Black woman in the U.S. Politics, pop culture and personal reflections bubble to the surface of this sparkling cocktail as she takes on workplace microaggressions, artificial intelligence, viral tweets, Black Girl Magic and our role as creators of culture.

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A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom

by Brittany K. Barnett; Penguin Random House, Sept. 8

A law student sees parallels in the life of Sharanda Jones, a single mother from the rural South serving a life sentence for a first-time drug offense. She knows what it is to have an incarcerated mother and to date an abusive drug dealer. As she eventually fights for Sharanda’s freedom, and for the release of others swallowed by racial injustice and the prison industrial complex, Barnett reveals the complexities of her private life. A deeply personal look at a broken penal system.

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This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman

by Ilhan Omar; HarperCollins (May 26) We know her as one-fourth of “the Squad,” one of the first two Muslim congresswomen and an outspoken advocate for social justice in the House of Representatives. But at eight years of age, she was the youngest of seven motherless children living in war-torn Mogadishu. The family’s refugee saga is a survival tale wrought with hunger, violence and death. From Somalia to Kenya to the United States, their journey of resilience and reinvention reshapes the conversation about the American dream.