Hello Family,
Happy holidays! I hope you and your loved ones are doing well. I hope you are safe, sheltered, warm, and fed in every way imaginable.
I’m reminiscing about how I celebrated this time of year when I was a little. I was one of those kids whose holiday wish list contained train sets and games and action figures (and, low-key, dolls). But I also remember that my list had more books on it than anything else. Comics books, picture books, mysteries, and more have always made perfect gifts for any occasion and that’s no different during this current giving season.
Books aren’t merely easily accessible, but they are also affordable. Most of all, a carefully curated book has the power to enlighten. According to recent neuroscience research, “reading literary fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind, and critical thinking.” (Now we know why conservatives wish to ban books, especially those by authors from marginalized communities.)
Below, I have selected 10 books that I think would make a fine addition to any library. I focused on books that you might not have heard of; books that I don’t think have gotten the widespread attention they deserve and that I haven’t discussed previously in Witness. Food for your soul, they range from fiction to nonfiction, from picture book to poetry, from old skool to new skool. And given that today is called Black Friday, the recommended books are from Black authors.
As always, please be sure to support your local bookseller.
May this season bring you love, happiness, kindness, the courage to honestly self-reflect, wisdom, and peace.
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert
A Spell for Living by Keisha-Gaye Anderson
“A Spell for Living is a call to action and a map for people to connect with and recognize their own agency. Through free verse poems and interconnected abstract line drawings, readers are invited to turn these words into a talisman or inspiration to become the greatest possible expression of their essential selves, right now, no matter how challenging that may be. So much is possible when we stop and really think about who we are, what we know instinctively, and what our journey has taught us. Making our own 'spells' is a first step in truly believing that we can accomplish what we set out to. These poems invite us to start the journey.”
Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black
“As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay. But most of all, Jacob must share with Isaac the unspoken truths that reside in his heart. He must give voice to the trauma that Isaac has inherited. And he must create a space for the two to find peace. With piercing insight and profound empathy, acclaimed author Daniel Black illuminates the lived experiences of Black fathers and queer sons, offering an authentic and ultimately hopeful portrait of reckoning and reconciliation. Spare as it is sweeping, poetic as it is compulsively readable, Don't Cry for Me is a monumental novel about one family grappling with love's hard edges and the unexpected places where hope and healing take flight.”
These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card
“Stanford Solomon’s shocking, thirty-year-old secret is about to change the lives of everyone around him. Stanford has done something no one could ever imagine. He is a man who faked his own death and stole the identity of his best friend. Stanford Solomon is actually Abel Paisley. And now, nearing the end of his life, Stanford is about to meet his firstborn daughter, Irene Paisley, a home health aide who has unwittingly shown up for her first day of work to tend to the father she thought was dead. These Ghosts Are Family revolves around the consequences of Abel’s decision and tells the story of the Paisley family from colonial Jamaica to present-day Harlem. There is Vera, whose widowhood forced her into the role of a single mother. There are two daughters and a granddaughter who have never known they are related. And there are others, like the houseboy who loved Vera, whose lives might have taken different courses if not for Abel Paisley’s actions. This ‘rich and layered story’ (Kirkus Reviews) explores the ways each character wrestles with their ghosts and struggles to forge independent identities outside of the family and their trauma. The result is a ‘beguiling…vividly drawn, and compelling’ (BookPage, starred review) portrait of a family and individuals caught in the sweep of history, slavery, migration, and the more personal dramas of infidelity, lost love, and regret.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever The Courage to Dream by Frederick Joseph (writer) and Nikkolas Smith (illustrator)
“Set in the world of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever from Marvel Studios, The Courage to Dream is an inspiring picture book about a young Wakandan finding her destiny, from two New York Times best-selling creators. The Courage to Dream tells the story of Assata, a young Wakandan who hopes to become one of the Dora Milaje, the warriors who protect Wakanda. But because of Assata’s disability, she lets go of her dream. Assata’s light shows through all the same, introducing her to surprising friends: the princess Shuri, the warrior Okoye, and the powerful M’Baku. But only Assata can give herself what she’s missing: the courage to dream. New York Times best-selling author Frederick Joseph (The Black Friend) and New York Times best-selling illustrator Nikkolas Smith (The 1619 Project: Born on the Water) bring Wakanda to life in this inspiring picture book about discovering who you can truly be.”
Didn't We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy
“Didn’t We Almost Have It All is author Gerrick Kennedy’s exploration of the duality of Whitney’s life as both a woman in the spotlight and someone who often had to hide who she was. This is the story of Whitney’s life, her whole life, told with both grace and honesty. Long before that fateful day in 2012, Whitney split the world wide open with her voice. Hers was a once-in-a-generation talent forged in Newark, NJ, and blessed with the grace of the church and the wisdom of a long lineage of famous gospel singers. She redefined “The Star-Spangled Banner.” She became a box-office powerhouse, a queen of the pop charts, and an international superstar. But all the while, she was forced to rein in who she was amid constant accusations that her music wasn’t Black enough, original enough, honest enough. Kennedy deftly peels back the layers of Whitney’s complex story to get to the truth at the core of what drove her, what inspired her, and what haunted her. He pulls the narrative apart into the key elements that informed her life—growing up in the famed Drinkard family; the two romantic relationships that shaped the entirety of her adult life, with Robyn Crawford and Bobby Brown; her fraught relationship to her own Blackness and the ways in which she was judged by the Black community; her drug and alcohol addiction; and, finally, the shame that she carried in her heart, which informed every facet of her life. Drawing on hundreds of sources, Kennedy takes readers back to a world in which someone like Whitney simply could not be, and explains in excruciating detail the ways in which her fame did not and could not protect her. In the time since her passing, the world and the way we view celebrity have changed dramatically. A sweeping look at Whitney’s life, Didn’t We Almost Have It All contextualizes her struggles against the backdrop of tabloid culture, audience consumption, mental health stigmas, and racial divisions in America. It explores exactly how and why we lost a beloved icon far too soon.”
We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
“‘You can be beautiful, even more beautiful than before.’ This is the seductive promise of Dr. Nzinga’s clinic, where anyone can get their lips thinned, their skin bleached, and their nose narrowed. A complete demelanization will liberate you from the confines of being born in a black body—if you can afford it. In this near-future Southern city plagued by fenced-in ghettos and police violence, more and more residents are turning to this experimental medical procedure. Like any father, our narrator just wants the best for his son, Nigel, a biracial boy whose black birthmark is getting bigger by the day. The darker Nigel becomes, the more frightened his father feels. But how far will he go to protect his son? And will he destroy his family in the process?This electrifying, hallucinatory novel is at once a keen satire of surviving racism in America and a profoundly moving family story. At its center is a father who just wants his son to thrive in a broken world. Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s work evokes the clear vision of Ralph Ellison, the dizzying menace of Franz Kafka, and the crackling prose of Vladimir Nabokov. We Cast a Shadow fearlessly shines a light on the violence we inherit, and on the desperate things we do for the ones we love.”
Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith
“A weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop. Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo. Smith’s detailed narrative begins with Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, and continues through the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, as well as the under-considered careers of Marilyn McCoo, Deniece Williams, and Jody Watley. Shine Bright is an overdue paean to musical masters whose true stories and genius have been hidden in plain sight—and the book Danyel Smith was born to write.”
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings
“There is an obesity epidemic in this country and poor black women are particularly stigmatized as “diseased” and a burden on the public health care system. This is only the most recent incarnation of the fear of fat black women, which Sabrina Strings shows took root more than two hundred years ago. Strings weaves together an eye-opening historical narrative ranging from the Renaissance to the current moment, analyzing important works of art, newspaper and magazine articles, and scientific literature and medical journals—where fat bodies were once praised—showing that fat phobia, as it relates to black women, did not originate with medical findings, but with the Enlightenment era belief that fatness was evidence of “savagery” and racial inferiority. The author argues that the contemporary ideal of slenderness is, at its very core, racialized and racist. Indeed, it was not until the early twentieth century, when racialized attitudes against fatness were already entrenched in the culture, that the medical establishment began its crusade against obesity. An important and original work, Fearing the Black Body argues convincingly that fat phobia isn’t about health at all, but rather a means of using the body to validate race, class, and gender prejudice.”
Black Boy Smile: A Memoir in Moments by D. Watkins
“Black Boy Smile lays bare D. Watkins’s relationship with his father and his brotherhood with the boys around him. He shares candid recollections of early assaults on his body and mind and reveals how he coped using stoic silence disguised as manhood. His harrowing pursuit of redemption, written in his signature street style, pinpoints how generational hardship, left raw and unnurtured, breeds toxic masculinity. Watkins discovers a love for books, is admitted to two graduate programs, meets with his future wife, an attorney—and finds true freedom in fatherhood. Equally moving and liberating, Black Boy Smile is D. Watkins’s love letter to Black boys in concrete cities, a daring testimony that brings to life the contradictions, fears, and hopes of boys hurdling headfirst into adulthood. Black Boy Smile is a story proving that when we acknowledge the fallacies of our past, we can uncover the path toward self-discovery. Black Boy Smile is the story of a Black boy who healed.”
The Messenger by Charles Wright
“In The Messenger (1963), Wright draws extensively on his life. Realistically narrated in the first person by Charles Stevenson -- a light-skinned African American newcomer to Manhattan from small-town Missouri -- the novel dramatizes the isolation and alienation of those who fall prey to America's social, economic, and racial caste systems. Stevenson works as an office messenger and constantly finds himself on the edges of power, yet is utterly devoid of any. A man perceived as neither black nor white, ‘a minority within a minority,’ he drifts through the naturalistic city of New York, where victory and defeat are accepted ‘with the same marvelous indifference.’”
*Honorable Mention*
In case 10 books aren’t enough for you, here are 10 more that would also make fabulous gifts this holiday season:
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Bird Uncaged by Marlon Peterson
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein