The Black Count (2012)

How to Be Black

Baratunde R. Thurston

2011 · 254 pages · 1 review

Others: Positive

Have you ever been called "too black" or "not black enough"? Have you ever befriended or worked with a black person? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you. Raised by a pro-black, Pan-Afrikan single mother during the crack years of 1980s Washington, DC, and educated at Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University, Baratunde Thurston has over thirty years' experience being black. Now, through stories of his politically inspired Nigerian name, the heroics of his hippie mother, the murder of his drug-abusing father, and other revelatory black details, he shares with readers of all colors his wisdom and expertise in how to be black. Beyond memoir, this guidebook offers practical advice on everything from "How to Be The Black Friend" to "How to Be The (Next) Black President" to "How to Celebrate Black History Month." To provide additional perspective, Baratunde assembled an award-winning Black Panel--three black women, three black men, and one white man (Christian Lander of Stuff White People Like)--and asked them such revealing questions as: "When Did You First Realize You Were Black?" ""How Black Are You?" "Can You Swim?" The result is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply "how to be."

Bourgeois blues

Jake Lamar

1991 · 174 pages · 1 review

Others: Positive

From Scratch

Tembi Locke

2019 · 360 pages · 2 reviews

Others: Positive

King

Jonathan Eig

2023 · 679 pages · 1 review

Others: Positive

A biography of Martin Luther King Jr.

Somebody's Daughter

Ashley C. Ford

2021 · 264 pages · 2 reviews

Others: Positive

Our Last Season

Harvey Araton

2020 · 256 pages · 1 review

Others: Positive

"The moving story of a bond between sportswriter and fan that was forged in a shared love of basketball and grew over several decades into an extraordinary friendship that sees both through the trials of their later years"--