BLM

  • “It’s no secret that today’s struggle against racism bears the weight of a generations-long oppression. Pairing the first novel written by an African-American (William Wells Brown’s Clotel) with one of our century’s greatest (Toni Morrison’s Beloved), I chose two equally moving accounts of a woman’s escape from slavery to reflect the Schomburg Center’s equally expansive catalog and mission.” –Ryan Daar
  • “Rankine’s Citizen has rightly been praised as a necessary read for the times, but her 2004 book Don’t Let Me Be Lonely shouldn’t be missed: a beautiful lyric criticism of America and one that expresses grief with a unique clarity.” –Morgan Levine
  • “Suzan-Lori Parks’ play Father Comes Home From the Wars is riveting, painful, and deeply rooted in histories, traumas, and ancestors both American and otherwise. Her work can only be described as a brilliantly rendered triptych of the American concept of freedom, of freedom rotted, of enslavement not just physical or political but insidiously personal and psychological. Weaving traditions from the Homeric epics with questions of war and choice, of names and of homecoming, Parks deconstructs the very concept of what it means to be a hero.” –Ilina Logani
  • “An ethnographic approach to Blackness and class situated in Harlem and driven by in-depth interviews.” –Hanna Andrews
  • “James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son should be required reading for every American (and, heck, for those outside of the U.S. too) who cares to call themself an ally, who cares to be conscious in any meaningful way of deeply-rooted structural racism in America. A collection of essays probing the complicated realities of being Black in America at the dawn of the civil rights movement, Notes of a Native Son allows us to view a hypocritical, fearful, and difficult America through the eyes of an artist, activist, social critic, American, son, and Black man. If this book has not crossed (and been crossed off) your reading list yet, put it at the top.” –Ilina Logani
  • “Abdurraqib, a music and culture essayist from the great city of Columbus, OH, weaves political and social commentary into beautiful reflections on music, masculinity, and blackness. This particular collection was unlike anything I’d read before. It demonstrated the creativity and intricacy of 90s rap, an era and an art form too often overlooked in canonized studies. He also writes lovingly of the problematic, aspirational city I call home.” –Maddie Woda
  • “Passing (1929), a novel deeply concerned with the unsaid and the surfaces of things, reminds me of Jemisin’s Fifth Season through its pointed interiority. It follows the unwieldy relationship between Clare and Irene, two white-passing Black women in 1920s Harlem, and their slippage between racial, sexual, and class distinctions.” –Spencer Grayson
  • “These two books (Their Eyes Were Watching God and Sing, Unburied, Sing) are masterpieces in their own right, but read together, they provide a vision of the incredible richness and imagination of Black Southern literature.” –Sofia Montrone
  • “Essential reading on national reckoning and the early Civil Rights Movement.”–Hanna Andrews
  • “The Fifth Season (2015) is the first book in N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy: a classic of contemporary speculative fiction, it explores systemic racism and ecological crisis with piercing narrative voices and extensive worldbuilding. Tolkien could never.” –Spencer Grayson
  • “McMillan Cottom, a sociologist and professor at UNC, writes eloquently and passionately about the experience of black women in academia (and in life). She is exceptionally educated and well researched—her writing is both a treat to read and a powerful, disturbing call to action. When people—particularly people who fancy themselves scholars—ask for my best anti-racist readings, this is the book I give them. It is a humbling experience to read McMillan Cottom’s work.” –Maddie Woda
  • “These two books (Their Eyes Were Watching God and Sing, Unburied, Sing) are masterpieces in their own right, but read together, they provide a vision of the incredible richness and imagination of Black Southern literature.” –Sofia Montrone
  • “Jace Clayton, also known as DJ /rupture, is a rigorously curious genius and his insights have shaped the way I think about music today. This book is interested in collage and connection across time and place.” –Morgan Levine

Organizations to Donate to

  • “An ethnographic approach to Blackness and class situated in Harlem and driven by in-depth interviews.” –Hanna Andrews
  • The Black Art Futures Fund: “The Black Art Futures Fund allocates support to nonprofits dedicated to the future of Black arts and culture.” –Sofia Montrone. https://www.blackartfutures.org/donate/
  • The Center for Afrofuturist Studies: “The Center for Afrofuturist Studies carries an interest in collage and connections across time and place by supporting and creating dynamic workspaces for artists.” –Morgan Levine. https://secure.squarespace.com/checkout/donate?donatePageId=58aba782e4fcb50f1fa9c6a1
  • The Columbus Freedom Fund: “I have been donating to the Columbus Freedom Fund which raises money for Columbus protestors’ bail!” –Maddie Woda. https://m.facebook.com/CFFOhio/
  • The Loveland Foundation: “The Loveland Therapy Fund provides financial assistance for Black women and girls in the U.S. to access mental health professionals and therapy sessions. It is committed to supporting the mental healing and wellbeing of Black women and girls: therapy sessions can cost anywhere from $80-$200, and Loveland works to ensure that recipients will receive support over a long period of time.” –Spencer Grayson. https://thelovelandfoundation.org/
  • The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: “Harlem’s beloved NYPL branch—a research institution, community center, and artistic stronghold dedicated to Black history and thought—dedicates itself as much to historical preservation of Black lives as to present and future activism.” –Ryan Daar. https://www.nypl.org/support/membership/schomburg-society
  • The Bail Project: “The Bail Project is a non-profit that believes that ‘paying bail for someone in need is an act of resistance against a system that criminalizes race and poverty’. Donating to this group is a step against mass incarceration and a step towards making sure that whether you are presumed innocent or not will no longer be something you can buy.” –Ilina Logani. https://bailproject.org/
  • The Heavenly Angel Fund Project: “The Heavenly Angel Project supports Black trans women in NYC during the COVID-19 pandemic.” –Hanna Andrews. https://www.paypal.me/heavenlyangelfund