These Are NYPLs Must Read Black Lives Matter Books

The New York Public Library has released a reading list and I think everyone needs to see it.

In the wake of the protests sweeping the nation after George Floyds death, people are looking to understand. To learn. To grapple with the systemic racism that has shaped this country since its founding. And books remain one of the most powerful tools we have for that work.

The NYPL list spans decades of Black American literature and scholarship. From the autobiographical to the analytical. From poetry to policy. These arent just good books. Theyre essential ones.

Some of the titles youve probably heard of. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. These books have become cornerstones of the current conversation about race in America.

But the list goes deeper than the bestsellers. It includes works by James Baldwin whose essays from the 1960s read like they could have been written yesterday. It includes Audre Lorde and bell hooks and Angela Davis. It includes historians who have documented the long arc of racial injustice in this country.

What strikes me about this list is its scope. This isnt just about understanding the current moment. Its about understanding how we got here. The history that textbooks left out. The voices that were silenced or ignored.

Reading alone wont change anything of course. But it can change minds. It can build empathy. It can give people the language and framework to have difficult conversations. And right now we need all of that.

The NYPL is making many of these books available through their digital lending program. If you cant get to a physical library right now you can still access this knowledge. There are no excuses left for not doing the work.

Start reading. Keep listening. Do better.