I’ve posted Sterling A. Brown's poems on my IG before, but it's a go-to collection that captures the soul of the blues. I read Pushkin’s poetry aloud because I enjoy the prose. I believe poetry is meant to be heard aloud. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Today marks the birthday of the legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus. You can read several biographies about his life, including his wife's memoir, alongside his own memoir. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

I enjoy movies and their history, often watching Turner Classic Movies. I own coffee-table books, biographies, and books on film history. My new addition is 'The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films,' a fascinating book. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

Richard Wright wrote both fiction and nonfiction, but little about his poetry. He created over 4,000 haikus, and this collection features more than 800 that he selected. It's a pleasure to read in the spring. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

A few jazz books to deepen your musical knowledge.

Lush Life is one of my favorite jazz songs, performed by John Coltrane or Nat King Cole. It's Billy Strayhorn's most famous tune, but he collaborated with Duke Ellington for over thirty years. I’m reading this biography, perfect for spring. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

I couldn't do a John Coltrane post without mentioning Alice Coltrane, the harpist and pianist who was also a jazz musician in her own right. A new biography of her life and music was published in March 2026. The Hammer Museum curated an exhibition in 2025. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

More books for Poetry Month. #Blackbooksly #Booksky #Blacksky

Jazz Appreciation Month honors jazz legend John Coltrane, who would have turned 100 on September 23, 1926. My favorite track from the 1963 album *Ballads* is “To Say It.” Coltrane on Coltrane compiles interviews with him. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite singers who stays in constant rotation. I also have a biography of her life and music published in 2017, the 100th year of her birthday. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

I found my way to a bookstore and picked up some books I’d been wanting to read. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

I'm listening to Dexter Gordon’s Go (1962) album while writing this post. Considered Gordon’s masterpiece, recorded at Van Gelder studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with superb acoustics that evoke a live performance. Gordon is one of jazz’s great saxophonists. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Poetry continues with a collection of Modern African poetry by Penguin Classics. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

It's Jazz Appreciation Month, so why not highlight Miles Davis’s autobiography and biography? It's also the year of his 100th birthday, May 26, 1926. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

It's Poetry Month! Omeros is a 1990 epic poem by Nobel laureate Derek Walcott that reimagines Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey in the Caribbean, especially St. Lucia, blending classical myth with post-colonial history, slavery, and personal identity. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Troubled Lands was Langston Hughes's original title for a 1930s collection of translated stories from Mexican and Cuban writers. Only a few appeared in magazines then. Now, it's published as he intended: a compilation of 33 stories. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

I have some new books on the cultural and intellectual history of slavery in the Americas. #Blackbooksky #Booksky

Last post of the day. I highlight some lesser-known authors and books, including Paul Lawrence Dunbar's essential writings; his short stories are lesser known. The Water House is out of print, but used copies are available. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

I haven’t posted enough for Women’s History Month, but here are several books written or edited by women. Happy Reading! #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

I’m celebrating the Centennial year of BHM. I didn't learn about the book I’ll Make A World until February. There are at least two key lessons: the importance of memory and crafting your narrative. Here are some books that help us with those lessons. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

This will probably be one of the few memoirs I read this year. I'm looking forward to reading The Flower Bearers in the spring. And the cover is beautiful. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

I want to highlight Barbara Neely, the author of the Blanche White mystery series. Blanche is a middle-aged domestic worker and amateur detective who solves mysteries while offering social commentary on issues like violence against women, racism, class, and sexism with humor. #Blackbooksky #Booksky

It’s Women’s History Month, and Effa Manley is the only woman in the Baseball Hall of Fame. She and her husband, Abe Manley, owned the Newark Eagles (Negro League) from 1935 to 1948, and she served as treasurer of the Negro National League. #Blackbooksky #Booksky

This is the last post for BHM. In Gil Scott-Heron’s memoir The Last Holiday, he writes about Stevie Wonder, who invited Heron’s band to open for his Hotter Than July tour from 1980 to 1981. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

It's the last day of BHM, and I want to highlight two people, but I'll make two posts. One will be a biography of J. Dilla, a producer behind influential rap and R&B acts. I love books that blend biography, musicology, and culture. Give me all that. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Sammy Davis, Jr., a pioneering entertainer, was an actor, dancer, comedian, impressionist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer with a career spanning over five decades. His autobiography, Yes, I Can, was reissued in December 2025 for his centennial. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Book mail hail. I hope to read Kin in the Spring. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Roberto Clemente was a Puerto Rican baseball star and humanitarian who played 18 seasons with the Pirates and was among the first Latin Americans to play in MLB. The first Latin American in the Hall of Fame, he died in a plane crash in 1972. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

February's almost over, with four days left for Black History Month books. I hope you find a topic that interests you among these choices, whether about the Black National Anthem, a historic Black newspaper, or those committed to freedom. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Interest in Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson has surged since Howard's Kings and Pawns (highly recommended). Here’s a biography, autobiography, and a book about Robinson’s Spring training in Havana that go beyond the myth. #Blackboosky #Booksky #Booksky

I posted about Paul Robeson, but his wife, Eslanda Goode Robeson, was an anthropologist, actress, author, and civil rights activist who also earned her own biography. She served as his business manager and authored his biography, Paul Robeson, Negro (1930). #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Paul Robeson's biography by his son, Paul Robeson, Jr., includes a memoir of his HUAC experience, which led to his passport being revoked for 8 years. He's listed alongside Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Herbert Harrison, and Langston Hughes, each with two-volume biographies. #Blackbooksky

As Black History Month comes to an end, I shared a post about C.T. Vivian, a Civil Rights activist, preacher, and founder of the C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute, who lived in Atlanta until he died in 2020. Here are some of his writings, including essays, memoirs, and sermons. #Blackbooksky #Booksky

I follow new history books on individuals as they deepen understanding. Thomas Smallwood, a Black abolitionist and shoemaker, bought his freedom, organized escapes, and used pseudonyms to mock slaveholders. He first called it the "underground railroad” in his reports. #Blackbooksky #Booksky

Tomorrow is Toni Morrison’s 95th birthday. I received 'On Morrison,' which I pre-ordered. The table of contents suggests a nonlinear read, but I also need to reread Namwali Serpell's books for analysis. I started a long project, but revisiting Morrison’s works is worthwhile. #Blackbooksky #booksky

I shouldn't overlook this month to honor a major historian and curator, Arturo Schomburg, who helped build a collection of artifacts, documents, and photographs to explore and study Black history. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

I enjoy folktales, whether I'm listening to them or reading them. When I was a child, my grandmother would tell me stories during thunderstorms. These stories are essential to the Black oral tradition and need to be preserved and passed down. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

Part II of the list of Black History Month children’s books. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Booksky

I couldn't make a post without thinking of the little people. Here are some books I bought for my niece for Black History Month. I love giving books, especially to voracious readers like my niece. Part I of the list. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

I owned a few coffee-table books, which served as another way to tell stories. Unseen was published in 2017 and featured unpublished photos from the New York Times photo archives. Editor Darcy Eveleigh discovered dozens of never-before-seen photos from Black history. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Booksky

August Wilson was a major 20th-century playwright, famous for his American Century Cycle, including Pulitzer-winning Fences and The Piano Lesson. These works depict Black Americans' lives through the 20th century. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

We Face The Dawn tells how Virginia lawyers Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson helped end Jim Crow laws by initiating and arguing a case in Brown v. Board of Education. Robinson later served as a U.S. circuit judge in D.C. from 1966 to 1989. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

Second Black History post features some books of Black Literature from the late 19th to early 20th century. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Booksky

Today’s Black History post features some books of Black Literature from the 19th century. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Booksky

It's Sunday, and it’s a cold 10 degrees. Sunlight streams through the blinds, and I'm sitting by the window reading Toni Morrison: Language as Liberation-Reflections on the American Canon, Introduction and Notes by Claudia Brodsky. Stay warm and happy reading! #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Take Freedom by James O’Neil Spady examines the 1822 Black Charlestonians' efforts to abolish slavery. It highlights Black contributions, framing the uprising as a social movement rooted in African traditions, driven by radical love and resistance. #Blackbooksky #Booksky #Blacksky

Visitor brochures that tell the unvarnished truth about the racist who murdered Medgar Evers are currently available to visitors at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi, after a report early Thursday that said the National Park Service had removed them.

I have a biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, but it’s also great to read her in her own words. The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell It Like It Is, a collection from 1963 to 1976. You may find a video of Hamer making one of speeches. #Blackbooksky #Blacksky #Booksky

Penguin reissues works of African American William Demby, a contemporary of Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin. His first novel, Battlecreek, came out in 1950. Catacombs was published in 1965 while he was in Rome. The cover art is Romare Bearden's The Intimacy of Water (1973). #Blackbooksky #Booksky

Before Coco Gauff, Serena & Venus Williams, and Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson was the most celebrated Black athlete of the mid-20th century. She was the first African American to win titles at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. We should learn more about her. #Blackbooksky #Booksky