For Black History Month, the ACLU of Ohio shares a list of ten books that have been banned in the U.S. by Black authors. We encourage our supporters to read these works, share the list with their communities, and analyze why each of these unique stories was banned or removed from schools, libraries, prisons, and other public institutions.
Black History Month is a time to reflect on the resilience of communities of color in this nation, but also a time to celebrate and uplift Black futures.
Black history matters. Black stories matter. Black voices matter.
1. Kindred by Octavia Butler
Set in the 1970s, this book tells the story of a black woman traveling back to Maryland in 1815, taking her from the modern, post-civil rights movement America to a Southern plantation. This story uses slave narratives to authenticity illustrate the experiences of enslaved African Americans and deep roots of the systemic racism within American society.
This book has been banned due to its topics of slavery, racial identity and brutality.
2. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
The New Jim Crow educates readers on the ways systemic racism is reinforced in America’s prisons and how this system is used to infringe upon African Americans’ rights in post-slavery the U.S.
This book has been banned in prisons in North Carolina and Florida. In 2018, The ACLU of NJ challenged the ban placed by NJ Dept of Corrections and successfully reversed the unconstitutional censorship of this book.
3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
This historical fiction follows a family’s lineage over hundreds of years. This book was banned due to the experiences and intergenerational trauma that war, slavery, and segregation had on the Ghanian family brought to America through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Along with its depiction of the post-slavery experience for African Americans.
4. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds This book explains how racism is intertwined with America’s history and current structure and what society needs to do to reflect and take an anti-racist approach to challenge these structures.
This book’s focus on race, systemic racism and challenging of societal norms. Made into a documentary that is available to watch on Netflix.
5. How to be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
This book discusses the legacy of structural racism and how it undermines freedom and equity for all. Kendi in this book suggests that to combat racism, we must actively challenge the structural systems in place through individual actions to create systemic change.
This book was banned because of its discussion of racism within America and its centering of African American history.
6. Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beloved is based on the life story of Margaret Garner, a formerly enslaved woman that fled to Cincinnati, Ohio for her freedom. When she was found by U.S. Marshalls and faced being returned to the south, she killed her children to spare them from returning to the life of a slave. This book narrates the experiences of enslaved persons the psychological trauma of slavery.
7. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
All Boys Aren’t Blue is a memoir-manifesto that depicts the authors lived experiences as a young Black queer man. George M. Johnson, a prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist, discusses topics of “gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy”.
Johnson’s story made the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023, placing second with 82 recorded challenges to this book’s accessibility across the country.
8. This is My America by Kim Johnson
This is My America tells the story of a woman whose father has been wrongfully convicted of murder and her determination to prove his innocence. While this book is a work of fiction, this story highlights the real racial bias and disparities seen within the American criminal legal system, the wrongful convictions of people of color, and the consequences of death penalty sentences.
9. The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones
The 1619 Project centers American history around the arrival and existence of slavery in the United States. This book uplifts African Americans’ contributions throughout United States history while confronting how the country’s treatment of African Americans built and still perpetuates an unequitable, racist system today.
10. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give (T.H.U.G) details the story of a 16 year old girl who witnesses her childhood friend get killed by police. The story makes national headlines where instead of seeking accountability from the police, the media justifies the police officers actions perpetuating systemic violence and the adultification of black youth.
