Celebrate Black History: J & YA Nonfiction Books

This book teaches young children the words, language, and methods to recognize racism and injustice, and what to do when they encounter it at home, at school, and in the media they watch, play, and read.

"This collection of poems by women of color covers topics relating to social justice, activism, discrimination and empathy, focusing on the need to speak out and inspiring middle-graders." -Vogue
Woke: A Young Poet's Guide to Justice is a collection of poems to inspire kids to stay woke and become a new generation of activists.
Historically poets have been on the forefront of social movements. Woke is a collection

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"Thirty diverse and award-winning authors and illustrators capture frank discussions about racism, identity, and self-esteem"--

"In this comprehensive, inspiring, and all-too-relevant history of the Black Panther Party, Kekla Magoon introduces readers to the Panthers' community activism, grounded in the concept of self-defense, which taught Black Americans how to protect and support themselves in a country that treated them like second-class citizens. For too long the Panthers' story has been a footnote to the civil rights movement rather than what it was: a revolutionary...

Out of gratitude for the poet's art form, Newbery Award winning author and poet Kwame Alexander, along with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, present original poems that pay homage to twenty famed poets who have made the authors' hearts sing and their minds wonder. Stunning mixed-media images by Ekua Holmes, winner of a Caldecott Honor and a John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, complete the celebration, inviting the viewer to listen, wonder,...

"In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpre-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the complexities of Black hair and Afro-Latinidad--the history, pain, pride, and powerful love of that inheritance. Paired with full-color illustrations by artist Andrea Pippins in a format that will appeal to fans of Mahogany L. Browne's Black Girl Magic or Jason Reynolds's For Everyone, this poem can now be read in a vibrant...

"Jason Reynolds. Jason Griffin. One a poet. One an artist. One Black. One white. Two voices. One journey. To move to New York, and make it in New York. Best friends willing to have a hard life if it meant a happy life. All they needed was a chance. A reissue of a memoir of a moment in time within a lifetime of friendship"--

An illustrated biographical compilation of over fifty African American women from the 1700s through to the present day.

"In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District--a thriving, affluent neighborhood known as America's Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives. In a few short hours, they'd razed thirty-five square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial...

As the first African-American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has been breaking down all kinds of barriers in the world of dance. But when she first started dancing-at the late age of thirteen-no one would have guessed the shy, underprivileged girl would one day make history in her field. Her road to excellence was not easy-a chaotic home life, with several siblings and a single mother, was a stark contrast to the control...