wmtc "what i'm reading" posts to celebrate black august 2020


I thought Black August was something newly created by Black Lives Matter, but it turns out it has existed since the 1970s. I'm sorry I haven't heard about it sooner, and I thank the Movement for Black Lives for bringing it to my attention.
Black August commemorates the rich history of Black resistance. Revolutionary moments such as the Watts Uprising, Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner Rebellion, Fugitive Slave Law Convention, and March on Washington all happened in August. Also, many of our revolutionaries, such as Marcus Garvey and Fred Hampton, were born in August. Black August was started in California prisons in the 1970s by Black freedom fighters who wanted to honor the lives and struggle of Black political prisoners killed by the state. Fifty years later, groups like Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and New Afrikan Independence Movement continue the Black August legacy of celebrations by amplifying our history of resistance and creating spaces for Black people to come together in community to recharge the revolution. 
To celebrate Black August on this blog, I'm posting links to my "what i'm reading" posts that celebrate Black lives, Black history, and the Black struggle for freedom, and books by Black authors.

(Not included: quotes and random fangirl posts about Colson Whitehead. There are several!)
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (August 2020)

Muhammad Ali: A Life (December 2019)

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (September 2019)

Hunger by Roxane Gay (January 2019)

required reading for revolutionaries: jane mcalevey and micah white (January 2018)

Words on the Move (June 2017)

Swing Time by Zadie Smith (April 2017)

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (April 2017)

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (October 2016)

NW by Zadie Smith (November 2013)

John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead (September 2012)

Zone One by Colson Whitehead (July 2012)

Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead (December 2010)

A Mercy by Toni Morrison (January 2010)

The Known World by Edward P. Jones (November 2006)

The Sweeter the Juice by Shirlee Taylor Haizlip (March 2005)

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