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https://www.blackenterprise.com/16-best-black-books-black-history-month/
Black History Month is coming to a close, but Black folks can continue celebrating and getting all the feels that come with historical Blackness.
While the month of February signifies a celebration of all things Black, so does Black life. Together, we collectively acknowledge the African American experience—dating back to 1619 when the first enslaved African pressed his feet onto American soil. It is only right to pay homage to our ancestors’ malleability, Black excellence, and those who have impacted our history as well as the culture. It is also a good time to soak up all the unknown stories and marvels of our heritage. Plenty is surfacing online via social media. However, Black books are the ultimate source of immersing ourselves in the resilience and wonderment of Blackness, past and present.
16 Best Black Books for Black History Month
1. Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl
This slave narrative by Harriet Ann Jacobs was originally published in 1861, just as the American Civil War began. Jacobs fictionalized her own story on the horrors of slave life as a young girl, specifically one having to deal with the sexual harassment projected by her slaveholder and the physical violence of his jealous wife.
View this post on Instagram
Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl, Thayer & Eldridge
2. The Marrow of Tradition
Charles W. Chesnutt was a prolific Black writer who could very well pass for white but refused to. This historical text, published at the turn of the century, depicts the Wilmington Race Riots in 1898. It focuses on racial politics, violence, and blackface during Reconstruction and, sadly, echoes events happening today.
View this post on Instagram
The Marrow of Tradition, Haughton, Mifflin, and Company
3. The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man
James Weldon Johnson, the creator of the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” shares the story of being raised by a Black mother but also believing that he was as white as his school-age peers due to his biracial heritage. His loss of innocence comes as he is discriminated against by his teacher. Throughout the text, Johnson gives firsthand accounts and observations of occupying two racial spaces, fitting into neither, yet being forced to choose one.
View this post on Instagram
The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man, Sherman, French & Co.
4. Mules and Men
Zora Neale Hurston flexes her anthropology chops in this book that was published in 1935. She gathers and documents cultural information from her native Florida and New Orleans and brings forth the beauty of common folk: their voice, their diction, their living, their way.
View this post on Instagram
Mules and Men, Harper Collins
5. Invisible Man
This existential text tells the story of a lone, nameless Black man navigating a white world, and eventually, we find him so isolated from society to align and protect himself from the powers that be. It is an allegory for the entire Black race, which is mistreated, objectified, commodified, and cast aside in such a way that it may as well be invisible.
View this post on Instagram
The Invisible Man, Random House
6. Go Tell It On The Mountain
Christianity has close ties to the Black American experience, and in many instances, it is inextricable. James Baldwin puts the beauty and the problematic on the page by way of a young man attempting to negotiate being Black, religious, unloved, and possibly gay. Go Tell It On The Mountain is an exploration of identity and migration.
View this post on Instagram
Go Tell It On The Mountain, Knopf
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
We are blessed to have this book in the world. Alex Haley documented X’s life-changing story for two years prior to his assassination. The book was posthumously published in 1965.
View this post on Instagram
(@bookchanging)The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ballantine Books
8. Dopefiend
Long before the crack era of the 1980s, heroine wreaked havoc on Black communities. Donald Goines, a brilliant writer of street literature, captures the pain of addiction perfectly.
View this post on Instagram
Dopefiend, Holloway House
9. Roots
Alex Haley’s family tree is the context for Roots. It tells the story of his matriarchal forefather’s journey from Africa through the middle passage and through chattel slavery and is carried on by his descendants. The text was integral to African Americans wanting to know their family roots and sparking interest in genealogy.
View this post on Instagram
Roots, Doubleday
10. For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Ntozake Shange took the Black Arts movement by storm when her collection of choreopoems hit theaters. These monologues are rooted in Black feminism and speak specifically to the intersectionality of race and sexism Black women experience.
View this post on Instagram
For colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Bantam Books
11. Song of Solomon
This Nobel Prize-winning book traces the history of a Black family and shows the nuance and complexity of Black community rarely highlighted in mainstream literature through Morrison’s remarkable storytelling and beautiful words.
View this post on Instagram
Song of Solomon, Alfred Knopf
12. The Color Purple
If there has ever been a story told about Black trauma, toxic masculinity, and survival, The Color Purple by Alice Walker will likely come up. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book made it to the big screen three years after its 1982 publishing date and was later made into a Broadway musical and film.
View this post on Instagram
The Color Purple, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
13. The Coldest Winter Ever
The cold, harsh reality of drug culture bleeds off these pages. It effectively captures the allure of the game while serving its consequences as well.
View this post on Instagram
The Coldest Winter Ever, Simon & Schuster
14. The New Jim Crow
Mass incarceration has long plagued the Black community. While representing just 13% of the nation’s population, Black people make up 40% of the prison population. Michelle Alexander links this disparity to the war on drugs created to militarize police and fracture Black communities but also exposes its lasting effect as well as its ongoing nature.
View this post on Instagram
The New Jim Crow, The New Press
15. The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an actual railroad when growing up; don’t feel ashamed. Colson Whitehead puts that perspective in play in this Pulitzer Prize-winning historical text. It is a refreshing fictional look at slavery.
View this post on Instagram
The Underground Railroad, Doubleday
16. Heavy: An American Memoir
This is the story of a life filled with contradictions, tragedy, and resilience. Kiese Laymon lays out parts of his life in intricate detail, taking the reader through observations of a range of violence committed against Black folk and a range of violence committed by them as well. This memoir is a reckoning of the internal and external conflict with, in, and around Blackness.
View this post on Instagram
(@thesolreader)Heavy: An American Memoir, Simon & Schuster
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on February 14, 2019.
RELATED CONTENT: 5 Books That Point Out Racist Systems As We Return To A Really Racist Administration
Black History Month is coming to a close, but Black folks can continue celebrating and getting all the feels that come with historical Blackness.
While the month of February signifies a celebration of all things Black, so does Black life. Together, we collectively acknowledge the African American experience—dating back to 1619 when the first enslaved African pressed his feet onto American soil. It is only right to pay homage to our ancestors’ malleability, Black excellence, and those who have impacted our history as well as the culture. It is also a good time to soak up all the unknown stories and marvels of our heritage. Plenty is surfacing online via social media. However, Black books are the ultimate source of immersing ourselves in the resilience and wonderment of Blackness, past and present.
16 Best Black Books for Black History Month
1. Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl
This slave narrative by Harriet Ann Jacobs was originally published in 1861, just as the American Civil War began. Jacobs fictionalized her own story on the horrors of slave life as a young girl, specifically one having to deal with the sexual harassment projected by her slaveholder and the physical violence of his jealous wife.
View this post on Instagram
Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl, Thayer & Eldridge
2. The Marrow of Tradition
Charles W. Chesnutt was a prolific Black writer who could very well pass for white but refused to. This historical text, published at the turn of the century, depicts the Wilmington Race Riots in 1898. It focuses on racial politics, violence, and blackface during Reconstruction and, sadly, echoes events happening today.
View this post on Instagram
The Marrow of Tradition, Haughton, Mifflin, and Company
3. The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man
James Weldon Johnson, the creator of the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” shares the story of being raised by a Black mother but also believing that he was as white as his school-age peers due to his biracial heritage. His loss of innocence comes as he is discriminated against by his teacher. Throughout the text, Johnson gives firsthand accounts and observations of occupying two racial spaces, fitting into neither, yet being forced to choose one.
View this post on Instagram
The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man, Sherman, French & Co.
4. Mules and Men
Zora Neale Hurston flexes her anthropology chops in this book that was published in 1935. She gathers and documents cultural information from her native Florida and New Orleans and brings forth the beauty of common folk: their voice, their diction, their living, their way.
View this post on Instagram
Mules and Men, Harper Collins
5. Invisible Man
This existential text tells the story of a lone, nameless Black man navigating a white world, and eventually, we find him so isolated from society to align and protect himself from the powers that be. It is an allegory for the entire Black race, which is mistreated, objectified, commodified, and cast aside in such a way that it may as well be invisible.
View this post on Instagram
The Invisible Man, Random House
6. Go Tell It On The Mountain
Christianity has close ties to the Black American experience, and in many instances, it is inextricable. James Baldwin puts the beauty and the problematic on the page by way of a young man attempting to negotiate being Black, religious, unloved, and possibly gay. Go Tell It On The Mountain is an exploration of identity and migration.
View this post on Instagram
Go Tell It On The Mountain, Knopf
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
We are blessed to have this book in the world. Alex Haley documented X’s life-changing story for two years prior to his assassination. The book was posthumously published in 1965.
View this post on Instagram
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ballantine Books
8. Dopefiend
Long before the crack era of the 1980s, heroine wreaked havoc on Black communities. Donald Goines, a brilliant writer of street literature, captures the pain of addiction perfectly.
View this post on Instagram
Dopefiend, Holloway House
9. Roots
Alex Haley’s family tree is the context for Roots. It tells the story of his matriarchal forefather’s journey from Africa through the middle passage and through chattel slavery and is carried on by his descendants. The text was integral to African Americans wanting to know their family roots and sparking interest in genealogy.
View this post on Instagram
Roots, Doubleday
10. For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
Ntozake Shange took the Black Arts movement by storm when her collection of choreopoems hit theaters. These monologues are rooted in Black feminism and speak specifically to the intersectionality of race and sexism Black women experience.
View this post on Instagram
For colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, Bantam Books
11. Song of Solomon
This Nobel Prize-winning book traces the history of a Black family and shows the nuance and complexity of Black community rarely highlighted in mainstream literature through Morrison’s remarkable storytelling and beautiful words.
View this post on Instagram
Song of Solomon, Alfred Knopf
12. The Color Purple
If there has ever been a story told about Black trauma, toxic masculinity, and survival, The Color Purple by Alice Walker will likely come up. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book made it to the big screen three years after its 1982 publishing date and was later made into a Broadway musical and film.
View this post on Instagram
The Color Purple, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
13. The Coldest Winter Ever
The cold, harsh reality of drug culture bleeds off these pages. It effectively captures the allure of the game while serving its consequences as well.
View this post on Instagram
The Coldest Winter Ever, Simon & Schuster
14. The New Jim Crow
Mass incarceration has long plagued the Black community. While representing just 13% of the nation’s population, Black people make up 40% of the prison population. Michelle Alexander links this disparity to the war on drugs created to militarize police and fracture Black communities but also exposes its lasting effect as well as its ongoing nature.
View this post on Instagram
The New Jim Crow, The New Press
15. The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an actual railroad when growing up; don’t feel ashamed. Colson Whitehead puts that perspective in play in this Pulitzer Prize-winning historical text. It is a refreshing fictional look at slavery.
View this post on Instagram
The Underground Railroad, Doubleday
16. Heavy: An American Memoir
This is the story of a life filled with contradictions, tragedy, and resilience. Kiese Laymon lays out parts of his life in intricate detail, taking the reader through observations of a range of violence committed against Black folk and a range of violence committed by them as well. This memoir is a reckoning of the internal and external conflict with, in, and around Blackness.
View this post on Instagram
Heavy: An American Memoir, Simon & Schuster
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on February 14, 2019.
RELATED CONTENT: 5 Books That Point Out Racist Systems As We Return To A Really Racist Administration
Some news stories are so absurd they feel like a bad action-comedy plot. Think of a villain with a fake mustache sneaking past security in a terrible disguise. Well, reality just outdid fiction because a man in Colombia was caught smuggling cocaine under his wig. Yes, really.
According to the Colombian National Police, a 40-year-old man traveling from Cartagena, Colombia, to Amsterdam was caught attempting to smuggle cocaine under his wig, yes, you read that right. Colombian authorities arrested the suspect after discovering 19 capsules of cocaine, valued at over $10,000, hidden beneath his fake hair. This wasn’t just a bad disguise; it was an absolute disaster of a smuggling attempt.
The best sci-fi show on the air currently is Apple TV+’s Severance. Created by Dan Erickson, the series (which is directed by Ben Stiller) throws us into the world of Lumon. And each week, we’re left on the edge of our seats.
The show itself is interesting because it is meant to premiere on Friday’s on Apple TV+ and air weekly. The issue is that the episodes actually drop the night before. So if you’re trying to be ready at your television the minute the episode drops, it might get a little confusing for you.
How Bioshock’s Storytelling Still Resonates in Chaotic Times
The world is on fire, but I needed to find some water. Between inflation, elections, and the general audacity of the world, I needed a mental break. When everything feels like it’s unraveling at the seams, sometimes the best thing to do is return to something familiar—something that once brought you joy. So, in these trying times, I decided to revisit Bioshock, one of my favorite games of all time.
Outside feels like Rapture post-Andrew Ryan, and I needed to go back to where the madness at least made sense. There’s something oddly comforting about a world where the dystopia is so well-crafted, so intentionally chaotic, that you can’t help but be captivated by its beauty and horror. Bioshock ain’t just a game—it’s a philosophy class wrapped in horror and gunfire.
The Art of Intelligent Storytelling
Every time I replay it, I find something new—like rewatching The Wire and catching a bar that flew over my head the first time. Bioshock is proof that video games, when done right, are Black Auntie-level storytellers—they know how to weave history, life lessons, and drama into something unforgettable. This game was ahead of its time, like a preacher dropping gems in the pulpit before the congregation even realizes they needed the message.
It starts with a plane crash, a desperate swim through flaming wreckage, and a lighthouse standing ominously in the middle of the ocean. From the moment you step inside and the doors close behind you, Bioshock does something few games can: it tells a story not just through dialogue, but through the environment itself. The descent into Rapture is baptismal, literally and metaphorically. As the bathysphere sinks below the waves, you’re met with the voice of Andrew Ryan—Rapture’s architect, dictator, and chief gaslighter—delivering his infamous monologue:
“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? ‘No!’ says the man in Washington, ‘It belongs to the poor.’ ‘No!’ says the man in the Vatican, ‘It belongs to God.’ ‘No!’ says the man in Moscow, ‘It belongs to everyone.’ I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose… Rapture.”
And just like that, you’re in it. You’re locked into a world where the ideology of unchecked ambition has rotted into a nightmare.
From its political themes of unfettered capitalism to the illusion of free will, Bioshock delivers a layered narrative that still hits in 2025. The first time I played I was just trying to survive the Splicers, dodging their crazed rants, and swinging wrenches like my life depended on it (because it did). But replaying it now, with a different lens, I see so much more.
The entire game plays with agency and control—who really has power? Who is manipulating who? And of course, the game’s most famous twist: You were never free. Every action you took was under someone else’s command. “Would you kindly?” was never just a polite request. It was a leash.
And that? That’s why Bioshock is different. This ain’t just “bad guys versus good guys.” It’s about ideology, manipulation, and how easy it is to believe we’re in control when, in reality, we’re just following the script someone else wrote.
The Details: A Love Letter to the Little Things
The first time you enter Rapture you’re greeted by the remains of what was once an opulent utopia. The grand marble floors are cracked, the neon signs flicker with half-dead light, and water leaks through every crevice—reminders that this city, no matter how ambitious, was never built to last. Posters litter the walls, advertising Plasmids with the enthusiasm of ‘50s cigarette commercials. Statues of Andrew Ryan stand tall, cracked and crumbling under the weight of his own hubris.
But the real magic of Bioshock is in its storytelling beyond the main plot. You don’t just see Rapture’s decline—you hear it. Through scattered audio logs, the ghosts of Rapture’s past whisper their regrets, their warnings, their madness. You hear a mother crying over her baby, only to realize she’s holding a revolver. You hear a man descend into insanity as he realizes his fortune means nothing in a world with no structure.
Then there are the Splicers themselves—the terrifying, mask-wearing addicts of Adam, the genetic drug that destroyed Rapture. These aren’t just mindless enemies; they used to be people. If you listen closely, you’ll hear them muttering pieces of their past lives—scraps of old conversations, echoes of their former selves. A woman singing to a baby carriage that holds only a revolver. A man rehearsing a speech for a party that will never happen.
The way this game was crafted you know the devs weren’t just making a shooter—they were cooking.
And the Easter eggs? Next level. Did you know if you check Sander Cohen’s apartment after killing him you’ll find him watching a recording of you fighting him—because in his mind, you were just another piece of his “art”? Did you know there’s a secret room with the names of the developers hidden inside? This is the kind of detail that makes a game timeless.
There’s world-building, and then there’s this.
Netflix, Please Don’t Fumble This Bag
Of course, with great games come great Hollywood adaptations, and that’s where my anxiety kicks in. Netflix better put some respect on Bioshock’s name, because if they fumble this like they did Cowboy Bebop (Which I didn’t think was god-awful, but it wasn’t great), I’m writing a formal complaint.
(Editor’s Note: A BioShock movie from director Francis Lawrence was announced in February 2022, but very few updates have emerged since as reported by Collider back in 2023. A recent update from the director this year mentions “that although the budget for the film had been reduced due to restructuring at the company — it would get made.“)
I have one request: Would you kindly not mess this up? If this adaptation turns out bad, I’m packing my bags and heading to Rapture myself. They better not give us a “Budget Halloween City Big Daddy,” or I will riot. And I swear, if they turn this into some half-baked, “inspired by” nonsense with actors who look like they just showed up for the check, I will lose it. This better be a Lupita-in-Us-level performance, not some “I’m just happy to be here” acting.
Bioshock deserves better.
Returning to Rapture, Finding Joy
As I navigate this revisit to Bioshock, I realize it’s more than nostalgia—it’s a reminder of what great storytelling can do. It’s proof that games can be more than mindless entertainment. They can be philosophy, art, history, and warning signs all at once.
For now, I’ll keep revisiting Rapture where, even amidst chaos, there’s at least a sense of intention—something the real world could learn from, especially the powers that be. In a time when control, corruption, and uncertainty feel all too familiar, escaping to a city beneath the sea almost feels…grounding.
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The post A World on Fire, A City Beneath the Sea: Revisiting ‘Bioshock’ and Its Enduring Storytelling appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.