Books like Naming Our Destiny by June Jordan

A powerful anthology of essays by Audre Lorde that traces her intellectual evolution, highlights her advocacy for minority women writers, and examines the intersections of sex, race, and class.

Gwendolyn Brooks’ "Selected Poems (P.S.)" gathers key verses from her earlier collections – "A Street in Bronzeville," "Annie Allen," and "The Bean Eaters" – alongside new selections, showcasing her acclaimed African‑American poetic voice.

Elizabeth Alexander’s anthology weaves poetry that spans American cities, eras, and the worlds of dreamscapes, addressing themes of race, gender, politics, motherhood, and civil rights.

Evie Shockley’s *The New Black* blends formal verse with thoughtful reflections on African American identity, history, and the evolving experience of racism in contemporary America.

Black Swan is a poetry collection by Lyrae Van Clief‑Stefanon that blends vernacular diction with classical mythology and biblical themes, giving voice to silenced women across time and space.

A bold exploration of pregnancy, childbirth, and artistic expression through verse, prose, and dialogue.

A courageous collection of poems confronting codependency, sexuality, abuse, and emotional trauma, reflecting the author’s personal journey and broader contemporary concerns.

A comprehensive anthology of June Jordan’s poetry, spanning over six hundred pages of lyricism, elegiac verse, and vibrant vernacular, including unpublished “last poems” that showcase her powerful engagement with identity, activism, and human connection.

Lucille Clifton’s "Quilting" weaves a lyrical tapestry of birth, death, children, community, history, sexuality, and spirituality, delivering sharp rhythms, striking syntax, and an intimate, passionate voice.

Pat Parker’s *Movement In Black* is a vital collection of poetry that blends fierce activism with intimate reflections on race, gender, and sexuality, celebrated by African American women writers and enriched with new, unpublished work.

A poetic tribute celebrating the extraordinary spirit of ordinary African‑American women, written by Maya Angelou and illustrated by a celebrated collaborator.

A poetic meditation on love, loss, and the fight for equality, written with the keen perspective of a Black woman author.

A revolutionary text by Frantz Fanon, providing insight into the fight for freedom and national culture in decolonization era.

"Poet, activist, and essayist June Jordan is a prolific, significant American writer who pushed the limits of political vision and moral witness, traversing a career of over forty years. With poetry, prose, letters, and more, this reader is a key resource for understanding the scope, complexity, and novelty of this pioneering Black American writer. From "Poem about Police Violence": Tell me something what you think would happen if everytime they kill a black boy then we kill a cop everytime they kill a black man then we kill a cop you think the accident rate would lower subsequently?. I lose consciousness of ugly bestial rabid and repetitive affront as when they tell me 18 cops in order to subdue one man 18 strangled him to death in the ensuing scuffle (don't you idolize the diction of the powerful: subdue and scuffle my oh my) and that the murder that the killing of Arthur Miller on a Brooklyn street was just a "justifiable accident" again (again) People been having accidents all over the globe so long like that I reckon that the only suitable insurance is a gun"--