Books like My Face Is Black Is True by Mary Frances Berry

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cancer cells were taken in 1951 without her consent and later became the first immortal human cell line, HeLa, driving major scientific breakthroughs while raising questions of ethics, race, and medical exploitation.

A compelling overview of American history through the eyes and experiences of its women, workers, African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and the working poor.

Ibram X. Kendi’s *How to Be an Antiracist* explains racism as a powerful system that creates false hierarchies and offers a guide—drawing on ethics, history, law, and science—to help readers confront and dismantle racial injustice in society and themselves.

Richard Wright’s autobiographical memoir chronicles his growth from childhood to adulthood while confronting the harsh realities of segregation in the Jim Crow South.

Michelle Alexander argues that mass incarceration has become a contemporary system of racial control, striking disproportionately at African‑American men and other disadvantaged groups while perpetuating a new form of Jim Crow.

Ibram X. Kendi examines the long history of anti‑black racist ideas in America, revealing how intellectuals have shaped and justified racial inequality.

Richard Rothstein’s *The Color of Law* uncovers how federal, state, and local policies deliberately created and maintained racial segregation in U.S. cities.

The Warmth of Other Suns is a non‑fiction study of the Great Migration, tracing the journey of nearly six million African Americans from the South to northern and western cities between 1915 and 1970.

Booker T. Washington tells his own story, from birth into slavery to becoming a powerful educator and founder of the Tuskegee Industrial Institute.

An autobiographical memoir by Sarah Louise Delany that reflects on race relations and her life as an African American woman.

Over the years there have been many books published about the Kennedy family, individually and collectively. But only this book provides a powerful and detailed look at the complex relationships shared between the three women who were not born Kennedy but who married into the family: Jackie Bouvier, Ethel Skakel, and Joan Bennett. For each of the Kennedy wives, the Camelot years provided an entirely different experience of life lessons. These were the years when Jackie's dreams became reality, but at a hefty price. For Ethel, these were years of frustration where her dreams of being First Lady were dashed and she sank into a deep depression. For Joan, her years as a Kennedy wife were the most confusing of her life, and she is now a recovering alcoholic. This fascinating story is set against a panorama of explosive American history, as the women cope with Jack's and Bobby's alleged affairs with Marilyn Monroe, their tragic assassinations, and other tragedies and scandals. Whether dealing with their husbands' blatant infidelities, stumping for their many political campaigns, touring the world to promote their family's legacy or raising their children, the Kennedy wives did it all with grace, style, and dignity. In the end, JACKIE, ETHEL, JOAN is a story of redemption and great courage.

A striking biography of Roxanne Dunbar‑Ortiz, a working‑class, part‑Indian pioneer of the 1960s women’s liberation and anti‑war movements, detailing her radical activism and outspoken challenge to mainstream feminism.

Former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers argues that women’s leadership would transform politics, business, and society by fostering collaboration, communication, and consensus‑building, drawing on her own groundbreaking experience in the Clinton White House.

Mary Frances Berry’s updated study examines how the U.S. Constitution has historically protected white power while marginalizing African Americans’ legal rights, from the 1619 arrival of slaves to the 1990s.

Randall Robinson argues that America owes a vast debt to Africans and African Americans for centuries of slavery and segregation, urging responsibility and reparations to rectify this historic injustice.

Rachel Lloyd’s memoir chronicles her escape from child prostitution and her founding of Girls Education and Mentoring Service to help other girls flee the commercial sex industry.

A vivid portrait of 70 trailblazers—including women, girls, and gender‑nonbinary activists—whose leadership has reshaped America from the Civil Rights and Stonewall eras to Black Lives Matter and beyond.