In honor of Black History Month, President Vincent Rougeau invited members of the campus community to recommend books that celebrate African American history or have particular meaning to them as we continue to interrogate, reckon with, and better understand our shared American history.
Black History at 海角社区 and in Worcester
- 鈥From Bondage to Belonging: The Worcester Slave Narratives鈥 edited by B. Eugene McCarthy, professor emeritus of English, and Thomas L. Doughton, senior lecturer at the College鈥檚 Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
- 鈥淔raternity鈥 by Diane Brady
- 鈥First Fruits of Freedom: The Migration of Former Slaves and Their Search for Equality in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1862-1900鈥 by Janette Greenwood, professor of history at Clark University
President Vincent Rougeau's Personal Favorites
- 鈥The Nickel Boys鈥 by Colson Whitehead
- 鈥The Warmth of Other Suns鈥 by Isabel Wilkerson
- 鈥I鈥檓 Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness鈥 by Austin Channing Brown
Recommendations from the Campus Community
- 鈥淲e Were Eight Years in Power鈥 by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- 鈥淭he Known World鈥 by Edward P. Jones '72
- 鈥淐aste: The Origins of our Discontents鈥 by Isabel Wilkerson
- 鈥淏rown Girl Dreaming鈥 by Jacqueline Woodson
- 鈥淭he New Jim Crow鈥 by Michelle Alexander
- 鈥淏eloved鈥 by Toni Morrison
- 鈥淩ediscovering an American Community of Color : The Photographs of William Bullard, 1897-1917鈥 by Nancy Kathryn Burns, Janette Thomas Greenwood
- 鈥淭he Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition鈥 by Manisha Sinha
- 鈥淭he Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks鈥 by Rebecca Skloot
- 鈥淪tamped鈥 by Jason Reynolds
- 鈥淎 Fool鈥檚 Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the age of Bush, Obama and Trump鈥 by Lonnie G. Bunch III
- 鈥淢oonlight Helmsman: Robert Smalls' Amazing Escape鈥 by Richard Maule
- 鈥Stamped from the Beginning鈥 by Ibram X. Kendi
- 鈥Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You: A Remix鈥 by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds (for children)
- 鈥Four Hundred Souls鈥 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
- 鈥淢artin & Malcolm & America鈥 by James Cone
- 鈥淧rophesy Deliverance!鈥 by Cornel West
- 鈥淐entury Cycle鈥 by August Wilson
- 鈥Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil鈥 by W.E.B. DuBois
- 鈥Sister Outsider鈥 by Audre Lorde
- 鈥Stride Toward Freedom鈥 by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- 鈥Freedom in the Making of Western Culture鈥 by Orlando Patterson
- 鈥12 Million Black Voices鈥 by Richard Wright
Other Resources from the Campus Community
Materials for the deaf community in celebration of Black Deaf History Month:
Materials from 鈥淐inegogia,鈥 a bilingual Digital Humanities project at 海角社区 focused on Latin American cinema and Afro-descendant representation in Latin American film:
A thematic catalogue from a 2019 Worcester Art Museum exhibition of photographs of Black residents of Worcester, from the turn of the 20th c.: Janette Greenwood and Nancy Burns, 2019, Rediscovering an American Community of Color: the Photographs of William Bullard, 1897-1917
海角社区 Guide to Antiracism: Juneteenth
The Equal Justice Initiative