Poetry

In the 1960s, Langston Hughes wrote an essay on the history of African American poetry. In this essay, he talks about the inextricability of the question of racism from African American poetry and quotes another celebrated poet on the subject: The first African American book was a collection of poems by Phillis Wheatley published in 1773, and since then the aspirations, experiences, and grievances of a people subject to the horrors of a racist society have found expression through poetry. Here is a list of some major African American works of poetry to help you chart the evolution of antiracism in poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks (paraphrased)

Essays, Memoirs and Autobiography

It should not be necessary to employ sophisticated rhetoric to drive home the idea of equality for all and the universality of basic human rights, but the world we live in is far from perfect and we are lucky to have essayists devoted to the cause of eliminating racism who do this brilliantly. Through prose that is both passionate and precise, they lay bare not only the obvious, but also the subtle ways in which racism operates. Memoirs and autobiographies give the privileged a glimpse into the lived realities of those oppressed by racist structures and people of color a sense of solidarity.

Novels

Arguably more accessible than poems or nonfiction, novels have had a huge sway over the opinions of wide swaths of people. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, one of the earliest and most popular anti-slavery novels, is often credited with starting the Civil War. Frederick Douglass acknowledged that Stowe had “baptized with holy fire myriads who before cared nothing for the bleeding slave.” The novel, however, has been later criticized for perpetuating stereotypes about African Americans. But books written by African American authors have been steadily rising in popularity since the 1800s. Here are some novels, written by African American authors, that had a profound impact in the literary world or on lay readers.            

200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 78200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 34200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 25200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 35200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 9200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 14200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 35200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 48200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 78200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 99200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 17200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 73200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 55200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 84200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 28200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 69200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 35200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 79200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 34200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 64200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 66200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 64200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 96200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 45200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 60200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 45200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 77200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 15200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 21200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 26200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 74200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 3200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 20200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 1200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 40200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 71200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 8200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 18200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 96200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 96200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 29200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 30200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 62200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 70200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 45200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 82200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 37200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 28200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 78200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 92200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 12200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 43200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 60200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 35200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 60200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 30200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 83200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 27200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 34200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 38200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 20200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 18200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 58200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 25200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 34200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 68200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 84200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 95200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 92200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 27200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 84200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 49200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 64200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 16200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 31200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 70200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 26200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 47200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 40200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 84200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 62200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 52200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 3200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 95200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 64200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 16200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 35200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 63200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 64200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 35200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 52200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 15200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 96200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 26200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 55200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 14200 Years of African American Writing A History of Antiracist Literature - 45