Top 10 HBCU Authors To Read This Homecoming Season

In the thick of HBCU homecoming season, we celebrate notable authors who attended HBCUs. Penguin Random House’sAll Ways Black, a curation of Black authors and stories crafted by Cree Myles, is a year-round celebration to honor the depth and breadth of experiences around what it means to be Black. To celebrate their relaunch, All Ways Black is offering one lucky reader to enter for a chance to win a collection of books, a pair of Lichen bookends, and a gift card to purchase a new laptop and headphones.

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), found that 1,100 books were challenged between January 1 and August 31 this year. With 47% of the titles challenged representing LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC voices, it’s important to uplift Black authors and bring awareness to their stories.

Here are 10 book recommendations from authors who attended HBCUs.

Written by Xavier University alum, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, Sisterhood Heals provides Black women with tools to heal from their past experiences to foster fruitful relationships with each other. The book helps readers identify the roles they play in their friend groups and provides tips on how to sustain and rebuild friendships after fractured points, Dr. Joy understands the safety of sisterhood and shares what she’s learned from serving as the go-to therapist for Black women.

Gone Like Yesterday follows the story of two Black women: college prep coach, Zahra, and teenaged budding activist, Sammie. The two connect over gypsy moths, creatures that sing the songs of their ancestors. After Zahra’s brother, Derrick, goes missing, her and Sammie road trip from New York to Atlanta to find him and to learn more about their individual journeys through the moths. Howard University alum Janelle M. Williams wrote this novel highlighting family, legacy, and what it means to be found.

Howard University School of Law alum, Damali Peterman, provides a guide for folks to navigate bias-written spaces with her book, Negotiating While Black. Damali takes her decades worth of experience as a negotiator in high-pressure situations to provide tips for folks of all identities when advocating for what they want. With techniques like the Foundational Five skills and the Negotiation Superpowers, readers can learn how to gain the upperhand in negotiations with this book.

For readers looking for enticing Black recipes as the weather gets colder, Bryant Terry’s Black Food takes folks on a journey through the Black diaspora using food, experience, and community. The Xavier University alum compiles recipes including Suzanne Barr’s Jerk Chicken Ramen and Jenné Claiborne’s Sweet Potato Pie, meant to satisfy the soul. The book also includes poems and essays from writers including Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Michael W. Twitty, along with Bryant’s curated playlist. Black Food will take readers on a visually enticing and spiritual journey. 

What was originally meant to be a book about writing, Howard University alum, Ta-Nehisi Coates, explores how storytelling can distort realities on a global scale. In The Message, Ta-Nehisi travels to Dakar, Senegal, Columbia, South Carolina, and Palestine to report on these cities and explore the myths they perpetuate. This includes the banning of his own books in America and the ties that lead parts of our nation back to a Confederate agenda. While America and the world remain in a divisive state, Ta-Nehisi gets to the bottom of how we let narratives affect our view and implores readers to find liberation within difficult truths.

Rosey Lee, Meharry Medical College alum, tells the story of a complex Southern family from Edin, Georgia in The Gardins of Edin. The novel centers around four sisters, Ruth, Mary, Martha, and Naomi. Ruth runs the family peanut business, Naomi, the matriarch, plays peach maker as sisters Mary and Martha perpetuate the family tension with their distrust in Ruth’s management of the family business. As the sisters face tragedies, life and death scenarios, and hidden truths, the four Gardin women come to terms with the true meaning of family.

First, Bestintroduces readers to Morehouse College alum Steven L. Reed and his journey to his role as the first Black mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. After Steven received his first death threat against his father, a civil rights leader, he understood his purpose in this world as a cross-bearer aiming to not let bigotry defeat him. Through his memoir, Steven recounts his path through entrepreneurship and serving as a probate judge, highlighting the steps in his journey inspired by his father’s generation. First, Best affirms Black readers that they can prevail in a world not designed for them to succeed. 

Journalist and Morehouse College alum, Donovan X. Ramsey, provides an account of the underreported crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. When Crack Was King follows the path of four individuals who provide context to how this epidemic affected America. It features Elgin Swift, the son of a crack-addict who ran his own crack house, Lennie Woodley, a former crack addict and sex worker, Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, and Shawn McCray, a founding member of Newark’s Zoo Crew. Through these accounts, Donovan illustrates how this epidemic bled communities of their resources. 

The First Ladiestells the true tale of the friendship between Black celebrity activist and educator, Mary McLeod Bethune, and former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Written by Marie Benedict and Hampton University alum Victoria Christopher Murray, The First Ladies highlights Mary and Eleanor’s connection through their belief in women’s rights and the power of education. Although Eleanor’s outspokenness of her beliefs makes her controversial and receives threats for her friendship with Mary, the two illustrate the power in using adversity to build strength to fuel their movement.

Written by the late Howard alum Toni Morrison, Beloved tells the story of former slave, Sethe, who escaped to Ohio. Although physically free from slavery, Sethe remains captive to the death of her unnamed child as the ghost of the baby haunts her new home. As a Pulitzer Prize Winner and New York Times Bestseller, Beloved takes a resolute look into the chasm of slavery. 

This article is sponsored by Penguin Random House x All Ways Black. All Ways Black aims to help you discover incredible authors and books and support the next wave of Black writers to inspire you indefinitely. We’re partnering to host a giveaway! One lucky winner will have a chance to win a collection of must-have books from some of our favorite authors, a pair of beautiful bookends from Lichen, and a gift card to purchase a new laptop and headphones. Enter for a chance to win.

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