The 10 Best Black Books of 2014:
Top choice in the top ten best black books for 2014 is Justice While Black, a must-read for every young black male in America, and for anyone who cares about their survival and well-being. Justice While Black is an essential guide for African-American families who want to understand the criminal justice system, and discover why that system continues to see black men as targets – and as dollar signs.
1. Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate
and Survive the Criminal Justice System
by Robbin Shipp, Esq. and Nick Chiles
2. An Obama’s Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures
by Mark Obama Ndesandjo
3. Who We Be: The Colorization of America
by Jeff Chang
4. Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black
by Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-SC)
Foreword by Alfre Woodard
5. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina
by Misty Copeland
6. One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future
by Dr. Ben Carson and Candy Carson
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
8. What the Word Be: Why Black English Is the King’s (James) English
by Diane Proctor Reeder
9. Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Final Year
by Tavis Smiley
with David Ritz
10. Culture Worrier: Reflections on Race, Politics and Social Change
by Clarence Page
Honorable Mention
1. Why Vegan is the New Black
By Deborrah Cooper
2. The Lawyer as Leader: How to Plant People and Grow Justice
By Dr. Artika R. Tyner
3. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
By Bryan Stevenson
4. Stokely: A Life
By Peniel E. Joseph
5. Brown Girl Dreaming
By Jacqueline Woodson
6. The Light of Truth: Writings of an Anti-Lynching Crusader
By Ida B. Wells
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Mia Bay
General Editor: Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
7. The Rise
Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery
By Sarah Lewis
8. Success through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple
by Russell Simmons
9. The Imperfect Marriage
Help for Those Who Think It’s Over
By Darryl and Tracy Strawberry
10. Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True StoryA… and Why It Matters Today
By Edouard Kayihura and Kerry Zukus
11. Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy
Mother, and Still Came out Smiling (with Great Hair)
By Rosie Perez
12. The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st Century
Edited by Dinesh Sharma and Uwe P. Gielen
13. Black and White: The Way I See It
By Richard Williams
13. Transforming Pain to Power: Unlock Your Unlimited Potential
by Daniel Beaty
14. Story/Time: The Life of an Idea
By Bill T. Jones
15. Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America
By Sheryll Cashin
16. Old School Adventures from Englewood-South Side of Chicago
By Elaine Hegwood Bowen
17. The Man from Essence
By Edward Lewis with Audrey Edwards
Foreword by Camille O. Cosby
18. Nine Lives of a Black Panther: A Story of Survival
by Wayne Pharr
19. Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou
By Maya Angelou
20. Cosby: His Life and Times
By Mark Whitaker
21. A Black Gambler’s World of Liquor, Vice and Presidential Politics: William
Thomas Scott of Illinois, 1839-1917
By Bruce L. Mouser
Foreword by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
22. The Myth of Race, The Reality of Racism
by Mahmoud El-Kati
23. Our Ancestors, Our Stories
By Harris Bailey, Jr., Bernice Alexander Bennett, Ellen LeVonne Butler, Ethel Dailey, Vincent Sheppard and Dr. Orville Vernon Burton
24. Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons and Love Affairs
By Pearl Cleage
25. Yoga, Meditation and Spiritual Growth for the African-American Community
by Daya Devi-Doolin
26. How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class
By John Hope Bryant
Foreword by Ambassador Andrew Young
27. The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration Has Hijacked the American Dream
By Brian E. Moran, Esq.
28. Not for Everyday Use: A Memoir
By Elizabeth Nunez
29. This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible
By Charles E. Cobb, Jr.
30. America’s Music: Jazz in Newark
By Barbara Kukla
31. 240 Ways to Close the Achievement Gap: Teachers Only Workbook (Vol. 2)
By M. Donnell Tenner, Joy Gay and Dr. Marti Dryk
32. Misdiagnosed: The Search for Dr. House
By Nika C. Beamon
33. Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights
By Robin Bernstein
34. Guiou: The Other Blacks – The Afro-Jamaican Presence in Guatemala
by Gloria J. Arnold
35. Dollar Democracy: With Liberty and Justice for Some
By Peter Mathews
36. Pageants, Parlors & Pretty Women: Race and Beauty in the 20th Century South
By Blain Roberts
37. Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir
By Toni Braxton
39. Thirty-Three Days of Praise: Seeing the Good in Cancer
By Karrie Marchbanks