Rejoice during Black History Month with these essential reads

Black History Month gives us every rhyme and reason to celebrate with the Blackest, most prideful content out there. Yes, Black history extends beyond February, but we have every excuse to step out in the loudest Pan-African paraphernalia possible during this federally-designated commemoration.

Parading our Blackness is a gift, a liberating privilege for which our ancestors paved the way. But while we’re shouting Negro spirituals in harmonious bellows, we have to be mindful that our history is evolving. Our past is ever-changing, and the list of memorable moments continues to grow longer as we add to the legacy of being Black.

We learn who we are by knowing where we come from, which helps us understand where we’re going.

Here’s reading material that will hopefully guide you on a triumphant journey through Black history.

‘Moon: U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places, and Events that Made the Movement’ by Deborah D. Douglas

"Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler's Guide to the People Places, and Events That Made the Movement" (Hatchette Book Group, 2026) by Deborah D. Douglas, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list.

Originally published in 2021, a revised version of Deborah Douglas’ “Civil Rights Trail” gives a detailed account of being Black below the Mason-Dixon line during the Jim Crow era. Traveling from Atlanta to Charleston and throughout the American South, Douglas points out key moments that contributed to the human rights fight that became known as the Civil Rights Movement.

Acting as a directional Green Book — a guide for Black travelers during segregation, but for history — “U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places, and Events that Made the Movement” paints an intricate picture of triumph that many times spawned from sorrow. Historic locations are heralded for their importance and mapped out along the figurative — and literal — fight for freedom.

Released Jan. 20, 2026, at hatchettebookgroup.com

‘The Fight of His Life: Joe Louis’s Battle for Freedom During World War II’ by Johnny G. Smith & Randy Roberts

"The Fight of His Life: Joe Louis’s Battle for Freedom During World War II" (Hatchette Book Group, 2025) by Johnny G. Smith & Randy Roberts, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list.

Joe Louis is notorious as a heavyweight champion and one of the greatest boxers of all time. But the fighter, known affectionately as the “Brown Bomber,” rumbled in the civil rights ring, too.

Besides defeating Italian and German boxers just as fascist ideology was gaining international momentum in the 1930s, Louis was an Army ambassador for American patriotism during World War II. His job was to promote unity abroad, while racism was rampant at home. He became a voice for Black soldiers dealing with discrimination, which prompted an activist career for equal rights. Louis was more than an athlete; he used his strength to advocate for marginalized people.

Released Nov. 4, 2025 at hatchettebookgroup.com

‘Keeper of Lost Children’ by Sadeqa Johnson

"Keeper of Lost Children" (Simon & Schuster, 2026) by Sadeqa Johnson, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list.

“Keeper of the Lost Children” is a historical fiction novel divided into three intertwined stories dealing with racial identity. A Black soldier in a recently desegregated Army falls in love with a German woman while overseas. Then, mixed-race children of white German mothers and Black American military fathers have been abandoned in post-World War II Germany. In the 1960s, a Black girl attends a reputable and all-white school, completely altering the trajectory of her childhood.

Sadeqa Johnson is no stranger to tackling racial history. The author of “Yellow Wife” and “House of Eve” dives into meticulous research to add depths of authenticity to her stories that revolve around the complexities of humanity.

Releases Feb. 10, 2026, at simonandschuster.com

‘Time for a Change’ by Questlove and S.A. Cosby

“Time for a Change” by Questlove with S.A. Cosby, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list. (Macmillan Publishers)

“Time for a Change” is the second installment in “The Rhythm of Time” series. Co-written by music producer Questlove and crime-fiction writer S.A. Cosby, the novel centers protagonists Rahim and Kasia as they zip and zap backwards and forwards through time. Of course, with all the time hopscotching, they have to be mindful of how they influence history as well.

Unlike the first novel when the kids travel to the 1990s, this time the kids step back to 1970s Hawaii — while simultaneously dealing with futuristic government agencies and robots, of course.

In an age of increasingly intelligent artificial intelligence, we have to expect it in science fiction too, right?

Releases Feb. 17, 2026, at us.macmillan.com

‘Kin’ by Tayari Jones

"Kin" (Penguin Random House, 2026) by Tayari Jones, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list.

If there’s one thing Tayari Jones knows how to do, it’s telling a generational story that will stick with you like the most compelling documentary you’ve ever seen. She will place you right in the heart of the historic moment as if you experienced it firsthand.

The Atlanta-based writer takes us to Jim Crow-era Louisiana, where we meet two Black girls coming of age. One ventures off to Atlanta for college, and the other finds her path to Memphis in search of identity. Overcoming parental abandonment and racial hurdles of the 1950s and ‘60s, the women stay connected through their childhood kinship despite their increasingly different livelihoods.

Releases Feb. 24, 2026, at penguinrandomhouse.com

‘Where the Wildflowers Grow’ by Terah Shelton Harris

"Where the Wildflowers Grow" (Source Books, 2026) by Terah Shelton Harris, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list.

Leigh is a felon on the run while, simultaneously, searching for identity. After suffering from a major car crash that resulted in the deaths of others, she leans on the survival skills she was taught as a child by her father. The same father who beat her mother.

Leigh trusts no one. As she navigates the world as if in the final days of her own personal apocalypse, Leigh reckons with her family’s tumultuous past, the lack of mental health resources in Black circles, living off the grid and how to find gentleness in being a Black woman.

Releases Feb. 17, 2026, at sourcebooks.com

‘It’s Never Too Late’ by Marla Gibbs

"It's Never Too Late" (Harper Collins, 2026) by Marla Gibbs, part of the UATL February-Black History Month reading list.

Get ready for some good neighborhood gossip because Marla Gibbs will finally release a memoir!

The television icon grew up in Chicago before venturing on sitcom classics “The Jeffersons” and “227” with her witty demeanor and timely comebacks. However, not only does she detail her time on the screen, but she also gives her behind-the-scenes account of producing content and maintaining creative control of work. At 94 years old, she’s telling her story.