In response to the uprisings across the globe demanding justice for Black lives, New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has created a Black liberation reading list. The 95 titles on the list represent books that the Center and the public regularly turn to as activists, students, archivists, and curators, with a particular focus on books by Black authors and those whose papers the center stewards.

 

For 95 years, the Schomburg Center has preserved, protected, and fostered a greater understanding of the Black experience through its collections, exhibitions, programs, and scholarship.

 

Most of the #Schomburg95 books are available digitally for free via The New York Public Library’s SimplyE e-reader app on iOS and Android.

 

Many are also available from the Schomburg Shop, along with a dedicated array of books and materials chronicling global Black culture. From James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time to The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward, these books speak to Black American history and are destined to be classics, addressing liberty across history, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

 

Find the books on SimplyE (available on the App Store or Google Play) or find at the Schomburg Shop.