Celebrate Black Art During Black History Month

Poetry:

Please enjoy The Bunn Library's Black History Month Poetry Reading here and take a look at some of the selections that were read.

• Enithie Hunter: "The Inaugural Poem" Nikki Giovanni and "Sound and Space" by Nikki Giovanni (both from Blues for All the Changes)
• Bernice Hightower: "Footnotes for Kanye" Jasmine Mans
• Esha Akhtar: "Duplex" by Jericho Brown and "A Litany for Survival"  by Audre Lorde
• Laura Cunningham: "My God, It's Full of Stars" by Tracy K. Smith (from Life on Mars)
• Eleni Lefakis: "Dear Dr. Frankenstein" by Jericho Brown
• Anna Kim: Alice Walker’s “The World We Want is us” and "In Lieu of a Poem I'd like to Say" by Danez Smith (from Homie)
• Dylan Pinkins: "I, Too Deserve to Breathe" Dylan Pinkins
• Ian August: "The Orphan Performs an Autopsy on Adoption" by Donte Collins
• Barbara Odae (she/her): "In the Eighties We Did the Wop" by Major Jackson
• "Black Girl Black Woman" by Barbara Odae
• Bre Barrett: "Dreaming Black Boy" by James Berry
• Wilburn Williams: "The Idea of Ancestry" by Etheridge Knight and "Morning Poem for the Queen of Sunday" by Robert Hayden
• Profe: "Memorial I" by Audre Lorde
• Andrew Park: “Opportunity" by Berton Braley
• Sara Xu: “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde

Every year during Black History Month, we hear about great Black leaders, inventors, politicians, and other influential historical figures. But we don’t always hear about the incredible examples of Black art that surround us every day, especially in a library! We asked students from the Alliance of Black Cultures and Black Women @ Lawrenceville to recommend literature highlighting the cultures and peoples who celebrate Black History Month. Many of the following selections are now available on Sora, The Bunn Library’s digital library app.

Books:

• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie
• We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Bettina L. Love
• Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
• Children of Virtue & Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
• Say Her Name by Zetta Elliot
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
• The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
• Our Stories, Our Voices by Tracy Deonn 
• Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant
• Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
• The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
• Black Enough, American Street by Ibi Zoboi
• Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
• Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Looking for more great works by Black authors? Check out The Melanin Library.

In addition to these remarkable works of Black literature, students also shared a list of Black films, shorts, TV series, and music that they recommend. Some of these films are available via The Bunn Library’s streaming services. 

Films, Shorts, and Series:

• Poetic Justice
• BlacKkKlansman
• 13th 
• Just Mercy 
• Drumline 
• Black Panther
• Hair Love
• Cops & Robbers
• Canvas
• Substance

If You Liked...

• The Princess & the Frog

Watch…

• Soul 
• Get Out

Watch...

• Lovecraft Country
• Sorry to Bother You
• Love and Basketball

Watch...

• Brown Sugar
• Love Jones
• 12 Years a Slave

Watch…

• Harriet
• The Help

Watch…

• Fences

Music:

Check out The Bunn Library Spotify for our Black History Month 2021 Playlist!