GET LIT! Gordon Parks’ Latest Photobook and Other Black Authors to Read this December

A young woman joins the Black Panthers’ Free Health Clinics in Oakland in 1968 and is soon swept up in an all-consuming love affair with a defense captain of the Black Panther Party and becomes a target of J. Edgar Hoover’s famous covert campaigns against civil rights leaders. She also learns that fighting for social justice may not always mean equal justice for women.

According to Roberts, God’s original intention for humankind was for them to subdue the earth and have dominion over it. But the first humans allowed the enemy to talk them into giving up this authority and ended up undermining their mission in the world. Now she provides steps so that all can reclaim and redefine their God-given power.

Reed, a celebrated poet and novelist, shares the world of African American artist Sam Gilliam, who blazed a trail with his artistic vision and disrupted established artistic norms and styles. Made in close collaboration with the Sam Gilliam Foundation, this book is the first to comprehensively survey the breadth of his extraordinary career.

The Vice President is being celebrated for her historic run for president. This colorful photobook captures Kamala Harris’ remarkable rise from District Attorney in California to her historic presidential run in 2024 with more than 150 photos.

The political scientist and former HBCU president explores the challenges facing Black higher education, including leadership, cultural and financial issues. “Driven by a lifelong passion for Black colleges and universities, I’ve poured my experience as a parent, two-time alum, former president and administrator and current professor into this book. It offers a candid assessment of the internal contradictions within HBCUs, grounding its critique in the work of W.E.B. Du Bois,” the author told EBONY. “More than just an analysis, this book provides actionable recommendations for improvement, ultimately advocating for a transformative ‘Pan-Black College and University’ model. I believe this model will empower HBCUs to thrive in the 21st century and beyond.”

Andy Johnson, with his trusty sword and the rest of the Johnson kids, teach us how we can answer God’s call for justice and how marching is one way people can fight for a world that reflects God’s love and compassion—from the Civil Rights Era up to today. This book is a continuation of Josey Johnson’s Hair and the Holy Spirit and engages kids on the topics of racism, discrimination and social justice through a biblical and historical perspective.

In 1944, the famed photographer Herklas Brown―the owner of a general store and Esso gas station in Somerville, Maine, and other oil and gas facilities and workers. Despite the challenges he faced as a Black man traveling alone, Parks created a compelling documentary record of rural America.