10 Black History Books We loved in 2020

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In January of last year, I woke up particularly early one Sunday morning thinking about how to teach my girls about the black experience in our country. I knew I would covering Pre-Civil War-era American History that year and I would have to tackle the topic of slavery. But how and were they too young to understand?

When my oldest daughter walked into our room that morning, I immediately had the thought to just teach the truth. So we discussed the slave trade in the Americas for about 30 minutes and watch a couple of videos right there and then. We stopped there knowing full well that wouldn’t be the end. During church, that day, I reflected on my own experience in school with Black History month (I say black history month because that seems to have been the only time black people were mentioned at school). Growing up in a diverse community like South Florida our teachers did an excellent job of going out of their way to make black history month very appealing and fun. But time in a classroom is limited and I could only recall the name of a few well-known African Americans. I concluded that I would at least pass on what I knew to my girls and with the library’s help, we would do the rest.

A few weeks later the pandemic started and so did the civil rights protests. Social media was drenched with information. I happen to run into a quote by someone encouraging people to look beyond famous black Americans. This confused me at first. Because I had never thought to look beyond the well-known African Americans. Frankly, I didn’t even know where to begin.

On our next trip to the library, we checked out books without any popular names insight. We began reading a couple of books that covered events and people we had never heard of before. This is when it all began making sense to me. Looking beyond well-known events or people allows us to gather a better picture of what happened. It also enables us to honor those whose contributions may not seem impactful to history overall but who nonetheless have a valuable story to share. Then and most importantly it allows you to give credit where credit is due. It pays tribute to those who sacrificed so much for this nation but whose voices and stories have been dismissed.

We have a lot left to learn and have only dipped our toes in the water this past year. Here are 10 of our most favorite books from 2020. The ones that made us cry and laugh. The ones that our children asked to be read to over and over again.

1. The Youngest Marcher The main character is only 7 years old when she is arrested during a peaceful protest. This really brought it home for our older girls to see someone their age with such courage and yet who faced so many trials.
2. In the Shadow of Liberty Author discusses 5 Black Americans who rubbed shoulders with big household names in early American History and discusses some of the audacities of slavery. Somethings the girls understood other things just went over their heads. I enjoyed this book a lot.
3. Henry’s Freedom Box A less known story about a man who mails himself to freedom. This book had the girls at the edge of their seats.
4. Martin’s Big Words We won this book at a festival and it’s one of our favorites. You can’t talk about civil rights without talking about MLK!
5. A Spy Called James He’s a double agent during the American Revolution. Need I say more? The children and I read this book every day for two weeks straight.
6. Queen of the Track A story about an underdog winning never gets old. This book will make you cry at the end. The girls loved Alice’s spirit!
7. Freedom Walkers Before Rosa there was Jo-Ann and Claudette. This is a wonderful read-aloud that explains in greater detail the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
8. Before She Was Harriet The illustrations and combined with amazing storytelling make this one of my favorite books about Harriet.
9. Hand in Hand I read this one with my oldest (8 yrs. old). It’s a YA book with short biographies of 10 of the most influential men in Black History. Think Malcolm X and Obama in one book. The author writes with such fluidity making it a fascinating read aloud.
10. Granddaddy’s Turn a beautifully illustrated book told from a young boy’s point of view about his grandfather’s journey to the voting poll.