Over the past few weeks, I’ve come across new books on Threads, Instagram, or while researching upcoming arts and culture events for the February newsletter. These book titles caught my attention, so I’m excited to share them with you. Here’s the list of 5 Books that focus on Black history:
A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics by Juanita Tolliver
In 1972, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm broke the ice in American politics when she became the first Black woman to run for president of the United States. Chisholm left behind a coalition-building model personified by a once-in-an-era Hollywood party hosted by legendary actress and singer Diahann Carroll, and attended by the likes of Huey P. Newton, Barbara Lee, Berry Gordy, David Frost, Flip Wilson, Goldie Hawn and others.
Release Date: January 14, 2025
Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street by George E. Johnson and Hilary Beard
The inspiring and resilient story of George E. Johnson, creator of the iconic Afro Sheen and the first Black-owned company to be traded on Wall Street
You might already be familiar with Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen, but have you heard of the man behind the company that produced these products? In Afro Sheen, George Ellis Johnson, the acclaimed self-made businessman, reveals his inspiring and captivating rise from humble beginnings to the top of the haircare industry.
Release Date: February 4, 2025
African Venice: A Guide to Art, Culture and People by Paul Kaplan and Shaul Bassi
African Venice is the first guidebook to the extensive historical and contemporary African presence in the city of the lagoons. A set of ten walking tours highlights images of Black people in Venetian art from the Middle Ages to the present, the afterlife of Shakespeare’s Othello, the painful local legacies of slavery and Italian colonialism, and the remarkable visibility of African and Afro-descendant artists at the Venice Biennale.
Release Date: April 2025
Reframing Blackness What’s Black about “History of Art”? by Alayo Akinkugbe
Exploring the presentation of Black figures in Western art, as well as Blackness in museums, in feminist art movements and in the curriculum, Alayo unveils an overlooked but integral part of our collective art history.
Release Date: October 10, 2025
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