In case you missed it, Spotify recently added audiobooks to its content catalog and made them available to premium users. Users can listen to 15 hours a month and have more than 200,000 audiobooks available as part of their subscription, many of which are written by Black authors. Black History Month may be over, but check out these titles on Spotify.
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us
Written and narrated by Hanif Abdurraqib, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us brings together Abdurraqib’s sharp and evocative work exploring the intersection of music, Black culture, and the nuances of being a Black man in today’s America. According to The Guardian, They Can’t Kill Us delves into Ice Cube’s Death Certificate and its impact, The Notorious B.I.G.’s death, the fall of Fall Out Boy’s career, and more while explaining what these moments in music history say about being Black in America.
In The Fifth Season, author N.K. Jemisin’s talents as a robust world-creator sing. Set on a planet with one supercontinent called the Stillness that is subject to a catastrophic climate change every few centuries, The New York Times called The Fifth Season an “intensely moving and scientifically complex” worth paying attention to.
A Burst of Light and Other Essays
Audre Lorde is one of the 20th century’s greatest American theorists. Often commenting on race, sexuality, gender, and life and death, Lorde’s voice will forever have value, highlighting universal truths about Blackness in America. A Burst of Light and Other Essays is a battle cry for social action. In it, she explores intersectionality, sexuality and identifying as lesbian, Black identity, self-care and more.
Written by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain Gain All Stars follows two female gladiators fighting for freedom in a private prison system reminiscent of America’s.
“I think the narrators embodied the words in a way that highlights the inherent humanity and struggle of the characters. They expressed the dynamic range of the characters beautifully. And hopefully it helps readers connect,” Adjei-Brenyah said in a statement shared with Blavity.
He hopes Chain Gang All Stars honors Black voices all year round, especially in February.
“Hopefully CGAS helps remind us that inherently the carceral state silences voices and in telling this story Black voices and history are celebrated,” he said.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Deesha Philyaw tackles the complex coexistence of Black womanhood, desire and the church culture in this collection of essays. In it, Goodreads noted nine stories from women of different generations exploring struggling with their values, desires and church demands.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
An imperative piece of American literature, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave tells the story of Frederick Douglass’ enslavement and eventual freedom. Oscar Award-winner Forest Whitaker takes on narrating the 1845 memoir in Spotify’s version.
Cicely Tyson’s extraordinary life and career is the subject of Just as I Am, a memoir that, according to The Washington Post, Tyson needed convincing to write. Journalist and critic Tre’vell Anderson describes the book as a “400-page chronicle of a history as American as apple pie, as Black as the dead of night, as rich, surely, as Tyson’s favorite meals, oxtails and okra, cooked up by her late ex-husband Miles Davis.” Tyson and actors Viola Davis and Robin Miles narrate.
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
Southern-style food is a pillar of American cuisine, and culinary historian Michael W. Twitty lends his expertise to tell its story in The Cooking Gene. In the book, Twitty traces Southern recipes’ roots back generations while illuminating parts of Black history unknown by most — a must for food lovers.
The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are
The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are tells the story of Tariq Trotter, better known by his stage name, Black Thought. The rejuvenating memoir uncovers his difficult childhood, friendship with fellow Roots member Questlove, and his passion for music, The Washington Post reported.
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
Tia Williams, author of the award-winning novel turned Netflix movie The Perfect Find, takes on another epic love story in A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. Marrying romance with fantasy, Williams tells the love story of Ezra and Ricki, two people who don’t seem to fit into their surroundings and find refuge and magic in each other, Goodreads noted.
Redwood Court
A Reese’s Book Club pick, Redwood Court is a poignant novel that, according to The New York Times, offers much more than “nostalgia.” Protagonist Mika is assigned a school report on emigration and her family’s origins, kicking off a journey that spans decades and generations. Mika’s story mirrors that of millions of Black Americans whose complicated past continues to inform the present and likely future.
