The black experience is multifaceted and literature plays a vital role in documenting, navigating and understanding our history. Whether it's reading letters by Bayard Rustin in I Must Resist, or modern texts like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, the written word is a great source for strength and guidance. Noir Reads, a new subscription book service launched on Monday, by Derick Brewer and Zellie Imani, will guarantee your bookshelves are filled with prominent black writers.

“There's always been a need, recognized or unrecognized, to explore the black culture and black history in expansive ways,” says Imani, “We wanted a way to quench people's thirst for political education or diverse black narratives, but at scale. Noir Reads does this.”

The low-cost subscription service priced at $35 per month or $100 for three months, delivers two to three fiction and nonfiction books each month right to your doorstep. The first shipment includes Angela Davis’ Freedom Is A Constant Struggle and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.

On curating the book selections, Imani told Blavity, “We want to connect people with great work. The challenge is ensuring we don't select books that are already owned by subscribers. Fortunately for us at Noir Reads, there is a vast and rich history of the African diaspora to curate from.”

Connecting readers to writers of the diaspora is just the first step in the subscription service, which Imani and Brewer hope to expand into a place for guest curators to join in on the selection process. “If our box's theme is centered on the first black republic, a Haitian curator would have a greater insight of the titles to benefit our subscribers,” says Imani. For now, the books are selected by both Imani and Brewer, as well as reader surveys.

Whether you need an escape from reality, an inspirational story or a guide to combating our racist society, Noir Reads is an excellent service to get all the resources you require. Sign me up!

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Derick Brewer and Zellie Imani

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