/1. If They Come in the Morning by Angela Y. Davis /2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker /3. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurst /4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison /5.  Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin /6. Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks /7. Beloved by Toni Morrison


February is Black History Month; many of us as children spent February history or civics classes talking about black Civil Rights heroes like Rosa Parks or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For many of us, our understanding, even acknowledgment of Black History started with slavery (bad) and ended with the Civil Rights Movement (good).

 It wasn't until college when I had the opportunity to take a course called "History of the Non-Western World" that I was given a semester-long education about *OMG* the people of color who not only make up the majority of the global population, but the vast expansiveness of our history. I was amazed, and frustrated. Why hadn't I grown up knowing these stories? Knowing these names? Well, that's easy. Men, particularly white men, get not only about 99% of the internet, but they're also given, through our own lens, about 100% of human history.

 As an adult, as a white person, as a citizen, I have committed February to reading and re-reading fiction and non-fictions works by African-American authors.

 THREE REASONS TO CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH NO MATTER WHAT COLOR YOU ARE:

 1. HISTORY is made of stories that get written down; legends that get passed down. For a long time, intentional care was taken to remove women, and people of color from the pages of history. By reading Black authors, you are opening your vision and perspective on history, on the stories of people, on your own perceptions of human interactions and experiences. Books by authors of color can give us new perspectives on the history we've already been told, giving us a more accurate picture of what in the heck this world's actually been through. Black History started long before slavery, and it won't ever stop... understanding that Black History is integral to America's story makes us better citizens, and members of our national and local communities.

 2.  AS A WHITE PERSON, I don't navigate the world the way my Black friends and neighbors do, so it's important for me understand their experiences. While empathy is developed and responsibility is recognized in engaging in important conversations with persons of color, reading is another means of exchanging stories, of learning about experiences that aren't my own.

 3. NO MATTER HOW AMAZING, many works by Black authors throughout history have not given the promotion or credit they've deserved. I wasn't exposed to many Black authors, some of the best and brightest literary minds our country has to offer, until high school reading lists required them. Read for great writing, read to fall into a different time and place, read them because their names should be said and their stories should be known.