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  The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

  Nikole Hannah-Jones

  The 1619 Project reexamines the legacy of slavery in the United States by positioning the year 1619 when the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia as a foundational date in American history. The project argues that slavery and the contributions of Black Americans are central to the nation’s development, democracy, and identity. Through essays, poetry, and fiction, the project challenges traditional historical narratives, explores the enduring impacts of systemic racism, and highlights Black resistance and achievement. It seeks to reframe American history by placing the consequences of slavery and the experiences of Black Americans at the core of the national story.

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  Lovely One: A Memoir

  Ketanji Brown Jackson

  With this unflinching account, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family’s ascent from segregation to her confirmation on America’s highest court within the span of one generation.

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  Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor's Fight for Fairness

  Laura Coates

  A powerful true story and groundbreaking account of bias in the courtroom from CNN Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates, recounting her time as a Black female prosecutor for the US Department of Justice.

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  A Promised Land

  Barack Obama

  Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

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  The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

  Richard Rothstein

  Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods.

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  Thurgood Marshall: His Speeches, Writings, Arguments, Opinions, and Reminiscences (The Library of Black America series)

  Thurgood Marshall

  Drawing from his landmark court arguments, judicial opinions, public speeches, and personal reflections, the collection chronicles Marshall's lifelong fight for civil rights, equality, and justice. It includes excerpts from historic cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, as well as Marshall’s later writings on constitutional law, racial justice, and democracy. Edited with historical context, the book captures both the legal brilliance and moral conviction that defined Marshall’s legacy, making it a vital resource for understanding the evolution of American civil rights law.

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  Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers

  J. Clay Smith Jr.

  Beginning with a short essay written in 1897, the writing collected by J. Clay Smith, Jr., tells us how black women came to the practice of law, the challenges they faced as women and as blacks in making a place for themselves in the legal profession, their fight to become legal educators, and their efforts to encourage other black women and black men to come to the practice of law. The essays demonstrate the involvement of black women lawyers in important public issues of our time and show them addressing the sensitive subjects of race, equality, justice and freedom.

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  Crusaders in the Courts

  Jack Greenberg

  A personal memoir and in-depth history of the civil rights movement traces the development of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund and the author's experiences with Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Marian Wright Edelman, and others.