Black History Month: Eddie Glaude Jr.’s recommended reads
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is an author, a commentator, and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton. His 2020 book, Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, was an Amazon Best Book of the Month and a best seller. He provided us with some book recommendations for Black History Month, as well as a comment:
“We must remember that Black History Month is American history. The books and experiences singled out over these 28 days offer us a particular angle on the American project. They expose the serpent that has always threatened to swallow whole this fragile experiment and reveal the extraordinary power of those James Baldwin called ‘improbable aristocrats.’”
This book is a searing, and at times difficult, account of the aftermath of America’s betrayal of the Black freedom struggle of the mid-20th century. The pages drip with rage. The structure of the book mirrors the trauma caused by the country’s lurch to the right. It is a must read, I believe, to help us understand our own dark times.
