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@prettyvacantcyde | @novacancyinn | About Acyde
Around the time of the recent BLM global marches, we noticed an extensive, informed, well-rounded, suggested reading list that Acyde posted that included non-fiction, black history, American history, African history, Canadian history, world history, socio-political thinking, socio economic studies and philosophy.
We’ve chosen 10 books from his list, to start. Buy this as a present, buy this for yourself (we did), buy this for your friend, buy this for whoever you can. Educate, educate, educate.
A percentage of sales of this collection will go to Black Ticket Project, who help black youth get better access to the arts.
‘Build your mind so you can learn (how) to separate and synthesise all the information that’s floating around’ – @prettyvacantcyde.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Obama's statement made me think of Between the World and Me, an extraordinary forthcoming book by Ta-Nehisi Coates, in which he writes an impassioned letter to his teenage son; a letter both loving and full of a parent's dread, counseling him on the history of American violence against the black body, the young African-American's extreme vulnerability to wrongful arrest, police violence, and disproportionate incarceration." – David Remnick in The New Yorker
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A true American classic and a novel whose crusading spirit and memorable characters have passed into literary folklore, To Kill a Mockingbird views the brutality of racism in the Deep South through the eyes of child narrator, Scout.
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
"The great poet-prophet of the civil rights movement... his seminal work." – The Guardian
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
“One of the most remarkable one-man social and psychological experiments in history... it is worth reading what he wrote – and then reflecting on how far we have come. And how far we have to go.” – BBC News
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
"The most engaging literary sleuthing you'll read this year... What makes the novel so extraordinary is the way in which Whitehead plays with notions of race." – Newsweek
Blink by Malcom Gladwell
Just as he did with his revolutionary theory of the tipping point, Gladwell reveals how the power of 'blink' could fundamentally transform our relationships, the way we consume, create and communicate, how we run our businesses and even our societies. You'll never think about thinking in the same way again.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The chronicle of the tragic lives of a poor black family in 1940s America. Every night Pecola, unlovely and unloved, prays for blue eyes like those of her white schoolfellows. She becomes the focus of the mingled love and hatred engendered by her family's frailty and the world's cruelty.
The Life and Times of Little Richard by Charles White
Charles White is the only author to have captured the true energy of Little Richard. Using Richard's own words, White chronicles a staggering career that spanned the very rules of rock 'n' roll, the rise of The Beatles, tussles with God and the Devil and an erratic series of comebacks. Illustrated with pictures from Little Richard's own archive and including a comprehensive discography.
The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This small and perfectly formed epic follows the lives of boys on the journey to manhood in black America and beyond in 1980s Baltimore, a city on the verge of chaos.
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
“[Her] evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human.” – New York Times
Please allow for 3-5 days for delivery, UK only. If you would like to request a rush order, please email us.
Unused books can be returned within 14 days of purchase at your own expense. If a product is damaged or goes missing while being returned, UJ Select will not be held responsible, and will not be able to issue a refund.
Collections: Acyde, Charitable Initiative, Product
