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Searing Memoirs from Authors of Color
A diverse reading list for crucial context on racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Published on May 24, 2023
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
Patrisse CullorsThis eloquent memoir interweaves Patrisse Khan-Cullors’ experiences growing up in southern California with a social commentary about the Black Lives Matter movement (which Khan-Cullors helped found), where we are now, and where we can go from here.
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir
Saeed JonesPoet Saeed Jones lays bare the struggle of growing up both gay and black in Texas. His prose evokes these painful memories with just the right amount of distance to show the hope beyond the otherwise bleak circumstances.
My Vanishing Country: A Memoir
Bakari SellersIn his remarkable memoir, Bakari Sellers shares stirring stories of how rural poverty, the trauma of generations of racism, and his parents’ fortitude as activists in the civil rights movement shaped him into a fierce advocate for social justice today. In an interview with NPR on May 31, 2020, Sellers says he wrote the book in part because “I want people to understand the pain that goes along with being black in this country and just listen and read. And if you have that understanding, maybe we can have conversations with empathy … and begin to heal the vivid divides that we have in this country.”
I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé
I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé
Michael ArceneauxHeartfelt and heartbreaking, Michael Arceneaux’s essays explore his experiences as a gay, black, Catholic Southerner, including how he set about, in his words, “unlearning every damaging thing I’ve seen and heard about my identity.” From praying to Jesus to “cure” him of homosexuality and being recruited for the priesthood, to his love of Beyoncé and coming out to his mom, this is a bold collection on the power of self-acceptance.
In the Dream House: A Memoir
Carmen Maria MachadoCarmen Maria Machado (“Her Body and Other Parties”) doesn’t just break all the rules with her marvelous memoir — she transcends them. Masterfully weaving together dozens of genres, from gothic and folktales, to lesbian pulp and road trips, Machado tells the frightening story of a past relationship with an abusive girlfriend. “In the Dream House” breaks the destructive silence surrounding abusive queer relationships — and breaks open a new way of nonfiction storytelling.
The Yellow House: A Memoir (2019 National Book Award Winner)
Sarah M. BroomSarah Broom’s breathtaking memoir made countless best-books-of-the-year lists when it came out in 2019, including Barack Obama’s and The New York Times’ top 10. Broom tells the story of her family through the framework of their beloved yellow house in a New Orleans neighborhood you never see in travel guides. You’ll feel the humidity and hear the Mississippi rising through her evocative writing, as Broom chronicles how her family rides out Hurricane Katrina — and generations of social injustices.
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More
Janet MockWriter and producer Janet Mock’s memoir of coming out as transgender is an urgent read right now, as the higher levels of discrimination and violence committed against trans women of color has made national headlines. Mock provides a path to a better tomorrow.
The Book of Rosy: A Mother’s Story of Separation at the Border
Rosayra Pablo CruzA gutrenching, timely story that digs deeper than the headlines. Rosayra “Rosy” Cruz shares her deeply personal story of fleeing a gang-ridden part of Guatemala with the goal of reaching the United States to provide a better life for her family. Arriving at the Arizona border is anything but a happy ending when Rosy is separated from her children, detained, and faced with the daunting task of navigating the Kafkaesque immigration system.
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body
Roxane GayThis is not a typical dieting memoir. Roxane Gay (one of our favorite contemporary writers) was gang raped at age 12, and because of that trauma, she gained weight as a defense mechanism. “I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe,” she writes. “Hunger” is raw, and it’s for anyone who also constantly gnaws over complicated images of beauty and feelings of self-worth.
Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family
Mitchell JacksonAward-winning author Mitchell Jackson takes on all the complicated, winding ways his personal life is and is not entangled with systemic racism in this memoir of essays. Deep love and abundant humanity lights up his lyrical prose about family, pimps, drug abuse, and gang violence.
How To Write An Autobiographical Novel: Essays
Alexander CheeAlexander Chee’s book is mostly memoir mixed with morsels of writing tutorial as he attempts to both unravel and connect all the disparate parts that shape our identities. Chee’s observations as a mixed-race gay man who grew up with sexual abuse provide a powerful and clear perspective.
Heavy: An American Memoir
Kiese LaymonKiese Laymon’s memoir made just about every best-of books list when it came out in 2018, and it lives up to all the hype. “Heavy” touches on a slew of topics — from obesity to systemic racism to family secrets — that weigh on many contemporary Americans.
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls: A Memoir
T Kira MaddenT Kira Madden was raised by a Jewish father and a Chinese Hawaiian mother in Boca Raton, Florida, and she quickly figured out that she was queer to boot. In her memoir, she reveals just how confining and heavy the boxes we try to shove ourselves (and each other) in are, despite the vast diversity of experiences.
Missed Translations: Meeting the Immigrant Parents Who Raised Me
Sopan DebThis touching memoir from Sopan Deb, a comedian and writer for The New York Times, had us literally LOL’ing through our tears. Deb sets out on a journey of discovery to India in the hopes of getting to know his secretive father, and finds his way back to New Jersey to reconnect with his equally tight-lipped mother — and the family history that helped shape him into the man who overshares on stage today.
Thick: And Other Essays
Tressie McMillan CottomFans of Roxane Gay and Ta-Nehisi Coates have a lot to love in Tressie McMillan Cottom’s sharp collection of essays. McMillian explores the challenges of being black and a woman in America, takes on the meaning of beauty, and more. Witty, provocative, and wise.
Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience
Anuradha BhagwatiAnuradha Bhagwati’s life is full of twists and turns, some purposeful and others punishing: After graduating from Yale, she decided to join the Marines, defying the expectations and wishes of her Indian parents. From there, she found a strength previously unknown to her, while also enduring flagrant sexism as one of the few female members of the Marines. Bhagwati’s life is fascinating, and her work as an activist after leaving the service has led to historic changes for women serving in the military.
Fire Shut Up In My Bones: A Memoir
Charles M. BlowNew York Times journalist Charles M. Blow tackles the tough task of connecting and disentangling his race, class, sexual, gender, and geographic identity in this poetic memoir. An important coming out story from a bisexual, black, Southern man.