February is Black History Month. It is a month dedicated to reflecting on and honoring the achievements, sacrifices, and perseverance of Black Americans throughout history.

February was officially designated Black History Month in 1986 thanks to the determined efforts of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—or to trace its roots even further back, to ASALH founder Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who established "Negro History Week" in 1926.

Still, notes 2021 ASALH National President Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, "Woodson never confined Negro History to a week. His life's work and the mission of ASALH since its founding in 1915 represent a living testimony to the year-round and year-after-year study of African American history." 

"Black History Month is not a token. It is a special tribute—a time of acknowledgement, of reflection, and inspiration—that comes to life in real and ongoing activities throughout the year. ... Black History Month is a powerful symbolic celebration. And symbols always stand for something bigger." —Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

At Books-A-Million, we believe that reading is one of the most important ways to celebrate Black History Month, and it's our job—and our pleasure—to point you toward the books we feel best exemplify the spirit of this special month.

Get started with our recommendations below, and make this Black History Month one for the books.

Our Top Picks for Black History Month

• You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston
• Letters to the Sons of Society: A Father's Invitation to Love, Honesty, and Freedom
• Angela Davis: An Autobiography
• South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
• An Abolitionist's Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World
• Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019
• Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• How to Be an Antiracist
• Between the World and Me
• The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Critically Acclaimed and Award-Winning Books

• Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
• Respect: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• Before the Ever After

For Young Readers

• Who Was Martin Luther King Jr.?
• Who Is Barack Obama?
• Who Was Rosa Parks?
• What Was the Underground Railroad?

Find More at Books-A-Million

We invite you to dive even deeper at a store near you or online, where you'll find armloads of educational and inspirational books on topics ranging from Black heritage to the Civil Rights Movement to antiracism, social justice, and stories of trailblazers in the ongoing fight for equality—all perfect for reading any month of the year.