The Importance of Reading Black Literature

 

This year’s Black History Month ended weeks ago, but that doesn’t make Black history any less important in the months following. If anything, you should show even more support for the Black community by reading the literature they write and seeing life from their perspective.

Here’s why you should be reading Black literature regardless of your skin color.

Literature is Literature, No Matter the Color

Around June 2020, a noticeable spike was reported in the purchase of books by Black authors. This wasn’t a coincidence or a case of the world finally seeing literature beyond color. In fact, this was only a temporary interest the world was taking in Black lives after the brutal killing of George Floyd in May of the same year sparked worldwide protests. 

 

The rules of literature should never be written in blood. It shouldn’t take someone’s demise to finally see the light. Without putting too fine a point on it: you should read Black literature because you like reading. Race shouldn’t have anything to do with it.

Black Literature: Preference vs. Willful Avoidance

There’s a difference between seeing race while selecting your literature and ignoring literature because it represents a certain race. You shouldn’t write off Black literature because it’s “not your cup of tea”. Odds are, you just haven’t come across a good book yet.

Your reading choices are your prerogative, but consciously avoiding the African American aspect of literature means depriving yourself of the African American experience that affects an important minority of your country. Empathy is the way forward for Black people in America, and your willful avoidance—and the resulting ignorance—is the exact opposite of that idea.

Black Literature Breaks Barriers

Black literature imitates life. It talks about racial inequality, bias, violence, and the stereotypes that suppress their freedom of expression. For instance, take the “Angry Black Man” stereotype. Anger is human. So why is it that when a Black man shows it, he’s considered a threat? Why must he be held down, stomped upon, and even killed for being human?

 

Black literature questions the subjugation and persecution of the African American diaspora. It questions the moral standards of society through fictitious or true stories about the Black experience. It uses the power of words to get the word out about the struggles and triumphs, highs and lows, and past and present of Black people, young and old.

Never Imagined: A Tale About the Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of the Younger Generation

Black literature encompasses all genres and subgenres, and it positively dominates urban fiction. If you’re a fan of urban novels, you’ll absolutely love Never Imagined by Charlie Mon. A work of fiction, this book details the struggles of four Black men in the glittery and glamorous parts of California, throwing in plenty of tropes that define the African American experience, such as tension, love, loyalty, betrayal, and murder.

Purchase your copy today for a glimpse at the lives of young Black men beyond all that glitters in San Bernardino.