8 Memoir Recommendations for Black History Month
Michelle Obama — Becoming
Overview: Michelle Obama reminded me what I love about memoirs, that someone I thought was one of the greatest smartest women in this world (still do), is also so human, humble, and flawed like the rest of us. Michelle inspires me to believe I can achieve more than I believe, but also that it’s okay to be imperfect.
Recommended for: Ambitious leaders, academics, interested in law, politics, social justice.
Excerpt: “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”
Maya Angelou —(She has 7 memoirs!)
Overview: Maya Angelou has seven memoirs that follow her life story, and I’ve read the first two so far. In the most famous I know why the caged bird sings, she covers her childhood and adolescence growing up in a small Black community in the South, raised by her strong strict grandmother. So far her second book is actually my favourite despite the first being more well known. In Gather together in my name, we see Maya come of age in her late teens and early 20’s and exposes how gritty, funny, bold, and independent she was.
Recommended for: Anyone wanting to understand some USA Black History from someone who lived through it — and who writes beautifully.
Excerpt: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Shonda Rhimes — The Year of Yes
Overview: As the title suggests, Shonda takes on a year of saying yes to everything she can after realizing being a busy workaholic, tired single mom, and anxious human has her saying no to a lot of potentially joyful things. She is a funny, dramatic, and vulnerable writer.
Recommended for: If you are (a) a type-A personality and/or (b) a fan of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and especially if you’re both.
Excerpt: “There is no list of rules. There is one rule. The rule is: there are no rules. Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”
Elaine Welteroth — More Than Enough
Overview: In a difficult period of my life and career where I was seeking out, reading, listening to all the self help/wellness/meditation/therapy/healing resources out there — it was Elaine’s voice (audiobook) that had me really getting in tune with listening to my intuition like she has through her whole career. If you don’t know her backstory: Elaine made history being not only one of the youngest, but also only the 2nd Black Editor-in-Chief of a major magazine. But her success story isn’t the type that makes you feel inadequate in comparison, it can make you feel powerful enough to strive for greatness too.
Recommended for: Anyone trying to figure out their career path or make a career change.
Excerpt: “We don’t prioritize our time with ourselves. We rarely set aside moments to be still, to access our center. And the bottom line is, when we don’t focus on our inner light, it dims.”
Alicia Keys — More Myself
Overview: Learn the story of Alicia discovering music, breaking into the music industry, and in the later chapters, finding herself, her spirituality, and who she is as a partner and mother. Note* I listened to the audiobook — highly recommend, her voice is so soothing.
Recommended for: Anyone! But especially fans of Alicia and fans of good music.
Excerpt: “We adjust ourselves to fit, to adapt to others’ ideas of who we should be. We shift ourselves not in sweeping pivots but in movements so tiny that they are hardly perceptible even in our view. Years can pass before we finally discover that after handing over our power, piece by small piece, we no longer even look like ourselves.”
Gabrielle Union — We’re Going to Need More Wine
Overview: The subtitle for this book is “stories that are funny, complicated, and true” but I must say, this book was not funny. And not in a bad way, Gabrielle just covers some very serious and traumatic stories and I think to say the book is funny takes away how important and deep it is. So if you want to read a raw memoir, read this. If you want to read a funny memoir, there are others.
Recommended for: Fans of hers, movie buffs in general, and also just women who have been through some tough things, I think/hope she makes you feel seen.
Excerpt: “I am told no one wants to hear about it. I even hear it from other people of color in Hollywood. Some have climbed the mountain and have been able to assimilate so thoroughly, they think they are in a parallel universe. “You’re sabotaging your own success by limiting yourself to being a black woman,” they say. They tell us that if we just stripped away these layers of identity, we would be perceived not for our color or gender, but for our inner core. Our “humanness.” My humanness doesn’t insulate me from racism or sexism. In fact, I think I can deal effectively with the world precisely because I am a black woman who is so comfortable in my black-womanness.”
Kamala Harris — The Truths We Hold
Overview: I am surprised to say I devoured this book in a few days. I’m not very very into politics (and I’m Canadian), but Kamala’s story of her journey into and climbing the ladder of US politics was really inspiring. She took on some incredible giants (like the big banks after the 2008 crash) despite people telling her not to, and having the odds against her. I know she’s got her critics, but this showed me the incredible impact she’s had on a lot of the biggest issues in US politics.
Recommended for: Americans, those who like politics, and other ambitious female leaders who want to make an impact.
Excerpt: “My daily challenge to myself is to be part of the solution, to be a joyful warrior in the battle to come. My challenge to you is to join that effort. To stand up for our ideals and our values. Let’s not throw up our hands when it’s time to roll up our sleeves. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Years from now, our children and our grandchildren will look up and lock eyes with us. They will ask us where we were when the stakes were so high. They will ask us what it was like. I don’t want us to just tell them how we felt. I want us to tell them what we did.”
Roxane Gay — Bad Feminist
Overview: I love a short essay style book, so I’m reviewing this with that bias. Roxane Gay can go from funny and quirky to making important statements on women’s and racial issues in the same story with perfect natural flow. She covers topics from pop culture to competitive scrabble to exploring sexuality and her experience as the one of the only Black faculty member at a university. I always appreciate a writer who writes in a very human, conversational, accessible way, and that’s Roxane Gay.
Recommended for: Anyone who cares about feminism — whether you love the word or hate it.
Excerpt: “I embrace the label of bad feminist because I am human. I am messy. I’m not trying to be an example. I am not trying to be perfect. I am not trying to say I have all the answers. I am not trying to say I’m right. I am just trying — trying to support what I believe in, trying to do some good in this world, trying to make some noise with my writing while also being myself.”
Honourable mention to the next one on my nightstand:
