Juneteenth—also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day—recognizes the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth, observed on June 19th, commemorates African-American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. These audiobooks reflect on our past and explore Black history and culture.

The Grift

Written by Clay Cane

Performed by Clay Cane

Published by Recorded Books

An Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

Part history and part cultural analysis, The Grift chronicles the nuanced history of Black Republicans. By studying these figures and their tactics, Cane exposes the grift and lays out a plan to emancipate our future.

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Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice

Written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes

Performed by Korey Jackson

Published by Recorded Books

Winner of the 2023 YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award
Finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
A Coretta Scott King Award Author and Illustrator Honor Book
A Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist Best Book of the Year

Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today.

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There Was a Party for Langston

Written by Jason Reynolds

Performed by Jason Reynolds

Published by Recorded Books

A Caldecott Honor Book
A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

You are invited. To a most marvelous party. For a most marvelous man. A man who turned the alphabet into thump a bump. Who turned words into jazz into rivers into bustin’ a move. All of his word-children will be there, uh-huh. Because it’s a party for Langston. Langston Hughes. King o’ Letters. Renaissance Man. So don’t be shy. Come on in. To the Hoopla in Harlem. Everyone is welcome.

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Get Off My Neck: Black Lives, White Justice, and a Former Prosecutor’s Quest for Reform

Written by Debbie Hines

Performed by Karen Chilton

Published by Recorded Books

In Get Off My Neck, Debbie Hines draws on her unique perspective as a trial lawyer, former Baltimore prosecutor, and assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland to argue that US prosecutors, as the most powerful players in the criminal justice system, systematically target and criminalize Black people.

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A Seat at the Table:The Life and Times of Shirley Chisholm

Written by F. Erik Brooks and Drs. Glenn L. Starks

Performed by Kim Staunton

Published by Recorded Books

“Ms. Chisholm’s boldness and contributions to the fight for equality for women and people of color are on full display in A Seat at the Table.”—Dr. Jermaine Wright, Vice President for Student Affairs at Lehman College/CUNY

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisolm rose from being the child of immigrants to running for the highest office in the land. She was both the first African American woman elected to the US Congress and the first African American woman of a major political party to make a serious run for president of the United States. These achievements were not in spite of her background but rather because of it.

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John Lewis: In Search of the Beloved Community

Written by Raymond Arsenault 

Performed by Jaime Lincoln Smith

Published by Tantor Audio

In this first book-length biography of Lewis, Raymond Arsenault traces Lewis’s upbringing in rural Alabama, his activism as a Freedom Rider and leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, his championing of voting rights and anti-poverty initiatives, and his decades of service as the “conscience of Congress.”

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Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics

Written by Michael G. Long

Performed by Bill Andrew Quinn

Published by Tantor Audio

With expansive, searching, and sometimes critical essays from a range of esteemed writers—including Rustin’s own partner, Walter Naegle—this volume draws a full picture of Bayard Rustin: a gay, pacifist, socialist political radical who changed the course of US history and set a precedent for future civil rights activism, from LGBTQ+ Pride to Black Lives Matter.

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Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird

Written by Gene Andrew Jarrett

Performed by Mirron Willis

Published by Tantor Audio

Beautifully written and meticulously researched, this biography presents the richest, most detailed, and most nuanced portrait yet of Paul Laurence Dunbar and his work, transforming how we understand the astonishing life and times of a central figure in American literary history.

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Mr. Straight Up No Chaser (Baes of Juneteenth, Book 1)

Written by Sherelle Green

Performed by iiKane and Winston James

Published by Tantor Audio

After opening a cultural community center in the heart of Chicago, Porter Crowne is determined to make The Blackout Fest the best Juneteenth celebration yet. Especially when chosen as Mr. Black Chicago. Partnering with influential members of the community will ensure its success. However, if you aren’t following the plan, you’re in his way just like the curvy, feisty vlogger who argues with every suggestion he has.

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The Selected Works of Audre Lorde

Written by Audre Lorde

Performed by Mia Ellis

Published by Tantor Audio 

A definitive selection of Audre Lorde’s “intelligent, fierce, powerful, sensual, provocative, indelible” (Roxane Gay) prose and poetry, for a new generation of listeners.

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