In the midst of the current mainstream hyper-awareness of Black Lives Matter and systemic racism, people are turning to Black authors and activists to learn more about this cultural moment (and the 400+ years prior to it). In an effort to elevate Black voices and their work, the hashtags #BlackoutBestsellerList and #BlackPublishingPower have started circulating, encouraging anyone and everyone to buy books by Black authors in the week of June 13 to June 20 to hopefully "blackout" bestseller lists with these often overlooked books.The initiative was started by Amistad Books—a publishing company "devoted to multicultural voices"—and elevated by Oprah, who's been using the hashtags to promote the latest read in her Oprah's Book Club, Deacon King Kong by James McBride. In a tweet announcing the challenge, Amistad Books writes: "To demonstrate our power and clout in the publishing industry... we encourage you to purchase any two books by Black writers. Our goal is to Blackout bestseller lists with Black voices."[video_embed id='1979697']RELATED: ‘This Is Us’ teen star pens essay on being a young Black boy in Hollywood [/video_embed]With thousands of titles by Black authors out there, there's no shortage of books you can buy to bulk up your shelves, but we've pulled together some of our favourites to help you make your decision.

Deacon King Kong, James McBride

My next @oprahsbookclub pick, “Deacon King Kong” by James McBride, is a reminder that while we struggle with pain and trauma, we can always find shelter in one another—just like the characters in this novel. pic.twitter.com/e3vWLHYNKV

— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) June 16, 2020

Selected by Oprah as her latest book club pick, James McBride's novel examines several separate livelihoods all thrust together when a sudden act of violence changes everything in 1960s New York City. Groups of diverse witnesses, investigating police officers, drug dealers and a church deacon are all uniquely affected by the event and McBride tells the fictional story with humour, gravity and a deep understanding of the social nuances at play.

Becoming, Michelle Obama

 

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You may have heard of former First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Michelle Obama; you may have even heard her tell her story. But there's nothing like reading her own reflection and analysis of her own life from growing up in Chicago's Southside, to attending college and becoming a corporate lawyer, to pivoting her entire career, to meeting her future husband Barack, to her time in the White House. It's a long read, and yet somehow, not long enough.

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

 

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From the history of the term "race" (and its totally fake construction) to what that history now means for a father raising a Black son in America, Ta-Nehisi Coates examines the complexities and intricacies of the structure of white supremacy. It's an intensely human look at a system that operates on dehumanization. Toni Morrison literally called this book "required reading," so you better get on it.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

 

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Another Oprah fave (and honestly, who isn't a Maya Angelou fan?), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Angelou's 2009 memoir in which she tells the devastating, uplifting, traumatizing, inspiring, heartbreaking, beautiful story of her childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Her journey of maturing into the woman she was after a young life full of abandonment, fear and trauma can only be read in her own words.

We're Going to Need More Wine, Gabrielle Union

 

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In 2017, Gabrielle Union wrote a memoir that any reader will definitely find themselves re-telling the stories in over dinner and drinks. Seriously, save yourself some time and just get your entire friend group to read this baby all at once. We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True is full of Gabrielle's characteristic humour while also being vulnerable and real about race, sexuality, Hollywood and so much more.BONUS: This year, Union also wrote a kids book, Welcome to the Party, for her daughter Kaavia James about her birth through surrogacy. The illustrations are by Ashley Evans.

The Source of Self-Regard, Toni Morrison

 

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Want a little taste of everything Toni Morrison has done in her incredible life? This collection of essays, speeches and various other works from the phenomenal writer touch on almost every significant era of her life and Black history in general. She offers musings on Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, 9/11, human rights issues and even her own previous work, making this a must-read whether you love Toni Morrison or are reading her for the very first time.

Beloved, Toni Morrison

 

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You're going to want to dive into Toni Morrison's fiction too and what better place to start (or return to) than one of her most popular novels, Beloved? The story centers on a woman who was once a slave, but after her escape, is never truly free from the horrors she experienced at the hands of her owners. Remaining haunted both metaphorically and literally by her past, she paints an artful, raw and heartbreaking picture of all American slavery pillaged from generations of people.

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin

 

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Regina King won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role as Sharon Rivers in Barry Jenkin's 2019 film adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel. In the story, the hopeful plans of two young lovers, Tish and Fonny, go up in smoke when Fonny is falsely accused of a violent crime and arrested. It's a novel that fuses modern politics and discussions of racism with a love story you're desperately rooting for.

More Than Enough, Elaine Welteroth

 

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Remember when Teen Vogue went from ads and fashion tips to exposés on Donald Trump and the importance of voting? That was Elaine Welteroth's doing. The former editor-in-chief was just 29 when Anna Wintour entrusted the teen magazine's online presence to her and she quickly pivoted the legendary mag into a vehicle for teaching a younger generation their own political power. More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) is Elaine's barrier-breaking journey through the media and fashion industry and certainly doesn't shy away from the tough topics of race, gender and identity.

I'm Still Here, Austin Channing Brown

 

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Activist Austin Channing Brown perfectly captures the deep exhaustion that accompanies having to constantly police and explain your presence in white spaces in her book I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. Working in mostly white evangelical organizations, Brown breaks down everything from daily microagressions from coworkers to aggressive confrontations from people she's supposed to be leading in diversity training workshops. These instances are just a fraction of the constant emotional labour Black women must do simply to exist in "a world made for whiteness."

How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi

 

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If you're new to the concept of antiracism work, Ibram X. Kendi is your starting point. Setting up "antiracism" as a necessary counter to "colourblindness" or just "not being racist," Kendi explains the ways racism intersects with every aspect of life from gender to class to geography and how in order to truly combat racism and discrimination in all its forms, we need to be on constant lookout for the arbitrary, yet life-defining, hierarchies humans build.BONUS: Got a baby in your life you want to raise to be a socially conscious youth and adult? Kendi has also written a more kid-friendly version called Antiracist Baby. Illustrations by Ashley Lukashevsky.

Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay

 

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A now feminist classic, Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist is the read you need if you want to examine all the complexities that go into one life from the frivolous to the political and all the ways they intersect. She'll make you laugh, cry, love pink, hate that you love pink, love that you love pink and test every assumption you hold, but it's a journey well worth taking.

The Body is Not an Apology, Sonya Renee Taylor

 

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In The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor examines the transformative idea that "systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies." Her memoir defies these systems by telling her own story of reconnection to her body and challenging readers to radically love their own.

Don't Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri

 

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This book has one thesis statement: Black hair is important and needs to be celebrated. Emma Dabiri walks readers through a history of Black hair from pre-colonial Africa to the Harlem Renaissance to today's natural hair movement, hitting on the cultural significance of each era. As she says: "Straightened. Stigmatised. 'Tamed.' Celebrated. Erased. Managed. Appropriated. Forever misunderstood. Black hair is never 'just hair.'"

We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

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Clocking in at just 65 pages, this read is a quick but powerful one. Based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 30-minute TED Talk of the same name, the activist offers a 21st century definition of feminism that is all-inclusive and grounded in modern understandings and nuances of gender identity, sexuality and lived experience. It's both deeply personal and universal—just like feminism.[video_embed id='1979188']BEFORE YOU GO: Ruth B hopes 'If I Have a Son' can be a force for change [/video_embed]