Reading is political. There’s no way around it. Whether you want to accept it or not, fiction and non-fiction will always cause its readers to think more critically about the environment and culture they are in.

This is why it’s no surprise that despite many cultural pushbacks, books are still getting banned or re-banned. Books like The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou are some of the most famous books by Black authors to be banned. So, here’s a list of some slightly lesser known banned books by Black authors, because no matter what anyone says, Black history is worth being celebrated!

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Banned in Florida and Pennsylvania, Beloved by the late, great Nobel Prize laureate, Toni Morrison, is considered a classic must-read for a reason. Banning a must-read book goes beyond all reason, which is one of the reasons why you should read this! Beloved frames Sethe as the protagonist. Sethe was born into slavery but physically escaped, despite still being in the mental shackles of Sweet Home, a beautiful farm home to ugly tales. Her new home carries a similar weight, as it is haunted by the ghost of her baby, whose tombstone is engraved solely with the word ‘Beloved.’ Beloved‘s lyrical prose and bittersweet storytelling grips readers into a story that is worth hearing.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi tells the poignant tale of two half-sisters bearing the separate weights of the classes in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia and Esi are born into two different villages— Effia gets married off to an Englishman and moves off to a comfortable castle, while her sister Esi is imprisoned in that same castle’s dungeons and sold into the Gold Coast’s slave trade. While Esi gets shipped off to America, where later generations of her bloodline will be raised in slavery, Effia’s descendants travel through centuries of warfare in Ghana. Following these bloodlines all the way until present day, this novel demonstrates how time shapes us, and how history is always entrenched so deeply into the individual self. Despite the necessity of this story, it is currently banned in Florida.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker, a novel that later became a well-known film, musical, and musical film, is set in a 1900s rural Georgia. Following two sisters, Celie and Nettie were separated as young girls. As their story is told through letters that the sisters send to one another over time, this story shares the troubles of being Black woman in America. It broke the silence around DV and SA, resonating with many women and letting them know that they are seen. Previously banned in North Carolina, this novel is well-loved for a very good reason.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Banned in Florida, Pet by Akwaeke Emezi has won numerous awards and is a part of a short series. Pet is a thought-provoking magical realism novel that explores a world where there are supposedly no monsters anymore… or so Jam and Redemption thought. Until one a creature escapes from an artist’s canvas whose talent is sniffing out monsters. When Jam meets Pet, a creature that came from her mother’s painting, she discovers she may need to reconsider. She is forced to face the question: “How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?” (Source: Goodreads).

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is banned in a whopping four states—Florida, North Dakota, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. A novel that was adapted into a 2018 film and won many book awards, this novel is heralded as an authentic and important read in our generation. Starr Carter is sixteen years old and lives between two worlds— the poor neighborhood she lives in and the suburban pre school she attends. The Hate U Give explores the moment when Starr is first radicalized; she witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, die in a fatal shooting by a police office. Khalil was unarmed, but the headlines and news are calling him a thug. Starr is the only one who can answer the questions that the people have, but is stuck between a rock and a hard place— what she says could endanger her own life. This contemporary realistic fiction explores the dangers that racism play in our society to this day.

This list was sourced from Harpers Bazaar’s list of books banned by state in America. These books are just a glimpse at Black history. The need, however, on remaining educated and empathetic towards the Black community is still present, even after you’ve closed the book.