Time and time again, the world has failed Black women, yet each time, they collectively pick themselves up by the bootstraps, rise, and try again—no matter how stacked the odds may be.

Reality continues to settle in after the 2024 presidential election, in which President-elect Donald Trump reclaimed the presidency against Kamala Harris, the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to be elected and inaugurated as Vice President. 

While it’s a hard pill to swallow, it’s not something new. Black women have endured an America that Trump led before, and we will endure it again.

Since the beginning of time, books by Black women writers have served as the unsung architects of empowerment, solace, and resistance, essential for surviving in America—a country built on our backbone but never kind to Black women.

For centuries, we’ve been able to find comfort in the literature of figures like Phyllis Wheatley, who documented verses that challenged the dehumanization of Black bodies while also showcasing intellectual brilliance in a world that has always attempted to silence it. 

Women like Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Audre Lorde have transformed trauma into triumph through collections of poetry and prose that spoke (and still speak) directly to the souls of Black women, offering both calls to action and the release of strong emotions that so many Black women have never been allowed to be vocal about.

As we prepare for the shenanigans of yet another Trump America, one where violence, ignorance, and downright hatred are exalted, here are eight books by Black women to help cope with the impending shenanigans that are sure to come.

1. all about love: new visions x bell hooks

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

A classic, this work explores love as an act of healing, transformation, and will in our personal and collective lives. 

hooks challenges the status quo about relationships and their significance in readers’ lives by offering personal anecdotes, cultural critique, and philosophical insights exploring love in various dimensions, including communal, familial, romantic, and self-love.

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