6 Books About Black Art Activism You Should Own

6 Books About Black Art Activism You Should Own

By Ruby Holland

6 Books About Black Art Activism You Should Own

6 Books About Black Art Activism You Should Own




During this period of Lockdown, you’ll probably have a little more downtime. So, grab yourself a coffee and track down and read one of the six titles:


Basquiat’s Defacement: The Untold Story By Chaedria Labouvier and Johanna F Almiron


The book examines Basquiat’s exploration of the Black Identity, police brutality, through one of his art pieces titled Death of Michael Stewart (Defacement), a protest against state-sanctioned racism.


Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness 

This stunning book of activist and South African photographer Zanele Muholi’s powerful self-portraits with the vision to create and rethink history.

photo credit autograph.com https://images.app.goo.gl/uKznwXwpjeAQXWfx8

Fired Up! Ready To Go! by Rizzoli Electa.


This is the story of trailblazer, activist, philanthropist and the founder of the Duke Ellington School of Arts - Peggy Cooper Cafintz.


Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham


Black Futures tells the truth about how black art has been relegated, and how the stories we think are part of the past still repeat today. Know the fight and join it!


Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists: The Lumpkin Buccozzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art 


This book of acclaimed Black artists, reveals how their art was impacted by politics, identity, and art history in the 20th Century.

Edited by writer Antwaun Sargent, this is the publication that accompanies the traveling exhibition, surveys the work of a new generation of Black artists, and features the voices of a diverse group of curators who are on the cutting edge of contemporary art. Featuring:

Mark Bradford, David Hammons, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton, Pope.L, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Henry Taylor, Mickalene Thomas, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Kevin Beasley, Jordan Casteel, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Bethany Collins, Noah Davis, Cy Gavin, Allison Janae Hamilton, Tomashi Jackson, Samuel Levi Jones, Deana Lawson, Eric N. Mack, Arcmanoro Niles, Jennifer Packer, Christina Quarles, Jacolby Satterwhite, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Sable Elyse Smith, Chanel Thomas, Stacy Lynn Waddell, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Brenna Youngblood, and more.

young gifted and black

Soul of a Nation in the Age of Black Power by Mark Godfrey and Zoe Whitley.


The book explores  art and the Black experience between 1963-1983. It explores the political, social turmoil experienced by Black artists.