Obama Recommends Black History Month Reading List

Former President Barack Obama has shared an eclecticBlack History Monthnonfiction reading list to help Americans "better understand our country's past and our evolving, persistent struggles with race."

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"I wanted to share a nonfiction reading list that can help to provide some essential context about the challenges that many people of color face every day," Obama wrote in aFacebook post. "From modern memoirs to cornerstones of the American narrative, these works can help us better understand our country's past and our evolving, persistent struggles with race -- and they can be fuel on our journey toward a more fair and just future for all of our sons and daughters."

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The reading list includes:

• The Warmth of Other Sunsby Isabel Wilkerson
• Stamped from the Beginningby Ibram X. Kendi
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemptionby Bryan Stevenson
• A Stone of Hope:A Memoir by Jim St. Germain with Jon Sternfeld
• The Upshot from The New York Times:Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys
• The Fire Next Timeby James Baldwin
• The Letter from Birmingham Jailby Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedomby David W. Blight