Embracing My Blackness

I know…..such an odd title but this has been a bit of a struggle for most of my life. No one is to blame. I had a great upbringing and wouldn’t change a thing about it, however…when you grow up in the suburbs and play softball, you tend to be surrounded by mostly white people. Before growing up in Atlanta, I was raised in south Florida. I remember it being a culture shock when I first moved to Atlanta and being surrounded by successful black people left and right, driving nice cars and being well dressed. I’d never seen this in Florida growing up in Ft. Lauderdale and being in Miami. Black people either drove hoopties and looked much like Trick Daddy or they were middle class but not flashy with their money and cars. Moving here I got my first taste of “I can make it”.

Even though I was in Atlanta….I still lived in the suburbs and played softball. Two factors that kept me in familiar surroundings. On top of this, softball paid my way through college (Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida and the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC) and if I wanted to have a chance at bringing home some championships and hardware (which I did)…a mostly white school was the place to go for this particular sport. Again, not complaining. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

So that leads me to where I am today. We have the Black Lives Matter movement and so many other movements seeking justice for victims, and equality for minorities. Things that bring awareness to black people and our experiences. This got me to thinking.Because I didn’t “grow up black” or attend an HBCU…..I feel I am strongly lacking in the knowledge of our culture and I’m hungry to learn more about my people and where I come from. Because of this, the Book Girl Magic book club was created. I wanted a book club that focused on books by African Americans or are based on African American characters. Outside of that, I’m also going to read more autobiographies about important people of our culture, past and present and books that have had major impact (fiction or non-fiction) on our culture as well.

I’m starting with The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley to jump start my mission, but I’m also looking for recommendations from you. What books do you feel are must reads for black people?