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February is Black History Month and this year readers are getting a treat with the publishing event of Josephine Baker’s memoir being printed in the United States for the first time. So many books have been written about her life as a performer, civil rights activist and her espionage work during World War II for both the U.S. and the French Resistance, and her “Rainbow Tribe” of twelve adopted children. Available in France since 1949, American readers can now experience Baker’s life through her own words and thoughts about her remarkable life. “Fearless and Free” is the perfect title for a woman who can truly be called an icon.

Virginia author Preston Lauterbach has written a new book about another icon, Elvis Presley, with a unique view of the Black artists whose music and influence shaped his career. Big Mama Thornton, Calvin Newborn, Little Junior Parker and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup may not have instantly familiar names but their impact on Elvis, who recorded songs by each of these performers, and other early singers of rock and roll is significant. “Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King” gives their individual and cumulative contributions a thorough examination and the long-overdue recognition they deserve. 

Beyond Josephine Baker’s memoir

“Harlem Rhapsody” by Victoria Christopher Murray explores the life of Jessie Redmon Fauset, whose literary career flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. Hired by W.E.B Dubois to edit The Crisis, the newsletter published by the NAACP, Fauset used her position to publish Black writers including Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen, and to champion literature that included Black voices. Her novel ‘Plum Bun”, published in 1928, is still in print and is considered one of the best books published from that era.

Percival Everett’s novel “James” was published a year ago and has since been awarded the National Book Award for Fiction, been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won both the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and the Carnegie Medal.  An incisive reimagining of the classic story of Huckleberry Finn told from the viewpoint of the enslaved Jim, the book has spent over thirty weeks on the bestseller lists and is being adapted for a film with Steven Spielberg as executive producer.

Celebrate Black History Month with these books and or one of many others found at your library.