Black History Month: A Reading List

This Black History Month, we’re looking to the past to understand our present and create a better future. Read on to find your next read, from histories of DC basketball players at the top of their game and inspiring jazz musicians, to a reckoning with Georgetown’s problematic past and one man’s inspiring journey from servitude to freedom. Use code TBHM on our website for 30% off your purchase.

The Capital of Basketball
A History of DC Area High School Hoops
John McNamara

DC Jazz
Stories of Jazz Music in Washington, DC
Edited by Maurice Jackson and Blair A. Ruble

Black Georgetown Remembered
A History of Its Black Community from the Founding of “The Town of George” in 1751 to the Present Day
25th Anniversary Edition
Kathleen Menzie Lesko, Valerie Babb, and Carroll R. Gibbs

Facing Georgetown’s History
A Reader on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation
Edited by Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza
Foreword by Lauret Savoy

Between Freedom and Equality
The History of an African American Family in Washington, DC
Barbara Boyle Torrey and Clara Myrick Green
Forewords by James Fisher, with Tanya Gaskins Hardy, and Maurice Jackson