Despite the many great works of literature by Black writers, Black voices have had a hard time entering "the canon." Worse, there have been times when Black words were miscast and read by narrators who didn't connect with the spirit of the authors.
To help rectify this, we offer our careful selection of classics by Black authors performed by gifted Black actors that truly deserve to be recognized, celebrated, and savored.
Toni Morrison skillfully and beautifully takes on a love story that's bigger and more important than boy meets girl. Tar Baby is loving but searing in its tackling of race, love, and privilege. Jadine Childs, an exquisite beauty and impeccably educated at the Sorbonne, meets Son, a Black fugitive who ends up on the Caribbean Island where Jadine’s relatives are servants. Love ensues, the road and romance are rocky, and then there’s Jadine’s rich white boyfriend, Ryk—she can’t have both, in peace. An actress known for portraying strong-willed and dignified women, Alfre Woodard performs this classic in all its aching emotion and complexity.
Malcolm X was one of the most prominent and powerful figures of the civil rights movement. A Muslim minister, he was extremely vocal in advocating for equality and opportunity for Black people in America. The Autobiography of Malcolm X chronicles his life, as told to journalist Alex Haley by the civil rights leader and activist himself, over the course of a number of interviews from 1963 until his assassination in 1965. This particular edition, available exclusively on Audible, is performed with a powerful and dignified presence by actor Laurence Fishburne.
First published in 1929, Nella Larsen’s Passing is a gripping tale of the reality of escaping from one’s Blackness. Performed by Tessa Thompson, who also stars in the 2021 film adaptation, the story finds two women encountering each other after many years: Irene, now living the life of an upper-middle-class Black woman in a Harlem brownstone, and Clare, who is passing for white and married to a racist white man who doesn’t have a clue about her African American blood. Clare plays a dangerous game, risking everything as she insinuates herself more and more into Irene’s social circle.
Audre Lorde, who self-identified as "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," was one of the first writers to center Black queer women in her moving speeches and her soul-shaking poetry. Edited by the brilliant contemporary feminist Roxane Gay, this selection of Lorde’s most essential works, including "I Am Your Sister" and excerpts from her American Book Award-winning A Burst of Light, is not to be missed. Actress and producer Mia Ellis captures both the haunting beauty and power of Lorde's words in her narration.
Marking the debut of Octavia E. Butler, the genre's "Grand Dame," this novel, which interweaves time travel and a slave memoir, made history as the first work of science fiction written by a Black woman. "I approached Kindred about a year ago knowing it was a classic. I don’t usually do well with classics—I get impatient with old-fashioned language and plodding plots—but this wasn’t like that at all. I was thrown off my expectations from chapter one. This story is gripping and fast-paced and uncomfortable and every bit as genius as when it was first released 40 years ago. Listening with Kim Staunton’s narration made it, if possible, even more hauntingly real. This one stays with you." —Melissa B., Audible Editor
First published in 1946, The Street was an instant hit—making Ann Petry the first Black author to sell more than a million copies of a book. The searing novel, centering on a single Black mother struggling in World War II era Harlem, exposes the truth of a horribly unjust society and raises questions that remain unanswered to this day. Narrated by Danielle Deadwyler, an actress whose recent roles include the screen adaptation of Station Eleven, this edition features an introduction by Tayari Jones, acclaimed author of An American Marriage.
Set in a fictional city in the American South, Toni Cade Bambara's debut novel captures the despair of Black life and the fierce determination of a community of Black women faith healers. Her portrayal of its members—some timid, some eccentric, and some daring—is affectionate, funny, and sharp. What makes The Salt Eaters compelling is how the members rally together when a young Black woman is driven to a suicide attempt by the pain of living in a racist, sexist society. The accomplished Mia Ellis lends her voice to this story of trauma and healing.