Autobiographies and Memoirs

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIRS

Black life is as varied as it is complex, and the road to leadership and activism is not always straight. Below you will find a few biographies of some of the pioneers and leaders in Social Justice activism, as well as memoirs that reveal the diversity within Black populations.

Abbott, Diane. A Woman Like Me: The stunning memoir from the UK's first elected Black female MP. Penguin Books, 2024.

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Virago, 1969.

Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. [1963] Penguin Classics, 2025.

Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. [1955] Penguin Classics, 2017.

Cullors, Patrisse and bandele, asha. When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir. Macmillan, 2018.

Davis, Angela. Angela Davis: An Autobiography. International Publishers, 1988.

Dunbar, Erica Armstrong. She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman. 37 Ink, 2019.

Dyja, Thomas. Walter White: The Dilemma of Black Identity in America. Chicago, Ivan R. Dee press, 2008.

Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. 1789.

Also Available via Project Gutenberg and Documenting the American South.

Greenberg, David. John Lewis: A Life. Simon & Schuster, 2024.

James, C.L.R. Beyond a Boundary. 1963.

James, C.L.R. Letters from London: Seven Essays by C.L.R. James. Prospect Press, 2003.

Johnson, Margo. Negroland: a Memoir. Pantheon Books, 2015.

Kaye, Anthony E. Nat Turner, Black Prophet: A Visionary History. Hill & Wang Inc., 2024.

Lewis, John. Walking With the Wind. 1999.

Prince, Mary. The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave. 1831.

Sancho, Ignatius. Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African. 1784.

Also Available via Documenting the American South and the Internet Archive.

Shakur, Assata. Assata: An Autobiography. [2001] Zed Books, 2014.

Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery: An Autobiography. 1901.

Also available via Documenting the American South.

Wells, Ida B. Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells. University of Chicago Press, 1970.

White, Walter. A Man Called White: The Autobiography of Walter White. New York: The Viking Press, 1948.

Wright, Richard. Black Boy. Vintage Publishing: 2020, c.1945.

Also Available via Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive.

X, Malcolm and Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1987.

Zephaniah, Benjamin. The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography. Simon & Schuster, 2019.

“Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.”

Audre Lorde