Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It is also called Emancipation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day. The name “Juneteenth” references the date of the holiday, combining the words “June” and “nineteenth.” Here are some vital reads to learn about this important issue.

📚 The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist

📚 Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America by W. Caleb McDaniel

📚 Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

📚 On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

📚 They Were Her Property by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

📚 Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

📚 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

📚 My Vanishing Country by Bakari Sellers

📚 We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates

📚 Black Pain by Terrie Williams

📚 The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

📚 Here I Stand by Paul Robeson

📚 The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

📚 The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward

📚 Mirror to America by John Hope Franklin

Check out these incredible reads for Black History Month.

Listen to the episode on political responsibility with Fear of Black Consciousness author Professor Lewis R. Gordon.