What better way to kick off Black History Month than with the experts who teach our history.

Despite the spate of book bans and calls to eliminate teaching certain subjects in public schools, Black authors are still putting in the work to keep us fully knowledgable of America’s true history.

Here are five books to add to your library published by Black women historians.

01- All That She Carried, Tiya Alicia Miles

This tale of a keepsake passed on through generations of Black women-led Harvard history professor Tiya Miles to win the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

02- South To America, Imani Perry

South to America, written by Princeton professor Imani Perry, re-centers southern history in the history of America and has been one of the most anticipated titles of 2022.

03- Four Hundred Souls, co-edited by Keisha N. Blain and Ibram X. Kendi

Co-edited by University of Pittsburgh professor Keisha N. Blain, Four Hundred Souls was a #1 NY Times National Bestseller that retraces African American history through the minds of 90 of the country’s leading Black writers.

04- Bound in Wedlock, Tera Hunter

Princeton history professor Tera Hunter offers the first thorough account of Black marriage in the 1800s through the Jim Crow era, clarifying the commitment many Black couples had to matrimony despite the odds. This is just in time for V-day, for the blerds trying to impress their date with a historical fact or two.

05- African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850–1920, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn

Black women fighting for voting rights today are standing on the shoulders of Black women who were fighting for our right to vote over a century ago. Morgan State University professor Rosalyn Terborg-Penn wrote this groundbreaking book on the women’s suffrage movement, uncovering how white women became its face despite the significant contributions of Black women.