#tfbwlreads

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

Please feel free to use this checklist to keep track of your reads and donate to givebutter.com/TFBWL to show gratitude and appreciation for this work. Thank you!!

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

My reads for 2021 TFBWL Reading Challenge.

This year has sucked in many ways but in terms of reading it has been top notch. 

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

TFBWL Classics:

“My working day was very simple. I got up at dawn, prayed, went down to bathe in the River Ormond, had a bite to eat, then spent my time on my explorations and healing. At that time cholera and smallpox struck the plantations regularly and laid to rest a good many slaves. I discovered how to treat these illnesses. I also discovered how to treat yaws and to heal those ones the slaves got day after day. I managed to mend open festering wounds to put pieces of bone back together again and tie up limbs. All that of course with the help of my invisible spirits who hardly ever left me. I had given up the illusion of making men invincible and immortal. I accepted the limits of the species.”

- an excerpt from I, TITUBA, BLACK WITCH OF SALEM written by Maryse Condé, published by One World Books in English in 1992, originally published as MOI, TITUBA, SORCIÈRE…..NOIRE DE SALEM in 1986. Featuring a forward written by Angela Davis

From the warm shores of 17th century Barbados to the harsh realities of the slave trade, and the cold customs of puritanical England. Tituba, the only Black victim of the Salem witch trials, recalls a life of extraordinary experiences and mystical powers.

“Tituba and I lived for a year on the closest of terms. During our endless conversations she told me things she had confided to nobody else.”

TFBWL recommends this book for readers over the age of 16 who have an interest or love for witchcraft, sacred healing, herbalism, permaculture, spirit work, toxic romances and historical fiction.

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

Shout out to my IG reading buddies

@crystalyogi22

@kiyannaloves

@kuetcwge

@sarahatlee

@womanistbibliophile and everyone else taking part in The Free Black Women’s Library Reading Challenge this year. ♥️🌹📚♥️🌹📚♥️

2020 has had a lot going on, so it’s been a slow reading year for me.

Here is a stack of books I’ve read for the challenge this year so far.

Swipe to the last slide for TFBWL reading challenge details if you would like to take part.

I have enjoyed all of the books I have read so far, but I placed a star next to my favorites!!

THE YELLOW HOUSE by Sarah M. Broom - a debut ⭐️

MY LIFE AS AN ICE CREAM SANDWICH by Ibi Zoboi - a book for middle schoolers

SISTERS OF THE YAM/BLACK WOMEN AND SELF RECOVERY by bell hooks - a vintage Black Feminist text, published before 2000 ⭐️

GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER by Bernardino Evaristo - a classic or award winning novel ⭐️

HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi - a book by an African author

THE WAR BEFORE by Safiya Bukhari - a book by a political activist or organizer ⭐️

SASSAFRAS, CYPRESS & INDIGO by Ntozake Shange - a book that centers relationships between women ⭐️

MY SOUL LOOKS BACK by Jessica B Harris - a memoir

BLACK LESBIAN IN WHITE AMERICA by Anita Cornwell

- non fiction LGBTQ ⭐️

IN THE WAKE by Christina Sharpe - a book on Spirituality, Religion or Ritual ⭐️

THE HEALING by Gayl Jones - a book that’s features Patois, Creole, Southern vernacular or slang ⭐️

BLACK IMAGINATION curated by Natasha Marin - a book of poetry/prose

Are you taking part in TFBWL Reading Challenge this year? If so let me know how it’s going and what good books by Black women you have read so far!!

Make sure to use the hashtags -

#TFBWL

#tfbwlreadingchallenge

#TFBWL2020

So I can see your posts and re-share them!!

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⭐️

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[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

TFBWL2020/Reading Challenge

The brilliance, imagination and creativity of Black women is as expansive as the sky, join us in a fun exploration of Black women’s literatu

So excited to share The Free Black Women’s Library Reading Challenge for 2020!!

I worked really hard on this one and I hope you enjoy it!!!

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

New additions to the library 🖤

AMANDLA and MIHLOTI both written by the great South African writer Miriam Tlali (RIP) born in 1933 Miriam was the first Black woman to publish a novel in South Africa and one of the first to write about Soweto, in Amandla she offers a thorough fictionalized account of the uprising which took place in Soweto, June 1976. Mihloti ( which means tears) which contains interviews, short stories and non fiction offers vivid first hand accounts of life as a Black woman in apartheid South Africa. Both books were banned in the country for decades. She received the Literary lifetime achievement from the South African Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in 1995 and passed away in 2017

Thank you to Mia for this awesome donation to the collection. 🖤 🇿🇦

To donate books to the library, pls feel free to send your favorite books by Black women from all across the diaspora to -

TFBWL

1072 Bedford Avenue

Box 39

Brooklyn, NY 11216

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

My TFBWL reads of 2019 🖤 - (including some re reads, cause I’m on a mission to read all of Toni)

Although I had my favorites I deeply enjoyed most of them!!

What were your favorite books written by Black women that you’ve read this year?

[thefreeblackwomanslibrary]

New addition to #TFBWL 🖤

LET THE LION EAT STRAW written by poet and professor Ellease Southerland, this novel tells the story of the life of Abeba Williams, whose mother abandons the poverty of the south and in the process her own daughter for opportunities up north, her exceptional talent in music offers her a means of escape, and her story continues up until her adulthood where she falls in love, gets married and becomes a mother who fights to maintain love and dignity within her own family. It’s described by many as a masterpiece that is both dazzling and poetic, and has been used to introduce specialized writing and important themes to middle and high school aged children in their English classes.

Grateful to Mia for this beautiful addition to the library 🖤