Socio-Political Books                            

• African American Philosphers: 17 Conversations - by George Yancy - 1998

• African American Leadership - by Ronald W. Walters & Robert C. Smith - 1999

• Afrocentricity - by Molefi Asante - 1988

• The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in A New World - by Alan Greenspan - 2007 

• All Things Censored - by Mumia Abu Jamal 

• An Unbroken Agony - by Randall Robinson - 2007

• Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, & the Politics of Empowerment - Patricia Hill Collins - 2000

• Black Labor - White Wealth: The Search for Power & Economic Justice - by Claud Anderson - 1994 [BlackMenRead.com - RECOMMENDATION] 

• Black Men: Single, Obsolete, Dangerous? - by Haki Madhubuti - 1999

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[BlackMenRead.com - A Modern CLASSIC - RECOMMENDATION]

• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - by Malcolm Gladwell - 2005

• Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, An Anthology - by Herb Boyd & Robert L. Allen - 1999

The purpose of this extraordinary anthology is made abundantly clear by the editors' stated intention: "to create a living mosaic of essays and stories in which Black men can view themselves, and be viewed without distortion". In this, they have succeeded brilliantly. Brotherman contains more than one hundred and fifty selections, some never before published--from slave narratives, memoirs, social histories, novels, poems, short stories, biographies, autobiographies, position papers, and essays. This is a worthy compilation that should be part of every black person's library. 

• The Case of Mumia Abu Jamal: A life in the balance - by Amnesty International

• The C.L.R. James Reader - by Anna Grimshaw - 1992

• The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide - by Meizhu Lui, Barbara Robles, & Betsy Leondar-Wright - 2006

• The Cost of Living - Arundhati Roy - 1999

• The Covenant with Black America - by Tavis Smiley - 2006

• Crime & Criminals: Address to Prisoners in The Cook County Jail & Other Writings on Crime & Punishment - Clarence Darrow 

• Death Blossoms: Reflections from a Prisoner of Conscience - by Mumia Abu Jamal 

• Debating Race - by Michael Eric Dyson - 2007
  

• The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks - by Randall Robinson - 2000 

• The Decline and Fall of the American Empire - by Gore Vidal - 1992

• Deconstructing Tyrone: A New look at Black Masculinity in the Hip Hop Generation

by Natalie Hopkinson & Natalie Y. Moore - 2006 

[BlackMenRead.com - RECOMMENDATION] The author's of "Deconstructing Tyrone" have successfully pulled together an insightful, interesting, and quite contemporary compilation of essays exploring the modern young black male of the so-called "Hip-Hop Generation". This book is recommended for it's up to date, authentic, and intelligent look at the generation that is poised to shape America, if it has not already, from the streets to the suites.  -BlackMenRead.com

• The Derrick Bell Reader - edited by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic - 2005

• Don't think, Smile!: Notes on a Decade of Denial - by Ellen Willis - 1999

• Economic Apartheid In America: A Primer on Economic Inequality and Insecurity - by Chuck Collins & Felice Yeskel - 2005 revised

• Ethnic Cleansing - by Andrew Bell-Fialkoff - 1999

• Executing Justice: An Inside Account of the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal - 2001

• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything - by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner - 2005 Award-winning economist Levitt and journalist Dubner explore the hidden side of various topics based on the premise that incentives are the cornerstone of modern life, and conventional wisdom is often wrong. They succeed in making this book on ecomomics very interesting by examining topics that heretofore have never been looked at through such a prism. The book covers, sometimes quirky, but intriguing questions such as "What Do School Teachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?", "How is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real Estate Agents?" " Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Parents", and "What Makes a Perfect Parent?" This is a good and easy book to read that will have you yearning for more info on economics.  -BlackMenRead.com

• The Future of American Progressivism - by Cornel West & Robert Mangabeira Unger - 1998

• The Hidden Wound - by Wendell Berry - 1970

• How Harvard Rules: Reason in the Service of Empire - by John Trumpbour - 1989

• Is Our Children Learning? The Case Against George Bush - by Paul BeGala - 2000

• In Defense of Mumia - by S. E. Anderson and Tony Medina

• In Search of Africa - Manthia Diawara - 1998

• Integrity - by Stephen L. Carter - 1996

• Intellectual Warfare - by Jacob Carruthers - 1999

• The Isis Papers: The Keys to The Colors - Frances Cress Welsing - 1990

• The Karma of Brown Folk - by Vijay Prishad - 2000

• Letter's To a Young Feminist - by Phyllis Chesler - 1997

• Malcolm X as Cultural Hero and Other Afrocentric Essays - by Molefi Asante - 1993

  • Mis-Education of The Negro - by Carter G. Woodson - 1933     [BlackMenRead.com - CLASSIC - Recommendation]

• The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn' t, and Why - by Jabari Asim - 2007 
  

•  A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government - by Garry Wills - 1999

• The New White Nationalism in America - by Carol Swain  - 2002

• The Power of Black Music - Samuel Floyd - 1995                                                         The Director of the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College in Chicago connects all of the dots in the history of African-American music back to it's roots in Africa.

• Pirates & Emperors - by Noam Chomsky - 2003 revised

• PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America - 2001

• The Prince - by Nicollo Machiavelli - 1532

This political treatise has been read and pondered over by everyone from Tupac Shakur ("Makaveli"),  to students of Political Science, and likely your very own President (well, maybe not G-Dub). Machiavelli's, The Prince, is recommended reading for those seeking power and those who want to better understand the ruthless dynamics of power. It's a centuries old "game" still in effect. -BlackMenRead.com

• Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance - by Leonard Peltier - 1999

• Race: An Anthology in the First Person - edited by Bart Schneider - 1997

• Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America - Cornel West & Kelvin Shawn Sealey - 1997

• Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race - by Patricia J. Williams - 1997

• The Souls of Black Folk - W. E. B. Dubois - 1903

[BlackMenRead.com - CLASSIC - RECOMMENDATION]

• Traps: African-American Men on Gender & Sexuality - by Rudolph P. Byrd & Beverly Guy-Sheftall - 2001

• Tribes: How Race, Religion, & Identity Determine Success in The New Global Economy - by Joel Kotkin - 1992 [BlackMenRead.com -  Recommendation]  Joel Kotkin accurately described in 1992 what we see going on today (and likely many more tomorrows) with differing ethnic groups rising and falling based upon their grasp of commerce, technology, group-based cooperation, values, and vision. This is a good book. -BlackMenRead.com

• Understanding Power - by Noam Chomsky - 2003

• The United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept: A Textbook/Workbook for Thought, Speech and/or Action for Victims of Racism (White Supremacy) - by Neely Fuller - 1980                                                            Should be read by anyone who truly wishes to understand the nature of white supremacy and its global impact on people of color. Neely Fuller's self published book, available at black bookstores around the country, has been a best seller for years among those who wish to deconstruct the subtleties of white supremacy. An invaluable resource. -Raymond A. Winbush, Ph.D.

• We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post Civil Rights Era - by Robert C. Smith - 1996

• What Are People For? - by Wendell Berry - 1970

• Who Betrayed the African World Revolution? and Other Speeches - by John Henrik Clarke - 1993

• Will You Die with Me? My Life & The Black Panther Party - by Flores Forbes

• The World is Flat - by Thomas Friedman - 2006

• Yurugu: An African Centered Critique of European Thought - by Marimba Ani  [BlackMenRead.com - Modern CLASSIC - Recommendation]                    "Perhaps the most comprehensive African-centered critique of European systems of thought ever written. The extraordinary breadth of Ani's book provides a starting point for understanding how various European philosophies undergird white supremacist systems. One hundred years from now, this book will be cited, along with DuBois's Souls of Black Folk and Ellison's Invisible Man, as one of the great works that analyze the condition of Africans throughout the Maafa. - Raymond A. Winbush, Ph.D