Discussion sparked by Beyonce Knowles-Carter’s 2016 album Lemonade led to the creation of the Lemonade Syllabus hashtag. Candance Marie Benbow collected the titles in this guide. Below are links to JMRL-owned resources from the guide that “speak to Black women from classics in fiction to Black feminist theory to inspirational and self-care guides.”
Fiction and Literature
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Brothers and Sisters by Bebe Moore Campbell
Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine by Bebe Moore Campbell
What Looks Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage
Homemade Love by J. California Cooper
Some Love, Some Pain, Some Time by J. California Cooper
In Search of Satisfaction by J. California Cooper
Daughters of the Dust by Julie E. Dash
Mourner’s Bench by Sanderia Faye
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen (Passing, Quicksand and the Stories) by Nella Larsen
Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall
Sugar by Bernice McFadden
Disappearing Acts by Terry McMillan
Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan
Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Sula by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Bailey’s Cafe by Gloria Naylor
Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The Street by Anne Petry
Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange
Orleans by Sherri L. Smith
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
The Good Negress by A.J.Verdell
Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart by Alice Walker
You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down by Alice Walker
Dessa Rose by Sherley Anne Williams
Non-Fiction and Autobiography
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Even the Stars Look Lonesome by Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
Something Like Beautiful : One Single Mother’s Story by Asha Beandele
Gal: A True Life by Ruthie Mae Bolton
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
A Taste of Power: A Black Women’s Story by Elaine Brown
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs by Pearl Cleage
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
No Disrespect by Sister Souljah
Black Feminist Studies
The Black Woman: An Anthology by Toni Cade Bambara
Blues Legacies and Black Feminisms: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis
Women, Race and Class by Angela Y. Davis
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America by Paula Giddings
Words of Fire: Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought by Beverly Guy-Sheftall
Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood by bell hooks
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
“Welfare is a Women’s Issue” by Johnnie Tillmon
“A Black Feminist Statement” by The Combahee River Collective
English & Critical Theory
Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison
Killing the Black Body: Race Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
Historical & Cultural Studies
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis
The Sisters are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America by Tami Winfrey Harris
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America by Melissa Harris Perry
Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America by Charisse Jones and Kumea Shorter-Gooden
Creating Black Americans; African-American History and Its Meaning 1619 to Present by Nell Irvin Painter
Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting by Terrie M. Williams
Inspiration & Self-Care
All the Joy You Can Stand: 101 Sacred Power Principles for Making Joy Real in Your Life by Debrena Gandy
Journey to the Well by Vashti McKenzie
One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth by Iyanla Vanzant
Religion & Womanist Theology
Katie’s Cannon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community by Katie Canon
Righteous Discontent : the Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920 by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston
Youth
No Mirrors in My Nana’s House by Ysaye M. Barnwell
The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamiltonn
An American Girl: Addy Series by Connie Rose Porter
President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston
Poetry & Photography
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Ego-Tripping and Other Poems for Young People by Nikki Giovanni
Black Death by Zora Neale Hurston
Voyage of the Sable Venus: and Other Poems by Robin Coste Lewis
The Moments, the Minutes, the Hours by Jill Scott
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange
Theater, Film & Documentary
Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues
Looking for more reading suggestions? JMRL encourages you to use What Do I Read Next? to receive personal recommendations from JMRL librarians.