The Schomburg Centennial Book List

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Podcast: All Of It
Host: Alison Stewart, WNYC
Episode: The Schomburg Centennial Book List
Date: February 2, 2026

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Overview

This episode of “All Of It” celebrates Black History Month and the centennial of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture by unveiling the “100 Black Voices” book list. Host Alison Stewart is joined by Myra Liriano (Associate Chief Librarian, Schomburg) and Brian Jones (Senior Director of Reading & Engagement, NYPL) to discuss the origins, curation process, and impact of this essential list. The conversation highlights the breadth of Black literary contributions, the list's global scope, listener favorites, and the critical role of literature in understanding culture and history.

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Main Discussion Points

1. Genesis of the 100 Black Voices List

• The list was developed to mark the Schomburg's 100th anniversary and Black History Month.

• Inspired by the New York Times’ “Top 100 Books of the 21st Century,” but focused on Black voices.

• The team surveyed 72 influential Black writers, librarians, and thinkers, collecting 400+ nominations.

  • Quote:
    “We asked them, instead of 'the best books,' we asked, 'What are the books that have impacted your practice that were published between 1925 and 2025?'” — Myra Liriano [03:32]

• Limited each author to one book on the list to maximize diversity.

• The list spans genres, timeframes, and includes international voices.

2. Inspiration & Goals of the List

• Aims to inspire readers with both familiar and surprising selections by showing the wide expanse of Black literature.
  • Quote:
    “It’s familiar to see James Baldwin … but maybe surprising to see we chose Giovanni’s Room.” — Brian Jones [05:36]
• Selections intended to prompt readers to explore new or overlooked works.

3. Process & Challenges

• Resource limitations compared to major publications (e.g., New York Times) necessitated a community-driven approach.
• Narrowing down from over 400 nominations to 100 was a challenge.
• Categories were devised for easier exploration (poetry, fiction, biography, etc.).
  • Practical tip: Readers can explore the list online by genre at schomburg.org/100. [09:57]

4. Inclusion of Global Black Voices

• Although most submissions focused on American authors, the Schomburg team intentionally supplemented the list with voices from Africa, the Caribbean, and the diaspora.
  • Quote:
    “The Schomburg Center has always been global in its scope…we felt it was really important this list represents what our collection strengths are.” — Myra Liriano [10:44]

5. Listener Calls: Personal Connections to Black Literature

Listeners shared favorites, illustrating the list’s diversity and personal resonance:

• Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man: “It has some really amazing themes. I highly recommend it to anybody.” — Mohid [07:24]
• Toni Morrison’s Beloved: “Inspired, loved Toni Morrison… particularly Beloved.” — Andrea [07:49]
• Percival Everett’s James: “I found it to be an engrossing read…it was respectful of the Huckleberry Finn, which I don’t think is racist at all.” — Rob [08:27]
• Other listener mentions:
  • Passing by Nella Larsen
  • The Street by Ann Petry
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  • Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler

6. Surprising & Noteworthy Selections

• Some authors or works were selected over more expected titles (e.g., Sula instead of Beloved for Toni Morrison, Giovanni’s Room for Baldwin).
• The selection process revealed books that even the panelists weren’t familiar with:
  • Quote:
    “There's a book by Aimé Césaire that I haven't read or didn’t even know about...” — Brian Jones [11:46]
  • Quote:
    “Nervous Condition by Tsitsi Dangarembga...a feminist book that looks at rejecting the patriarchy of Zimbabwe.” — Myra Liriano [12:35]

7. Highlighting Plays and Dramatic Works

• The list features major Black playwrights, recognizing their influence on American theater.
  • Included: Dutchman (Imamu Amiri Baraka), Fences (August Wilson), Top Dog/Underdog (Suzan-Lori Parks), A Raisin in the Sun (Lorraine Hansberry). [19:53]

8. Approaches to Teaching and Reading Black Literature

• Listeners and panelists noted the value of including poetry, children’s books, and anthologies to reach students.
  • Notable works for young readers: Uncle Jed’s Barbershop (Margaree King Mitchell), A Voice of Her Own (attributed to Phillis Wheatley), The Undefeated (Kwame Alexander & Kadir Nelson).
• Encouragement for inclusive teaching:
  • Quote:
    “Our literature is inclusive, not exclusive. Go for it.” — Listener text [26:36]

9. Books with Lasting Impact

• Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing (2016) discussed for its sweeping narrative connecting African and African American histories:

  • Quote:
    “There is something about these books that attempt to connect the Black experience here in the United States with the African past...It's such an ambitious novel.” — Brian Jones [17:50]

• The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James on the Haitian Revolution, highlighted as “so dynamic…one of the most inspiring and amazing events in world history.” — Brian Jones [23:21]

• The Sweet Flypaper of Life (Langston Hughes & Roy DeCarava): Documents Harlem life through poetry and photo-essay; selected for its local resonance. [24:25]

10. Personal Book Recommendations from Guests

• Brian Jones:
  • Black Reconstruction in America (W.E.B. Du Bois): “Don’t read it by yourself. Form a study group.”
• Myra Liriano:
  • Sula (Toni Morrison): “Listening to Toni Morrison read it really just made it so wonderful.” [27:55]
  • Giovanni’s Room (James Baldwin): “If you haven’t read Baldwin, if you haven’t read Giovanni’s Room, I highly recommend it.” [27:55]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Community-Driven Curation

“We frantically emailed and we didn't manage to get through to all the people we wanted to…the list of people we wanted to reach was over 600.”
— Myra Liriano [03:32]

Discovery & Humility

“I consider myself somebody who reads a lot of Black history, but there’s a lot here I haven't read. So, I've got some work to do.”
— Brian Jones [11:46]

Literature as Resistance

“A lot of our books by black authors are being banned throughout the country, so we thought that was a significant effort to continue to pursue.”
— Amelia, caller from Queens [13:46]

The Power of Narrative

“[Homegoing] hit me when I first picked it up like a ton of bricks…there’s something about seeing the long sweep of these two families, of these sisters, is really powerful.”
— Brian Jones [17:50]

Encouragement for Inclusive Education

“Our literature is inclusive, not exclusive. Go for it.”
— Listener text [26:36]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:45 | Origins of the Schomburg book list | | 05:36 | How the list inspires readers | | 09:18 | Responding to listener recommendations | | 10:44 | Importance of global Black voices | | 11:46 | Books new to the panelists | | 13:46 | Book clubs and the impact of reading Black authors | | 17:40 | The power of Homegoing and connecting Black American & African histories | | 19:53 | Plays highlighted on the list | | 23:21 | The Black Jacobins and learning from revolutionary history | | 24:25 | The Sweet Flypaper of Life & Harlem’s literary importance | | 27:19 | Final shout-outs and key recommendations |

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Conclusion

This episode celebrates a century of Black literary excellence and the ongoing importance of the Schomburg Center. Through the 100 Black Voices list and its wide-ranging discussion, listeners are invited to discover both foundational and lesser-known works, enriching their understanding of Black culture and its global impact. The episode closes with personal recommendations, calls for inclusive teaching, and encouragement for all readers to explore the vast canon represented on the list.

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Explore the full list and categories at: schomburg.org/100

Transcript

[WNYC Announcer]

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNYC Studios in soho. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. I'm really grateful that you're here on today's show. The play the Other Place is making its North American premiere at the Shed this week. It's a modern take on Antigone and it features actors Emma Darcy and Tobias Menz and they will be joining us in studio. Emily Stokel is the host of the Pre Loved podcast and she is here for a thrifting forecast. We'll preview this month's get lit with all of It Book club pick with Angela Flournoy, author of the Wilderness. And we'll speak with Brenda Williams about her new children's book, Worthy and Wonderful. A Celebration of Girls who Matter. That's the plan. So let's get this started with 100 black voices. It's the first week of Black History Month and it is also the centennial of the Schomburg center for Research in Black Culture. To celebrate the milestone, the Schomburg has put together a very special book list titled 100 Black Voices. The Schomburg asked writers, featured thinkers and creatives from around the country, including Isabel Wilkerson, Bryan Stevenson, Imani Perry, Herb Boyd, Alison Stewart, Alison Stewart to share books from black authors that were meaningful to them. Then they compiled those selections into a list of 100 books, including 20 books that are available right now for instant ebook access for New Yorkers. Joining me now to walk through the list is Myra Liriano, the Schomburg Associate Chief Librarian of Research and Reference Division. Hi Myra. And also joining us is Brian Jones, Senior Director of Reading and Engagement at the New York Public Library. Hey Brian, you know what? I can't hear you guys, so I'm gonna do a little call out to our listeners while our director checks in. Then, listeners, we want to hear from you. What book or play or poem by a black author is meaningful to you and why? Give us a call at 212-43396, 922-12-4433. You don't have to be black to call. Just a book by a black author that is meaningful to you, a play, a poem, and tell us why, give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Brian, how did the idea for this, this book list come about?

[Brian Jones]

Well, my understanding is that we, on the, on the occasion of the Schomburg center centennial, have been cooking up a number of exhibitions and special programs and all kinds of features. The New York Times put out its list of 100 books. Everybody must like the best books, best 100 books. And we thought that we should have for the Schomburg's 100, we should think about a 100 books list as well. And Myra Liriano, who's here with us, really took the project by storm and figured out a way to call in the Schomburg's immense community of luminaries to participate.

[Alison Stewart]

Myra, would you like to share a little bit more about that?

[Myra Liriano]

Yeah, sure. So all along we knew we wanted to have some kind of a book list to celebrate our centennial. And the question is like, how do you do that? Right? So then In July of 2024, the New York Times comes out with their Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. And the way that they did it was they surveyed over 500, you know, authors, other kinds of cultural producers. And I was like, I love this idea. But then I'm like, we don't have the resources of the New York Times, like, how are we going to do this? So we figured out a way to sort of do it. Not as well as the New York Times, but we did reach out to 72 black luminaries, writers, librarians, other kinds of important figures in the cultural world of. And so we, we frantically emailed and we didn't manage to get through to all the people we wanted to. The list of people we wanted to reach was like over 600 people. So it's really hard when you don't have the resources of New York Times. So we did manage to get feedback from over 72 people. And we asked them, instead of like the best books, we asked them, what are the books that have impacted your practice that have been. That was published between 1925 and 2025. And because we reached out to so many different kinds of people, we got some very interesting responses. And we did receive over 400 nominations. And then, which was wonderful. But then we realized that we have to narrow that down to be 100. And that's when the real challenge came in. So there was a small group of us. Brian Jones was in that group. And we worked really hard to figure out how to narrow the book down. And we did. We ended up narrowing it down and kind of not just to get to 100, but also to highlight different kinds of books that were not necessarily the ones that I think people would expect to see on this list.

[Alison Stewart]

Brian, how do you think lists like these inspire readers?

[Brian Jones]

Well, I think a list like this inspires readers when they see things that are familiar and things that are surprising. So it's familiar to see James Baldwin on a list like this, but maybe surprising to see that we chose Giovanni's Room as the book that we chose or familiar to see Toni Morrison, but surprising that the choice was SULA for this list. We had difficult decisions to make. You know, there are many, many people wrote back to us with books that were published before 1925. And so limiting ourselves. I mean, there's so many great influential texts before 1925 by black authors. But, you know, we had to limit ourselves to the constraint of the centennial. And then people like Toni Morrison and James Baldwin also have many titles that are influential and that influence. So we decided, we made a difficult decision that every author would only get one title. And that way we made more room for more voices. So we're hoping that these lists are inspiring people to think about books they have read and look for some titles that they haven't read and maybe try something new.

[Alison Stewart]

We're talking about the new book list, 100 Black Voices. In honor of the Schomburg Centennial and Black History Month, my guests are Myra Laureano, associate chief librarian at the Schomburg center, and Brian Jones, senior Director of Reading and Engagement at the New York Public Library. And we're putting out this call to you. What book or play or poem by a black author is meaningful to you and why? Our number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Let's talk to Mohid from Jersey City. Hi, Mohid, thank you for making the time to call.

All of it.

[Brian Jones]

Hi, thanks a lot. The book I was gonna mention was by Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man. I think it's a fantastic novel and it has some really amazing themes. I highly recommend it to anybody.

[Alison Stewart]

Thanks so much for calling. Andrea's calling from Park Slope. Hey, Andrea, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Caller]

Hi. I just.

I love this idea.

I can't wait to find it.

Read all the ones that I haven't read already. I was inspired, loved Toni Morrison, everything that she's written, but particularly beloved. And at one point I considered becoming a professor of black lit, but realized as a white woman, I probably didn't have too much of a future as a professor of black lit.

[Alison Stewart]

Thanks for calling, Andrea. We appreciate it. Let's talk to Rob in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Hey, Rob, thanks for calling, all of it. What did you read?

[Caller]

I read James by Percival Everett, and I have I have to admit that when I first picked the book up, I was prepared to dislike it because I thought it was going to be somehow disrespectful to Huckleberry Finn. And I must admit that as I got into it, I did get really get into it and I found it to be an engrossing read and that it was, I think it was respectful of the of Huckleberry Finn, which, by the way, I don't think is racist. I don't think Huckleberry Finn's treatment of the enslaved person Jim is racist at all. But the twist at the end I found hard to believe. But the rest of it I really did enjoy.

[Alison Stewart]

Thanks for calling, Rob. Myra, any responses to those books that people have read?

[Myra Liriano]

Yes, sure. Well, I'm excited to say that all three of those books are on the list. Well, actually, I lied. Beloved is not so Beloved didn't make the list because we chose Sula instead. But Beloved and the Autobiography of Malcolm X were the two books that were nominated the most from all the people that we surveyed. So Beloved is a much loved book and definitely one of my favorites. But Invisible man and James, that is on the list of the black voices and excellent books to read if you haven't read them.

[Alison Stewart]

Brian, do you have any comments?

[Brian Jones]

Well, just that, you know, somebody mentioned trying to find the list, hoping they can find it at schomburg.org.org 100 and when you go to that website and you're looking at the list, There are also 12 categories on the left side of your screen so you can explore by category. If you're looking for poetry or fiction or history or biography, we were trying, as Myra said, we're trying to include really diverse genres in this list.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, Myra, it's interesting. It doesn't just have American authors on the list. There are international authors as well, including some works that have been translated from English, from Spanish or from French. Why was it important to you to go beyond American authors?

[Myra Liriano]

So when we received the nominations from the people we surveyed, we didn't find very many Non American authors. And the Schomburg center has always been global in its scope. From our founder Arturo Schomburg. His original library that was the founding of the Schomburg center always included authors from other parts of the world. And so we felt it was really important that this list represents what the Schomburg center, what our collection strengths are. So that was one of the exercises or one of the things that we had to do as a group was to identify authors from Africa, from the diaspora that we wanted to have on the list. And I think that's one of the major strengths of our list because I really hope that it will expose people to authors. Some incredible authors that may be unfamiliar to them but really important and just wonderful reads.

[Alison Stewart]

Brian, was there any book that you learned about for the first time during this process?

[Brian Jones]

Oh yes, quite a few. I feel like, you know, there are books that just looking at the list right now, you know, there's a book by Aim Cesair that I haven't read or didn't even know about. There's, there's quite a few actually. I'm embarrassed to say. I, you know, I consider myself somebody who reads a lot of black history, but there's a lot here I haven't read. This Edwidge Danticat book. You know, there's a classic like this collection of poems by Lucille Clifton that I haven't read. Good Woman Poems and a Memoir. So I've got some work to do.

[Alison Stewart]

How about for you, Myra?

[Myra Liriano]

A lot of, a lot of the non American authors on the list, they're books that I have not read. There's one book that I love, the title Nervous Condition by Sitsi Dangaran which sounds really interesting. She's a writer from Zimbabwe and it's a feminist book that looks at kind of rejecting the patriarchy of Zimbabwe. And it sounds really cool. I haven't started reading that, but I.

[Alison Stewart]

Look forward to we're getting a ton of calls.

This says I love Passing by Nella Larson.

It's a gripping page turner, but it is also beautifully written, elegant, deep dive into racism, social strata and women's friendships plus the complexity of our own inner and outer identities. This one says I can't choose just one. But the first book that came to my mind was Audre Lorde Sister Essays. The Master's tools. Uses of the erotic and poetry is not a luxury continue to impact my life decades after my first reading. Let's talk to Amelia from Queens. Hi Amelia. Thank you for taking the time to call all of it.

[Caller]

Thank You. I'm glad to share. I just wanted to also include the street by Ann Petrie. My book club here in Queens has devoted an entire year to reading black authors. And we really encouraged to pass that, you know, that, that encouragement onto others to consider because a lot of our books by black authors are being banned throughout the country. So we thought that was a significant effort to continue to pursue. We also read the Passing by Nella Larson. We've read Americana. I, I can't pronounce the author's name, but she's a Nigerian woman and we read James Baldwin as well, just to name a few.

[Alison Stewart]

Sounds like you have a great book club, Amelia. Let's talk to Sally from Wilmington, North Carolina. Hi, Sally. Thank you for so much for calling all of it.

[Caller]

Hey.

Well, when I called in, I, I said that one of my first books by a black author was the Color Purple. But I'm thinking I read Invisible man first in high school. But I just continue to read books by black authors so I can try to understand the experience of black people throughout our history. And it really impacts me now in supporting democratic values, protesting against ice, because the experience of black people throughout our history is, is very relevant to what's going on in our country at the moment.

[Alison Stewart]

Sally, thank you so much for calling. And let's talk to Suzanne in Philadelphia. Hey, Suzanne, what have you been reading?

[Caller]

Hi.

I'm going to approach this. Well, actually, I, I just reread Their Eyes Were Walking God for personal. And I just absolutely love Hurston. And I just think what a magnificent author. But I'm approaching it from a children's perspective, meaning elementary, all the way through high school. And I find that poetry is a way to really find the kernel of lots of issues with regard to African American history. So Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, excellent poem Incident by Countee Collins Bra. And then picture books. I love picture books. And I would even suggest for reading groups to take out a slew of picture books and do that. One of the books is Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaret Mitchell. Talking about finding a voice of your.

Own is a book, a Voice of.

Her Own, about Phillis Wheatley. And then finally, the way I always would end the end of African American History Month, particularly with my high schoolers, is Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson's the Undefeated. And I find that when you do poems and you do the short stories. Oh, also short stories. I love the Ways of White Folks by Langston Use. So you can do short pieces and you can just inspire kids to think and inspire kids to comment and inspire kids to really understand why African American history is so important.

[Alison Stewart]

That is a great syllabus, by the way. Thanks so much for calling in. We're talking about a new book list. It's called 100 Black Voice in honor of the Schomburg Centennial and Black History Month. My guests are Myra Liriano and Brian Jones, both from the public library. If you want to call in and tell us about a book written by a black author or a play or a poem and why it is important to you, our Phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Brian, one of the more recent novels you wanted to speak about was. Was Homegoing. I think this came out. Is it 10 years ago?

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Brian Jones]

2016. Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Why was this one of these books that you wanted people to have access to? Because it is involved. It is involved in your instant access program.

[Brian Jones]

Yeah. The. This is one of those novels that just hit me when I first picked it up like a ton of bricks. You know, there's something about these books that attempt to connect the experience, the black experience here in the United States with the African past, especially with the pre colonial African past. And it's such an ambitious novel. It's following, I think it's like eight generations of family members, starting with these two sisters, one who becomes a captive. You know, they're both Asante in Africa. One becomes a captive and the other is not. And so their life trajectories and their family trajectories are very different. And yet they're intertwined. And the kind of the traumas of both the African diasporic experience and the African American experience and the resilience is there too. And the ways that people struggle and sometimes fail and the ways that they persevere and look at and try to understand their lives. But there's something about seeing the long sweep of these two families, of these sisters is really powerful. Highly recommend it.

[Alison Stewart]

This text says Octavia Butler series Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. It's a blueprint for our times. The answer is community. Another text says, I Hope Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston made the list. I read it in high school and it remains one of my favorite books. Such poetic, evocative language and spoke directly and deeply to my teenage heart. And this text is really interesting. It brings up another subject for us. It says, I wanted to say, as a playwright, I'm so Excited to see plays on the list. Black American playwrights have absolutely revolutionized American theater canon. Delighted to see Ntozake Shange and Susan Laurie Parks on there. Whether plays Myra can people find on the list?

[Myra Liriano]

Yes, that also came up in our conversations, and we felt it was really important. And there were so many plays we could have chosen. And so that was a tough category. But you will find the Dutchman by Amira Baraka, Fences by August Wilson, Top Dog, Underdog by Suzanne Laurie Parks, and of course, A Raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry, whose papers we actually have here at the Schomburg Center. So she's incredibly important to us because she is here with us, but in really important works, different time periods that, you know, I think are sort of canons in black theater.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take another call. Arielle is calling in from Catskill. Hey, Ariel, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Caller]

Hello?

Can you hear me?

[Alison Stewart]

I hear you.

Great. Okay.

[Caller]

Thanks for taking my call.

I am in the middle of reading Crook Manifesto from Colson Whitehead right now. I think it's the second book in a trilogy about Harlem in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and I can't put it down.

Basically, that's what I've been doing for.

The past few days, just making my way through it.

[Alison Stewart]

Get ready for this summer. His new book's coming out. Let's talk to Lilit in Manhattan. Hi, Lilit. Thank you for calling, all of it.

[Caller]

Oh, thank you. Beautiful program. I wanted to recommend three things that I'm hoping didn't make the list so we can make it longer. The first was briefly mentioned. It's an essay by Audre Lorde called Poetry Is Not a Luxury, which I believe you can, like, make a life motto about. If you change the word women to include everybody and change poetry to be any work that you love, it's just. It's just extraordinary. She's extraordinary. I actually went to an I Am youm Sister conference in Boston in the late 80s and got to meet her, and I just think she's incredible. And I just want to add two quick things because I heard the person talk about children's books, and there's a story by Toni Cade Bambara called Gorilla My Love. And I've always thought of it that this is the Black Tippy Longstocking, and I recommend it. There's a recording of Hattie Winston on YouTube reading it. It's selected shorts. It's just a gift to hear it. So I highly recommend that for kids. And then the last thing, I wanted to add one thing that was just one of the most shocking books that I've ever read. It was 2016. It's a novel by James Hanahan and it's called Delicious Foods and it's apparently based on a real farm that's in Florida that treats, I believe, Asian people. But he's writing. He's writing a novel as if it's about black Americans. And it's. It's really shocking and really powerful. But I assumed it wasn't on the list, so I thought I'd mention all those. Thanks again.

[Alison Stewart]

Thank you so much for calling in. So, Brian, let's see, for history lovers, you're recommending the Black Jacobins by C.L.R. james. And it's about the Haitian Revolution.

[Brian Jones]

Oh my gosh. I picked this up again over the weekend to look at it and it just is so dynamic. It's an enduring book. It was written in 1938 by C.L.R. james. I mean, the Haitian Revolution is still one of the most inspiring and amazing events in world history. It's understudied, in my opinion and undervalued as given how momentous and earth shaking it was. But CLR James tells the story of it like a novel. It reads like a novel. It's so powerful and compelling. And I think sometimes in these days where sometimes in it's easy to lose hope. It's really inspiring to read the history of revolutions, of the ways that ordinary people stuck in sometimes hellish circumstances rise up and change their fortunes. And this is one of the best.

[Alison Stewart]

Myra, you talked a bit about the Sweet Fly Paper of Life. It depicts Harlem in the 1950s, but not like you think, tell people a little bit about the book. Yeah.

[Myra Liriano]

So you know, Langston Hughes was nominated numerous times, different works by Langston Hughes. And in the end we kind of again went with something a little unexpected by choosing the Sweet Flypaper of Life, which is written. It's a poetry, but it's poetry, but also a story by Langston Hughes and with beautiful photographs by Roy DeCarava. Published in 19, let's see, 1955. And it's what I. I think we chose this book also because it's a story about Harlem and we are here in Harlem. So Harlem is very important to us. But it tells the story of regular people through the eyes of a grandmother named Sister Mary Bradley and her family and her neighbors and her life in Harlem. It's just like little snippets and it reads so beautifully. And we didn't choose. We don't have children's books and young adult books on the list because it was just gonna be too much of a monster to include those. That's a whole other list that I hopefully one day we will create. But as one of your callers pointed out so well, I think poetry is a great way to is also a great form of literature for young people. And this one in particular is just perfect for young adults. And if I can read a quote really quickly from has to do with riding the subway, but at rush hour. Well, all it took was the Supreme Court to decide on mixed race. I mean, sorry, mixed schools, but the rush hour in the subway mixes everybody, white, black, gentile and Jews closer than you ever are to your relatives. Now me, I always done day's work ever since I come to New York with no extra pay for riding the subway, which is the hardest work of all. So folks who ride the subway every day, not always easy. And so that's just a little taste. The sweet flypaper of life.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's get a couple more calls in here and a couple more texts. I got a lot of the book about Althea Gibson titled Serving Herself by Ashley Brown portrays the struggle of a black woman athlete making her way in a sport and overcoming barriers a generation before Arthur Ashe. The Book of Delights by Ross Gay gives me such joy. Heavy by Casey Lemon. This is a funny text. It says. Allison, great segment, but I want the white woman who called about being hesitant to teach black literature to New no. Do it. Our literature is inclusive, not exclusive. Go for it. I thought that was a great text. Is there anything you wanted to shout out? Any book you wanted to shout out? Before we wrap our segment, Brian, I.

[Brian Jones]

Come back again and again to Black Reconstruction in America by W.E.B. du Bois. It's a very long book, so don't read it by yourself. Form a study group, get together with friends. I think particularly that chapter towards the end on the founding the public school shows. It's like another one of these moments of revolution when we when black people in the south turned the world upside down and tried to make a multiracial democracy out of the South.

[Alison Stewart]

Myra, anything you wanted to shout out? Any book you want to shout out before we wrap?

[Myra Liriano]

I want to shout out two books if I can. One is I listened to Sula by Toni Morrison. And so it's one on. It's one of the books on the list for unlimited access to ebooks and audiobooks. Toni Morrison reads all of her books. She is the reader for her book. So if you didn't know that, I highly recommend listening to Sula. I've so enjoyed it. It's such a heartbreaking, devastating book. But listening to Toni Morrison read it really just made it so wonderful. And lastly, because there's such a rage right now over heated rivalry, and if you want to keep going further, an incredible landmark book in gay literature is James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. It's about love. And you know, there's Baldwin is all about love. And so if you haven't read Baldwin, if you haven't read Giovanni's Room, I highly recommend it.

[Alison Stewart]

My guests have been Brian Jones and Myra Liriano. We are Talking about the 100 black voices in honor of the Schomburg's centennial. Thanks for being with us.

[Brian Jones]

Thanks for having us.

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