What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young Read-Alikes

Are you waiting for the popular memoir by Pittsburgh native Damon Young? Maybe you’ve read it already, really enjoyed it, and want something similar. Try one of these!

 


Colored People

The celebrated Black Harvard scholar offers a portrait of growing up in a West Virginia hill town, presenting a study of his family, his childhood icons, and the social institutions and mores of the time.






Our Black Sons Matter: Mothers Talk about Fears, Sorrows, and Hopes

Our Black Sons Matter is a powerful collection of original essays, letters, and poems that addresses both the deep joys and the very real challenges of raising black boys today written by the mothers who wonder and wait and worry.


This Land

Gary Lee Clark Jr. is a musician from Austin, Texas best known for his fusion of blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop.


We Are Never Meeting in Real Life

This book of personal essays is so self-deprecating and irreverent, raunchy even, that you will wish Samantha Irby was your best friend IRL.


We Were Eight Years in Power

This collection of essays by the National Book Award winning author examines racial relations just before, during, and after Barack Obama’s presidency. With biting insight and emotion, he reflects on the social and political ramifications of being black in America.


White Fragility: Why It's So Hard to Talk to White People about Racism

Educator DiAngelo explores how white fragility, which is characterized by assertive emotions and defensive behaviors displayed when white people are challenged racially, develops and how it protects ongoing racial inequality. The perfect book for white people who need to understand their emotional reactions to race discussions.  The guide provides vital information for fighting injustices, written by a scholar and diversity trainer.

This title is also available for checkout as an eBook and eAudiobook on OverDrive/Libby.


You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain

Comedian and co-host of the podcast 2 Dope Queens delivers a series of hilarious and reflective essays describing her experience as a black woman in modern America, including America’s relationship with African-American hair and how to avoid being the token black friend.