This book club is about understanding the black experience through adult non-fiction literature. This book club centers the work of African American, African and Caribbean authors who are scholars, historians, academics, journalists, political analysts, athletes and everyday people to showcase their individual and collective experiences as and of black communities. As they tell rich stories, their racial identity often contributes to the dynamic ways in which they develop and share knowledge. Reading about people's experiences is the best way to learn about them.

1. Title: You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Siblings co-author problematic race-driven experiences in a witty manner; there, they explore the everyday subtle moments of racism-driven energy they have encountered, mostly Lacey.

2. Title: Black Joy by Tracy Michael Lewis-Giggetts
Black Joy focuses on the conversation of black joy, as it's imperative to centre black joyful experiences that make black people unique and contribute to their perseverance and healing.

3. Title: Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim by Leah Vernon
Bred to be picture-perfect, Vernon explores her experiences as a black Muslim female who did not have a picture-perfect life. Vernon affirms her power by discussing her layered lifelong challenges and co-existing with multiple identities.

4. Title: How To Be Less Stupid About Race by Crystal M. Fleming
Sometimes, direct conversations are needed, as in this case where Fleming presents the ways notes of racism can be subtly ingrained in everyday culture. In the 20th century, there have been more teachings of black history that Fleming aims to contribute to.

5. Title: America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the struggle or Justice by Treva B. Lindsey
Lindsey discusses the realities of black women, active participants in social change, and the factors contributing to the diminished quality of life that must be acknowledged and addressed for sustainable development.

6. Title: Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
The prominent black liberation activist Assata gives a personal account of her life centred around blackness, black activism versus oppressive structural systems of the country, which wants her to surrender.

7. Title: The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole
Desmond Cole presents examples of police brutality and illegal, unethical treatment that outcasts and diminishes the quality of life for black Canadians. He focuses on self-experiences and disuses activism for black voices often leads to negative consequences.

8. Title: Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond by Marc Lamont Hill
Academic Marc Lamont Hill discusses systemic structures which contribute to the poor quality of life and inadequate treatment and, in some cases, death for black men, women and children using examples of prominent killings.

9. Title: Disorientation: Being Black in the World by Ian Williams
Williams essentially discusses unprovoked attacks while black. The idea is that such encounters sometimes have terrorizing conclusions for individuals and their communities.

10. Title: Long Time Coming by Michael Eric Dyson
Dyson uses black killings during the pandemic to discuss America's awakening and paints a picture of the American treatment of black people and the long quest for justice for black people.

11. Title: The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Coates is a product of a generation of black liberators who thrived to create liberated black generations after them. This self-account explores his life and the life of black men in this family in America.

12. Title: Uncomfortable Conversations with A Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
This is Emmanuel Acho's way of holding authentic and palatable dialogues about race relations by centring one of the most radical identities in American history, the black person.