Black History Month Health Booklist

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Decades ago, as a practicing physician, I vowed to uplift the health and care of my patients and the general public. Although I no longer practice, a passionate health care provider never relieves themselves of the oath’s commitment. I may not be managing patients daily, but I would like to think that I am living my life in accordance to healthy habits and I am encouraging others to prioritize their health. In the spirit of this, for Black History Month, I’ve compiled a list of 10 books that honor Black History, expose raw truths, and encourage African Americans to safeguard and insure their health:

  1. Self-Care for Black Men: 100 Ways to Heal and Liberate by Jor-El Caraballo
    • self-care guidebook full of activities for Black men everywhere pursuing joy, creating connections, confronting racism, and working through intergenerational trauma
  2. The Black Joy Project by Kleaver Cruz 
    • photos and essays on a force that fuels Black life all around the globe, this is Humans of New York meets The Black Book
  3. The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color (The Social Justice Handbook Series) by Natalie Y. Gutiérrez LMFT
    • illuminates the phenomena of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) as it is uniquely experienced by people of color, and provides a much-needed path to health and wholeness
  4. African Holistic Health by Llaila Afrika 
    • explores African-centered health perspectives, offering a complete guide to herbal remedies and homeopathic treatments while highlighting physiological and psychological differences between African and European descent”
  5. Black Health: The Social, Political, and Cultural Determinants of Black People’s Health (Bioethics for Social Justice) by Keisha Ray
    • investigates the status of Black people’s health, which requires us to acknowledge that race has always been a powerful social category that gives access to the resources we need for health and wellbeing to some people, while withholding them from other people
  6. The Health Gap by Michael Marmont
    • president of the World Medical Association, reveals social injustice to be the greatest threat to global health
  7. Killing The Black Body by Dorothy Roberts
    • a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women. It is as crucial as ever, even two decades after its original publication
  8. Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy M.D.
    • a doctor’s passionate and profound memoir of his experience grappling with race, bias, and the unique health problems of black Americans
  9. Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa
    • a stunning exposé of why Black people in our society ‘live sicker and die quicker’—an eye-opening game changer.”—Oprah Daily
  10. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
    • a chronicle of one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life