CCWomen’s 2024 theme is Empower, Together—and there’s no denying that books can be an essential part of self-empowerment, as they teach us to reflect and evolve. During Black History Month, we want to honor the leaders who’ve come before us, providing us a roadmap to liberation. Through their wisdom, we can continue our advocacy; through their power, we can tap into our strength to fight for a better world.
Here are some recommendations written by Black women authors who provide a unique perspective of leadership and all the ways we can transform it.
1. Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams
“From the moment I enter a room, I am clear about how I intend to be treated and how I intend to engage. I do not tell self-deprecating jokes about my race or gender, though I will do so about my personal idiosyncrasies. I can be charmingly humble or playfully self-effacing without pandering to stereotypes in order to make others comfortable.”
Leadership isn’t a walk in the park, especially for people of color. It requires immense patience and sacrifice that often goes unnoticed, making minority leaders feel othered instead of empowered. As a public figure with versatile experience—from opening a care center to running a campaign—Stacy Abrams provides a guide to mitigate this issue.
From emphasizing clear boundaries to encouraging self-exploration, Abrams draws from her own background to highlight her point. As a Black woman in politics, she knows all too well what it’s like to “lead from the outside.” She states this reality isn’t always necessarily a disadvantage, but rather a tool that can bring people together. Instead of considering “the other” as someone’s weakness, she redefines it as a possible catalyst for a greater change.
2. Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks
“There are times when personal experience keeps us from reaching the mountain top and so we let it go because the weight of it is too heavy. And sometimes the mountain top is difficult to reach with all our resources, factual and confessional, so we are just there, collectively grasping, feeling the limitations of knowledge, longing together, yearning for a way to reach that highest point. Even this yearning is a way to know.”
Despite being written primarily for educators, Teaching to Transgress offers valuable revelations that are applicable for leaders in every field. Using personal anecdotes and compelling research, bell hooks urges us to foster learning spaces that welcome transgressions rather than stifle them.
In the classroom, this can look like equipping students with the critical thinking skills to fight against power dynamics that don’t put their best interests in mind. In a professional environment, it might be an associate feeling safe enough to call out hiring or operational practices that feel more exclusionary than inclusive. Whatever it is, we must have the boldness to cross boundaries and create more empowering spaces.
Ultimately, Teaching to Transgress gives us the tools to question, dismantle, and rebuild. Instead of adhering to the status quo, we have the choice to challenge it.
3. The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison
“Don’t let anybody, anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.”
The Source of Self-Regard is a collection of Toni Morrison’s poetic reflections and powerfully expressive essays. Spanning forty years of her work, the book is chock full of life lessons and takeaways that can fuel every leader’s tank.
Combining historical expertise, pure literary skill, and a passion for social justice, Morrison discusses everything from war and injustice to feminism and morality, then presents abstract solutions that can counter what may feel like a bleak reality. Although she tackles relatively heavy topics, she follows up with beautiful reasons for us to persevere. She reminds us that despite its many imperfections, our world needs dreamers and doers to continue taking the lead.
4. Zami: a New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
“I remember how being young and Black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell.”
Zami is a coming-of-age biography that focuses on Audre Lorde’s early life as a gay Black woman having to navigate an unaccepting and narrow-minded society. It details her yearning for belonging, but even as she finds it, she grows increasingly aware of the prejudices surrounding her identity.
Coming face-to-face with resistance can be disheartening for anyone who wants to pave a better path for others. Zami teaches us that the antidote to these challenges is authentic community. Being soulfully connected to other lesbians and allies was Lorde’s balm; their love for one another anchored her in her purpose. Through their support, she became an activist, writer, friend, and whatever her loved ones needed her to be. Similarly, leaders can draw strength from their tribe and learn how to lean on them when the going gets tough—because when fighting the good fight, they’re guaranteed to show up.
5. Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
“What we have lived
Remains indecipherable.
& yet we remain.
& still, we write.
& so, we write.
Watch us move above the fog
Like a promontory at dusk.
Shall this leave us bitter?
Or better?”
Known for her clever, inspirational wordplay, Amanda Gorman masterfully crafts poems that acknowledge adversity while still making room for hope. Call Us What We Carry explores several topics at once: grief, healing, and unity. It might not be your typical self-help book, but it gives leaders powerful words to sit with when faced with an uncertain future. Gorman explores the importance of perspective and how it determines our path before us.
After all, everyone has a story to tell. Gorman challenges us to think about how we’d write ours. Are we going to allow challenges and past hurts to harden us, or will we continue to pursue a better tomorrow, even when it has yet to take shape?
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