November 2026 brings a diverse collection of antiracism releases exploring Black history, cultural identity, racial justice, and movements for liberation.
Spanning history, biography, memoir, education, music, political analysis, and fiction, this month’s selections spotlight overlooked Black contributions, challenge systemic oppression, and examine the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and power.
Together, these works offer readers historical perspectives and contemporary approaches to imagining and building a more equitable future.
Renaissance Men: Agents of Medical and Cultural Modernity
by Harriet A. Washington
Little, Brown and Company, Nov. 10
Washington examines the lives and contributions of three Black physicians in New York City whose work helped transform modern medicine between 1847 and 1952. The book investigates how racism and historical exclusion obscured their achievements and shaped the recognition of Black medical professionals.
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We Make the World
Guided Aesthetics Practices for Art, Power, and Healing
by Patrisse Cullors
HarperOne, Nov. 10
We Make the World explores how aesthetics, art, and creative practices can serve as tools for healing, resistance, and social justice, helping readers challenge oppressive systems and imagine more equitable futures. Through artistic case studies, practical exercises, and themes of memory, care, ritual, and imagination, Cullors empowers readers to harness creativity to strengthen communities, foster connection, and build a more liberatory world.
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Confronting Zionism
Decolonizing Palestine and Building the World Anew
by Noura Erakat and John Reynolds
Haymarket Books, Nov. 10
With a large body of evidence, Erakat and Reynolds contend that Zionism is a racist and colonial project. In the end, they propose the decolonization of Palestine, stipulating reparations, the redistribution of wealth, and the return of Palestinian refugees
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There Used to Be People Here
by Kennedy Cole
Berkley, Nov. 10
Set in 1970s Mississippi, There Used to Be People Here by Kennedy Cole follows Samuel Barkley, a Black detective investigating a mysterious death at a local gay bar alongside a temporary partner, only to uncover a disturbing conspiracy tied to a suspicious plane crash. Blending crime fiction, paranormal horror, and social commentary, the novel explores race, queerness, and the dangers of existing as an outsider in a society hostile to difference.
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Schooling Against the Prison
Education, Imagination, and the Promise of Abolition
by Marc Lamont Hill
Harvard Education PR, Nov. 17
In Schooling Against the Prison, Hill examines how American schools reproduce the carceral state through punitive disciplinary policies, surveillance, and institutional practices that disproportionately harm Black, marginalized, disabled, queer, and trans communities. Hill advances an abolitionist vision for transforming schools through practices rooted in care, connection, and collective liberation rather than punishment and control.
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Between the River and the Railroad Tracks
by Nicole R. Fleetwood
Little, Brown and Company, Nov. 17
This multigenerational family narrative explores Black life, belonging, and inheritance in a Midwestern industrial town. Through the story of a young woman contemplating leaving her hometown, Fleetwood examines the relationships between family, community, racial history, and the meaning of home.
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Anna Murray Douglass
Biography of a Revolutionary
By Celeste-Marie Bernier
Duke University Press, Nov. 17
Based on decades of archival research, this biography recovers the life and political contributions of Anna Murray Douglass, the wife and revolutionary partner of Frederick Douglass. It highlights her work as an abolitionist, freedom fighter, and advocate whose contributions to the struggle against slavery have often been overshadowed by her husband’s legacy.
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Unpolished
by Jamaal A. Bowman
Jap Press, Nov. 17
UNPOLISHED is the deeply vulnerable and unapologetic memoir of a first-generation college graduate who became a middle school principal and ultimately a Congressman that AIPAC spent millions to take out.
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We Were Here
A History of Black People and Alternative Music
by Stephanie Phillips
Da Capo, Nov. 17
This book recovers the often-overlooked contributions of Black musicians to alternative music, highlighting artists including Jimi Hendrix, Bad Brains, and Living Colour. It challenges conventional narratives of alternative music history by examining how Black artists shaped the genre despite racial barriers and limited recognition.