5 inspiring reads to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy

by Jeanne Theoharis

🎧 Audiobook

One of the most highly anticipated releases of 2025 and shortlisted for the 2025 Museum of African American History Stone Book Award, this book reframes the legacy we know when we think of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the less discussed achievements he made during the Civil Rights Movement. Theoharis, a New York Times bestselling author, makes the case that King’s civil rights work not just in the South, but also in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, was at the root of his campaign for racial equity and human rights.

by Velvet Films, Inc.

In 1979, renowned author and civil rights activist James Baldwin decides to recount his experience of the Civil Rights Movement and the loss of his three friends and fellow activists: Medgar Evers, Malcom X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. He passed before finishing this project, but left us with 30 pages. 

Peck’s film by the same name (also available on Kanopy) is an imagining of what the final book would have been through the use of these pages and various other excerpts from James Baldwin’s life. This books has images from the film as well.

by Hanif Abdurraqib

🎧 Audiobook

Josephine Baker, the famous African American dancer, singer, and actor has been quoted at the 1963 March on Washington while introducing “Negro Women for Civil Rights” as saying, “I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.” This was after she’d been denied service at quite a few different establishments due to her race, despite having achieved huge stardom around the world. 

Abdurraqib draws on this particular incident to show how inevitably intertwined music and entertainment are within American culture and politics. He takes the reader on an exploration of musical history that relates to the world we live in today and his world in Columbus, Ohio.

by Sam Cooke

After being denied a motel room in Shreveport, Louisiana that he confirmed via phone call, famous singer Sam Cooke was arrested for protesting the motel’s actions. Shortly after this incident, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington. It’s these two moments that became the inspiration for Cooke’s famous song, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” that was released in 1964 and quickly became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. It’s known as one of the most powerful songs in history. 

Nikkolas Smith, talented and award-winning illustrator of The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, The Artivist, and I Am Ruby Bridges, uses his creative skills to draw between Sam Cooke’s inspiring lyrics and pivotal milestones throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

by Katie Mitchell

🎧 Audiobook

Black literature has always been a driving force behind the fight for racial equity and was most certainly a large part of the Civil Rights Movement with notable works like Martin Luther Kings Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, I Have a Dream speech, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, A Raisin in the Sun, and more. This is not only true for the Civil Rights Movement, but in almost every era in which People of Color have had to fight for their human rights. Black-owned bookstores are directly in line with that work. They provide spaces for highlighting underrepresented voices and community for those seeking one. 

With an original foreword by Nikki Giovani, the late great poet and activist, and author/Black bookstore owner herself, Katie Mitchell, Prose to the People provides information on over 50 Black bookstores in the U.S. There are essays and poems, plus interviews with journalists, activists, fellow authors, academics, and poets across the country. Literature and thoughtful expression have always had a power of their own and Black bookstores help protect this power.