BALTIMORE — Black History Month is almost over, but it’s not too late to pick up a few good books – written by some of Baltimore’s own.
Tia Hamilton, owner of Urban Reads Bookstore in Baltimore, gave us her list of the newest books by local Black authors that you can read all year long.
On the list is an autobiography by Aisha “Pinky” Cole, a Baltimore native known for her Atlanta-based Slutty Vegan restaurant chain.
“We got my girl, Pinky Cole, ‘I Hope You Fail.’ This is a new book that just recently came out,” Hamilton said. “It’s her memoir, because people was telling her, they hope she fail. So she put that in the title, and it’s a great book.”
Retired NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony has also penned his memoir, “Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised,” with the help of author D. Watkins.
“He’s speaking about the challenges of life growing up between New York and Baltimore, college, going through the NBA, very good for the mental health,” Hamilton said.
Watkins’ own memoir, “Black Boy Smile,” was recently released, too. In it, he chronicles his life as a child growing up in East Baltimore.
Other books on her list include:
- “The Kevin Powell Reader,” a collection of Powell’s writings that cover Black life in from the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s to the #MeToo movement through his lens.
- A photo book by Devin Allen, “No Justice No Peace,” that vividly captures the civil unrest of the past decade around the country.
- “Getting on Code,” the latest book by former NFL player, artist and activist Aaron Maybin, that lays out the biggest challenges facing the Black community and challenges people to come together.
Also on the reading list is Hamilton’s own magazine, “State Vs. Us,” which features the stories of people wrongly incarcerated as well as those who are doing great things in the community. The stories have accounted for the release of nine wrongly incarcerated people, Hamilton said.
Urban Reads has two locations, at 3008 Greenmount Ave. in Waverly and in Lexington Market. Click herefor more info.