All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson (2020)

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black Queer boys.

Rainbow Milk: A Novel Paul Mendez (2020)

This is an essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative following 19-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of his Jehovah's Witness upbringing.

Queer Pollen: White Seduction, Black Male Homosexuality, and the Cinematic by David A. Gerstner (2011)

This book discusses three notable Black Queer 20th-century artists and how they turned to various media to work through their experiences living as Queer Black men.

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin (2018)

When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid-60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.

Evidence of Being: The Black Gay Cultural Renaissance and the Politics of Violence by Darius Bost (2019)

Evidence of Being opens on a grim scene: Washington DC's gay Black community in the 1980s, ravaged by AIDS, the crack epidemic, and a series of unsolved murders, seemingly abandoned by the government and mainstream culture. Yet in this darkest of moments, a new vision of community and hope managed to emerge. Darius Bost's account of the media, poetry, and performance of this time and place reveals a stunning confluence of activism and the arts. In Washington and New York during the 1980s and 90s, gay black men banded together, using creative expression as a tool to challenge the widespread views that marked them as unworthy of grief. They created art that enriched and reimagined their lives in the face of pain and neglect, while at the same time forging a path toward bold new modes of existence. At once a corrective to the predominantly white male accounts of the AIDS crisis and an openhearted depiction of the possibilities of Black gay life, Evidence of Being above all insists on the primacy of community over loneliness, and hope over despair.

I'm So (Not) Over You by Kosoko Jackson (2022)

It's been months since aspiring journalist Kian Andrews has heard from his ex-boyfriend, Hudson Rivers, but an urgent text has them meeting up at a café. Maybe Hudson wants to profusely apologize for the breakup. Or confess his undying love ... but no, Hudson has a favor to ask — he wants Kian to pretend to be his boyfriend while his parents are in town, and Kian reluctantly agrees. The dinner doesn't go exactly as planned, and suddenly Kian is Hudson's plus-one to Georgia's wedding of the season. Hudson comes from a wealthy family where reputation is everything, and he really can't afford another mistake. If Kian goes, he'll help Hudson preserve appearances and get the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the biggest names in media. This could be the big career break Kian needs. But their fake relationship is starting to feel like it might be more than a means to an end, and it's time for both men to fact-check their feelings.

Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer: The Church and the Famine of Grace by Jarel Robinson-Brown (2021)

In this honest, timely and provocative book, Jarel Robinson-Brown argues that there is deeper work to be done if the body of Christ is going to fully accept the bodies of those who are Black and gay. This is a vital call to the Church and to the world that Black, Queer, Christian lives matter.

Invisible Life by Lynn E. Harris (1999)

Law school, girlfriends, and career choices were all part of Raymond Tyler's life, but there were other, more terrifying issues for him to confront. Being Black was tough enough, but Raymond was becoming more and more conscious of sexual feelings that he knew weren't "right." He was completely committed to Sela, his longtime girlfriend, but his attraction to Kelvin, whom he had met during his last year in law school, had become more than just a friendship.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (1956)

David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself. Soon the two are spending the night in Giovanni’s curtainless room, which he keeps dark to protect their privacy. But Hella’s return to Paris brings the affair to a crisis, one that rapidly spirals into tragedy.

As The Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman (2017)

Charlie Lamonte is 13 years old, Queer, Black, and questioning what was once a firm belief in God. So naturally, she's spending a week of her summer vacation stuck at an all-white Christian youth backpacking camp. As the journey wears on and the rhetoric wears thin, she can't help but poke holes in the pious obliviousness of this storied sanctuary with little regard for people like herself — or her fellow camper Sydney.