Many of us make New Year’s resolutions to read a book a week or once per month. And, if you are anything like me, you want those books to come from Black authors. Now, a company called Noir Reads is making meeting those goals all the more possible by delivering books from the Black Diaspora to subscribers for a small monthly or quarterly fee.

According to the website, “Noir Reads is simple and easy way to read Black literature to develop or deepen your understanding of Black culture & the Black experience by introducing readers to writers of the Diaspora and engaging in dynamic discussions with a growing private online community.”

The monthly cost to receive two to three fiction and/or nonfiction pieces of Black literature is only $34.99, and $100 for three months. This innovative and timely service can even be purchased as a gift.

The company’s founders Zellie Imani and Derick Brewer are hoping that this service will make Black stories and literature more accessible to broader audiences. They also want to draw attention to the complex histories of the Black Diaspora to link them to our present struggles.

In an interview with Huffington Post, Imani said, “With a looming Trump presidency, we wanted books to help readers navigate this racist political landscape and offer ways to move forward,” Imani said. “The books can help us process these issues in an efficient way.”

In the first month’s subscription, set to arrive around February 6, patrons will receive Angela Davis’ new work Freedom is a Constant Struggle and  Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. Subsequent boxes will include Assata Shakur’s Autobiography, Cornel West’s Democracy Matters, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between The World And Me, James Baldwin’s Going To Meet The Man. Each box includes a reading guide to tie the readings together into one theme. The duo has already sold at least 100 of the 200 boxes they prepared for the launch.

Imani hopes that this service will draw much-needed attention to the work he already does as a writer, educator and activist.

“Blackness is complex and diverse, but this basic fact becomes overshadowed, or erased by continually centering African American narratives,” Imani said. “Instead, we want Noir Reads to explore, and not ignore, the vast and rich histories of the African Diaspora.”

Hopefully more and more people take advantage of this new venture in the near future.

 

Photo via Noir Reads