Independence Day is known for fireworks, cookouts, and patriotic celebrations across the country. But it also offers an opportunity to reflect on what freedom has meant throughout American history and who has fought to make its promises a reality.
For many Black Americans, the Fourth of July has long carried a more complex meaning. While Independence Day marks the nation’s founding, Juneteenth commemorates the end of legal slavery in the United States. That has inspired generations of historians, journalists, and authors to dissect the country’s founding ideals alongside the realities of slavery, segregation, and resistance.
Whether you’re looking to learn more about pivotal moments in history or to gain a broader perspective on freedom in America and beyond, these six books offer thoughtful insights ahead of Independence Day weekend.
1. Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War by Edda L. Fields-Black (2024)
Harriet Tubman is widely remembered for leading enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad, but this book explores one of the most overlooked chapters of her legacy. Drawing on newly examined historical documents, Edda L. Fields-Black recounts Tubman’s role in planning and helping lead the 1863 Combahee River Raid, a Union military operation that freed more than 730 enslaved people in South Carolina. Combee also traces the lives of those liberated during the raid and examines how their experiences helped shape the Gullah Geechee community after the Civil War.
2. Resist: How a Century of Young Black Activists Shaped America by Rita Omokha (2024)
Award-winning journalist Rita Omokha traces a century of Black youth activism, from organizers like Ella Baker to the generation that mobilized following the killing of George Floyd. Through both well-known and overlooked stories, Resist examines how young Black activists helped shape the fight for civil rights, democracy and social justice, and how their work continues to influence those movements today.
3. Black History for Every Day of the Year by David Olusoga, Yinka Olusoga and Kemi Olusoga (2024/2025)
Written by historian David Olusoga and his siblings, Yinka and Kemi Olusoga, Black History for Every Day of the Year features 366 entries highlighting influential figures, pivotal events, and cultural milestones from across the African diaspora. Spanning ancient civilizations to the Black Lives Matter movement, the book introduces readers to both well-known icons and overlooked stories that have shaped Black history around the world.
4. The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide by Howard W. French (2025)
Howard W. French’s The Second Emancipation examines the life and legacy of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president and a leading voice of Pan-Africanism. It also explores how independence movements across Africa intersected with the global fight for Black liberation during the 20th century.
5. I Am Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free by Lee Hawkins (2025)
Former Wall Street Journal reporter Lee Hawkins examines his family’s history to uncover the lasting effects of slavery, Jim Crow and generational trauma in I Am Nobody’s Slave. Blending memoir with historical research and reporting, the book explores how one Black family’s experiences reflect the broader impact of systemic racism in America while highlighting resilience across generations.
6. America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (2026)
Released ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary, Eddie S. Glaude Jr.’s America, U.S.A. takes a closer look at the nation’s milestone anniversaries and the stories it tells about race and freedom. By highlighting the voices of W.E.B. Du Bois, John Dos Passos, and Martin Luther King, Jr., Glaude challenges readers to reconsider whose experiences have shaped the American story. The book was also named one of the top nine titles on the BLK Bestsellers List from the African American Literature Book Club, a partner of theGrio.
