Urban Abbey's Juneteenth Playlist

How to Be an Antiracist

By: Ibram X. Kendi
Narrated by: Ibram X. Kendi
Length: 10 hours 29 minutes

“Among the multi-faceted array of antiracist literature newly published in the last two years, Ibram X. Kendi’s How To Be an Antiracist stands alone as a definitive source of history and socio-political critique, while offering a new paradigm of thought aimed at paving the way for correcting centuries of social injustice. Hearing this visionary... Read more

Four Hundred Souls

A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

By: Ibram X. Kendi & Keisha N. Blain
Narrated by: Various
Length: 14 hours 1 minute

“An absolutely stunning history of African America for people who do not normally read history. Compiled of short stories, essays, and poems, it is perfect for someone who is intimidated by lists of names and dates. Each individual voice stands on its own but together they truly make a 'choir' that flows together beautifully. This is a... Read more

Bad Feminist

Essays

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Length: 11 hours 46 minutes

“Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there.”  — Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be?A New York Times BestsellerBest Book of the Year: NPR • Boston Globe •... Read more

Hunger

A Memoir of (My) Body

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Roxane Gay
Length: 5 hours 57 minutes

“Man oh man. Roxane Gay never fails to disappoint, even if she might disagree. This is a powerful, raw memoir, narrated by the author. Her truth is so relatable, and even when it’s not, Gay’s writing is empathetic. This audiobook was so engrossing, I actively looked for excuses to step away from what I was doing and listen to it. I highly... Read more

Not That Bad

Dispatches from Rape Culture

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, Claire Schwartz, Aubrey Hirsch, Jill Christman, Lynn Melnick, Brandon Taylor, Emma Smith-Stevens, A.J. McKenna, Lisa Mecham, Vanessa Martir, xTx, Sophia Mayer, Nora Salem, V. L. Seek, Michelle Chen & Liz Rosema
Length: 8 hours 41 minutes

Edited and with an introduction written and read by Roxane Gay, the New York Times best-selling and deeply beloved author of Bad Feminist and Hunger, this anthology of first-person essays read by all 30 contributors including Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, and Lyz Lenz, tackles rape, assault, and harassment head-on.Vogue, “10 of the Most... Read more

We Live for the We

The Political Power of Black Motherhood

By: Dani McClain
Narrated by: Dani McClain
Length: 6 hours 11 minutes

A warm, wise, and urgent guide to parenting in uncertain times, from a longtime reporter on race, reproductive health, and politics

In We Live for the We, first-time mother Dani McClain sets out to understand how to raise her daughter in what she, as a black woman, knows to be an unjust -- even hostile -- society. Black women are more likely to... Read more

Womanist Midrash

A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne

By: Wilda C. Gafney
Narrated by: Wilda C. Gafney
Length: 16 hours 54 minutes

Womanist Midrash is an in-depth and creative exploration of the well- and lesser-known women of the Hebrew Scriptures. Using her own translations, Gafney offers a midrashic interpretation of the biblical text that is rooted in the African American preaching tradition to tell the stories of a variety of female characters, many of whom are often... Read more

This Here Flesh

Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us

By: Cole Arthur Riley
Narrated by: Cole Arthur Riley
Length: 6 hours 8 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her stunning debut, the creator of Black Liturgies weaves stories from three generations of her family alongside contemplative reflections to discover the “necessary rituals” that connect us with our belonging, dignity, and liberation.

“This is the kind of book that makes you different when you’re done.”—Ashley C.... Read more

God Is a Black Woman

By: Christena Cleveland
Narrated by: Robin Eller
Length: 7 hours 40 minutes

In this timely, much-needed book, theologian, social psychologist, and activist Christena Cleveland recounts her personal journey to dismantle the cultural “whitemalegod” and uncover the Sacred Black Feminine, introducing a Black Female God who imbues us with hope, healing, and liberating presence.For years, Christena Cleveland spoke about... Read more

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey

Crazy Stories about Racism

By: Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Narrated by: Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Length: 5 hours 21 minutes

“In this eye-opening, horrifying, and hilarious book, Amber Ruffin and her sister, Lacey Lamar, share stories from Lacey's life where she has encountered racism in Nebraska. From racist donuts to being mistaken for Whoopi Goldberg, they share everything from the everyday examples of racism to the downright scary, while making you laugh out loud... Read more

The New Jim Crow

Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition

By: Michelle Alexander
Narrated by: Karen Chilton
Length: 16 hours 56 minutes

Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow.
Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been
adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of
the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the
winner of... Read more

You Are Your Best Thing

Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience

By: Tarana Burke & Brené Brown
Narrated by: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown, the Contributors, Mirron Willis, Bahni Turpin, JD Jackson & L Morgan Lee
Length: 6 hours 36 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.

Contributions by Kiese Laymon, Imani Perry, Laverne Cox,... Read more

How the Word Is Passed

A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

By: Clint Smith
Narrated by: Clint Smith
Length: 10 hours 6 minutes

“Smith has crafted a resource, narrative and detailed explanation into how we teach the legacy of slavery. He recounts visits from everywhere from NYC to the Whitney Plantation, integrating stories of people and visitors today. This book is lays a beautiful written foundation for interrogating the history we've been taught. Particularly... Read more

Killing the Black Body

Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty

By: Dorothy Roberts
Narrated by: Shayna Small
Length: 14 hours 38 minutes

This is a no-holds-barred response to the liberal and conservative retreat from an assertive, activist, and socially transformative civil rights agenda of recent years--using a black feminist lens and the issue of  the impact of recent legislation, social policy, and welfare "reform" on black women's--especially poor black women's--control over... Read more

Hood Feminism

Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot

By: Mikki Kendall
Narrated by: Mikki Kendall
Length: 6 hours 57 minutes

“Powerful. Important. Compulsively readable. Kendall’s narrative style is top notch - riveting and un-put-down-able. Not only is this a must read, it's a must pay attention. It's a must revisit and keep learning kind of book. Kendall dives deep and doesn't pull punches, but she doesn't seek to shame either. This is necessary reading for anyone... Read more

The 1619 Project

A New Origin Story

By: Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman & Jake Silverstein
Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones & Full Cast
Length: 18 hours 56 minutes

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire
 
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of... Read more

When We Stand

The Power of Seeking Justice Together

By: Terence Lester
Narrated by: Terence Lester
Length: 5 hours 19 minutes

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the injustices that we see in the world. We don't know what to do and might think that we don't have anything to offer. But by using our gifts in collaboration with others, we can do more together than we ever could on our own.

Activist Terence Lester knows it's hard to change the world. But mobilizing... Read more

Jesus and the Disinherited

By: Howard Thurman
Narrated by: Leon Nixon
Length: 3 hours 33 minutes

Famously known as the text that Martin Luther King Jr. sought inspiration from in the days leading up to the Montgomery bus boycott, Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited helped shape the civil rights movement and changed our nation’s history forever.

In this classic theological treatise, the acclaimed theologian and religious leader... Read more