a University Commencement Speaker
*From the Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner*
*A Zibby's Most Anticipated Book of 2023*
*A "Next Big Idea Club" Must-Read Book for January*
*An Essence "Books by Black Authors to Read This Winter" Pick*
*An Ebony Entertainment "Required Reading" Book for January*
*A Lambda Literary "Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Literature" for January*
*A Southern Review of Books Best Book of January*

"A tour de force. Brilliant. Passionate. Deeply caring." --Eddie S. Glaude Jr., New York Times bestselling author of Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own

"There are stories that must be told."

Acclaimed novelist and scholar Daniel Black has spent a career writing into the unspoken, fleshing out, through storytelling, pain that can't be described. Now, in his debut essay collection, Black gives voice to the experiences of those who often find themselves on the margins. Tackling topics ranging from police brutality to the AIDS crisis to the role of HBCUs to queer representation in the black church, Black on Black celebrates the resilience, fortitude and survival of black people in a land where their body is always on display.

Propulsive, intimate and achingly relevant, Black on Black is cultural criticism at its openhearted best.



"The moral and ethical imperative of Black on Black is to speak a truth that renders black lives sacred, valued, and luminous. Daniel Black announces a prophetic lineage that places him among Baldwin's progeny." --Major Jackson, poet and author of The Absurd Man

"A book you will not want to put down and will be excited to share." --Maryemma Graham, University of Kansas Professor of English and Founding Director, Project on the History of Black Writing