Let’s Get Real: New BIPOC Memoirs to Read This Summer

Crenshaw is kind of a living legend. I say that because the sociological term she coined—”intersectionality”—has become such a regular piece of conversations pertaining to race and gender. Here, she recounts the childhood that made her one of the most quoted public intellectuals of our time—from her growing up in Canton, Ohio, to the moments to the cultural moments that shifted her view of the world. —Erica Ezeifedi

In this memoir in essays, bestselling author Reyna Grande gets real and raw about the cost of trying to obtain the American Dream, and what it’s like being caught at the intersection of two identities. She mines all of her expeirences—from being the victim of racial profiling to experiencing the dissonance that comes from excaping a violent hometown to being able to provide an abundant lifestyle to her kids—to bear witness and tell the story of the complexity of immirgation. —Erica Ezeifedi

As someone who grew up as a library kid, I’ve always believed libraries are special places that should be protected. Librarians were the superheroes of my childhood, just like Dorothy Lazard was at the Oakland Public Library. In her new memoir, Lazard gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her day-to-day life at the library. She shows us, firsthand, how much work goes into maintaining a public library and emphasizes why libraries are so important. —Kendra Winchester

Nephi Craig had to enroll in a culinary program or face prison time. There, he noticed something peculiar: the dishes they were learning to prepare had French or Italian names, but relied heavily on Indigenous American ingredients. This realization started Craig on a journey of tracing Indigenous crops, building indigenous food sovereignty, and highlighting Native cuisines. He did this all while battling addiction and going in and out of treatment centers. —Erica Ezeifedi

In this memoir, Danny Ramadan tells the story of his life as a refugee, beginning with his family in Damascus and following the Arab Spring uprising, the refugee found in an underground network of queer safe homes, a life-altering six weeks of imprisonment, and his complex relationship with his new home in Vancouver. This promises to be a “powerful refutation of the oversimplified refugee narrative—a book that holds space for joy alongside sorrow, for nuance and complicated ambivalences.” —Danika Ellis

Fashion icon Audrey Smaltz has done it all: model, Wall Street broker, editor, and entrepreneur. Her eclectic resume of unique experiences gave her the unique qualities that made her successful in the fashion world. Now she’s drawing back the curtain to let us see her childhood and what drove her to strive for the best. From her childhood in Harlem to becoming an international cultural powerhouse, Smaltz’s story is one-of-a-kind. —Kendra Winchester