UC Irvine Libraries continue to grow our collections on Black history and related topics that help document and honor the works of Black people. To celebrate Black History Month, this guide gathers a partial list of available online resources, archival materials, and media (both fiction and nonfiction), as well as recent book additions to the Libraries. Although some online materials are accessible only to faculty, staff, and students with a valid UCInetID, many resources are open to the public, and all are available year-round as part of UC Irvine Libraries’ ongoing effort to foster learning and increase access to a wide variety of scholarship.

For research help with African American studies and related topics, contact Research Librarian for Interdisciplinary Studies Melissa Beuoy at melissa.beuoy@uci.edu or visit guides.lib.uci.edu for a complete list of the Libraries’ Research Guides.

Online Resources

• Celebrating One and All: Black History Research Guide
• African American Studies Research Guide
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day curated collection of books and streaming media
• African American authored fiction ebooks on OverDrive (requires UC Irvine login)
• African American biographical and autobiographical ebooks on OverDrive (requires UC Irvine login)
• Curated collection of films on Kanopy (requires UC Irvine login)
• African American studies collection on Docuseek (requires UC Irvine login)
• kweliTV, a streaming platform that celebrates the global Black experience through curated indie films, documentaries, web shows, and more, representing the entire African diaspora (requires UC Irvine login)
• The HistoryMakers, the nation’s largest African American oral history video collection (requires UC Irvine login)
• In Our Own Words: The UCI Black Alumni Oral History Project documents the lived experiences of UC Irvine’s Black alumni with a focus on their time as students at UC Irvine.
• Alexander Street Black Thought and Culture is a comprehensive digital collection of writings by influential Black leaders and thinkers, documenting over 250 years of Black intellectual, political, and cultural history.

Special Collections and Archives

Expand your knowledge of Black history, including on the UC Irvine campus, by browsing some of Special Collections and Archives’ materials in the Online Archive of California. Collections span from as early as the 1890s to the 2020s. Try different search terms for additional collections, and see the Before Your Visit webpage for more information about requesting and accessing Special Collections and Archives’ materials.

Recent Additions

In addition to online resources and archival materials, recent acquisitions of books in the UC Irvine Libraries' circulating collection focus on the history, art, contributions, and experiences of Black people:

• 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers, directed by Phil Bertelsen and executive produced by Morgan Freeman, documents the history and legacy of the first all-Black tank unit to serve in combat during World War II, highlighting their bravery and military achievements.
• The Black Campus Movement: A History of Black Student Activism, by Ibram X. Kendi, traces the history of Black student organizing and protest in US higher education, documenting how campus activism reshaped educational institutions and advanced broader struggles for racial justice.
• Black Catholic Worlds: Religious Geographies of Eighteenth-Century Afro-Colombia, by Bethan Fisk, examines the religious lives of enslaved and free people of African descent in eighteenth-century Colombia, tracing how mobility, place, and Catholic practice shaped Black religious culture under slavery.
• Black Eco-Theology Through History, by Dianne D. Glave, explores the historical relationship between African Americans, religion, and the environment, examining how ecological thought and spiritual practice have intersected across Black history.
• Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, by Imani Perry, uses the color blue as a lens to explore Black history, culture, memory, and emotion, weaving personal reflection with art, music, and historical analysis.
• Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera, by Lucy Caplan, traces the rich operatic traditions cultivated by Black composers, performers, critics, and communities in the early twentieth century, showing how they reshaped American opera as a site of artistic innovation, cultural expression, and antiracist activism.
• How Black History Can Save Your Life, by Ernest Crim III, uses Black history and personal narrative to contextualize contemporary racism and offers practical strategies for de-escalating racist encounters through historical understanding and antiracist education.
• Let's Talk About DEI: Productive Disagreements About America’s Most Polarizing Topics, by Shaun Harper, examines contemporary debates around diversity, equity, and inclusion across education, business, politics, and culture, offering frameworks for engaging in informed, constructive dialogue amid polarization.
• Possible Form of an Interlocution: W. E. B. Du Bois and Max Weber in Correspondence, by Nahum Dimitri Chandler, examines correspondence between W. E. B. Du Bois and Max Weber in 1904 and 1905 as a general formulation for understanding African American matters within modern historical realities on a worldwide scale.
• Reading to Resist: Contemporary Black British Women’s Writing, by Suzanne Scafe, examines contemporary fiction by Black British women writers, highlighting how their work engages aesthetics, history, and social justice to challenge and reshape dominant cultural narratives.

Diversity of UC Irvine Libraries’ Collections

UC Irvine Libraries collect materials in all formats to support the university’s research, teaching, and public service mission.

We believe it is crucial that our collections reflect the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, and larger Orange County community. Thus, we are making an effort to collect materials that take into account the needs and perspectives of historically underrepresented, marginalized, and oppressed groups. For more information, please refer to our Diversity Statement and Plan.

For additional information about UC Irvine Libraries’ efforts to celebrate diversity in its users, staff, collections, and resources, visit the UC Irvine Libraries Diversity webpage.