by Matt Hershberger
Given the unrest over the past few weeks surrounding the issues of systemic racism and police brutality, the Red Bank Public Library has been trying to highlight titles in our collection that focus on issues of race and racism, as well as titles that elevate BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) voices.
RBPL Director Eleni Glykis, in a post titled "Black Lives Matter," listed some of the digital titles available. Reference librarian and non-fiction buyer Mary-Ellen Mess listed some of the standout titles in that collection, and Children's Librarian Sira Williams gave tips and book suggestions on how to start talking to your kids about race.
Today, we're focusing on comics. Comics are particularly useful as teaching tools for teens who aren't as big of readers, or for people who are more visual learners (if you are new to comics, we have a guide to get you started). The very good news is that there are a lot of BIPOC voices in comics, and there is a lot of astounding work being done. What follows is just a handful of what we have available in our physical collection*. Some are available digitally.
March by John Lewis
Civil rights leader and US congressman John Lewis is a living legend -- he was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an original Freedom Rider, a marcher at Selma, and a speaker to the same enormous crowd that heard Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. March is his three-volume graphic memoir.
African-American Classics
This anthology features graphic adaptations of the works of some of America's most prominent early 20th century Black writers, including W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes.
Incognegro by Mat Johnson
Mat Johnson's Incognegro tells the story of a Black newspaper reporter who can "pass" for white, and uses this to investigate lynchings in the Deep South.
Prince of Cats by Ronald Wimberly
Ronald Wimberly's Prince of Cats is a reimagining of the story of Tybalt, one of the side characters in Romeo and Juliet. Set in 1980's New York, it melds a hip-hop sensibility to the Bard's classic story.
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
This is a graphic adaptation of the New York Times-bestselling novel Monster, which tells the story of a teenager awaiting trial for murder and robbery. It has since been made into a movie called All Rise.
Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography by Andrew Helfer
This short biography is a great starter for anyone who is curious about Malcolm X, one of the most controversial and least understood Civil Rights leaders of the past century.
Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor
Ed Piskor's four-volume Hip Hop Family Tree is a graphic history of hip-hop, from its origins in the early 70's through to 1985.
Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Essayist and bestselling author of Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates made his first foray into comics writing working on Marvel's Black Panther. Black Panther was the first mainstream superhero of African descent, and remains one of the most popular to this day.
Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks
World War Z author Max Brooks wrote this fictionalized account of the African American 369th Infantry Regiment in World War I. They spent more time in combat than any other American unit, never lost ground to the enemy, and were nicknamed by the Germans the "Hell-fighters." Nevertheless, they faced intense discrimination from their own government.
Inhuman Traffick by Rafe Blaufarb
Inhuman Traffick is a strange book -- it started as an academic paper and eventually morphed into a comic, recounting the British Navy's efforts to quash the illegal transatlantic slave trade in the mid-19th century.
The Girl who Married a Skull and Other African Stories
This comics anthology features retellings of a dozen or so old African fables and myths. The stories are beautifully illustrated and beautifully told.
Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Characters by Yvan Alagbe
This acclaimed comic, which landed on virtually every "Best Comics of 2018" list, tells the story of undocumented African immigrants in Paris in the modern day.
Your Black Friend and Other Strangers by Ben Passmore
Ben Passmore is one of the more electrifying comic artists working today. The title comic can be read for free here, but it's worth picking up the book for the other stories, which range from nonfiction accounts of police brutality protests, to sci-fi parables, to accounts of political arguments with family members.
Do you have suggestions for other comics we should get for our collection? Submit them below!
*The physical library, at the moment, remains closed. But we will be opening our collection for curbside pickup in the coming weeks, and you will be able to check all of these books out then. Keep an eye on our Facebook pages or sign up for our weekly newsletter for updates.
Matt Hershberger is the tech guy at the Red Bank Public Library. He is also the comic buyer and he runs the "Sustainable Red Bank" lecture series.