4 Must-Read Books to Celebrate Black History Month in Hawai‘i

February is Black History Month, and while we believe every month is a fitting time to read work by Black authors, we especially love championing titles that celebrate Black resistance, creativity and stories in the spirit of the February recognition. Some of these stories are beloved, timeless classics; others, we find in our own backyards of Hawai‘i. This Black History Month, our team at da Shop is proud to carry a diverse collection of titles by Black authors in celebration of Black history and culture, honoring the lives and legacies of the Black community in Hawai‘i and beyond.

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Hawai‘i Is My Haven: Race and Indigeneity in the Black Pacific

by Nitasha Tamar Sharma

Hawai‘i Is My Haven is a powerful work of ethnography by researcher and scholar Nitasha Tamar Sharma that examines the stories and lives of the Black community in the Hawaiian Islands. Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork with both members of the African diaspora as well as Hawai‘i-raised Black locals, Sharma presents a necessarily complicated portrait of Hawai‘i as both a multicultural haven yet not immune to the American ideas of race and white supremacy that invade the islands through colonialism, tourism and militarism. The work, however, resists a bleak conclusion; ultimately, the optimism and possibility Hawai‘i offers to Black communities is celebrated and embraced, not only by fieldwork participants, but also by readers.

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The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

by Toni Morrison

Penned by one of the greatest writers and thinkers of our time, The Source of Self-Regard is Toni Morrison’s essential collection of essays, speeches and thoughtful meditations spanning four decades. Here, you’ll find everything from Morrison’s heartbreaking eulogy for James Baldwin to her famous Nobel Lecture in Literature to her powerful meditation on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rich with incisive language and emotional depth, The Source of Self-Regard is a book that speaks not only to a timely social and political moment, but also to the brilliant and compassionate mind of one of our most essential thinkers.

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Photo: Courtesy of Da Shop: Books + Curiosities

They Followed the Trade Winds: African Americans in Hawai‘i

edited by Miles M. Jackson

An exciting new volume of the landmark work on African Americans in Hawai‘i first published in 2000, They Followed the Trade Winds features insightful works by writers, researchers and scholars on the rich history and lives of African Americans local to the Hawaiian Islands. The topics explored in this diverse and comprehensive anthology range from Black participation in jazz, theatre, dance and filmmaking to the historical, social and political forces that have excluded and othered African Americans in Hawai‘i and beyond. This is essential reading.

Photo: Courtesy of Da Shop: Books + Curiosities

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

Following the 2023 musical remake produced by Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple has met a new generation of not only viewers but also readers (of course, as book lovers, we are partial to the book!). The film takes its inspiration from this landmark novel by Alice Walker, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award when it was first published in 1982. The Color Purple tells the unforgettable story of sisters Celie and Nettie who are separated as girls yet sustain their powerful bond through a moving series of letters. Simmering under the surface of the main narrative is an unforgettable portrait of powerful and resilient Black women in early 20th-century Georgia. This is a book we return to time and time again.