Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women In Pop by Danyel SmithRead about the other entries on the list.
Legendary journalist, editor and author Danyel Smith gives new life to her podcast Black Girl Songbook in Shine Bright, a memoir which intimately captures the impact of Black women in pop music. Beginning with a portrait of Phillis Wheatley, an 18th century enslaved woman who wrote and sang poems of freedom, Shine Bright retells the iconic careers of Aretha Franklin, Stephanie Mills, Mariah Carey and more, with Smith highlighting her own experiences while interviewing a number of the vocalists featured. While recounting her upbringing in Oakland, Smith gives reverence to Black women singers who laid the groundwork for the rising generation of modern pop acts.
--Marshal Zeringue