June 19th, long celebrated in Black communities to remember the day the last enslaved Black Americans learned they were emancipated (two years late!), is now officially a federal holiday in the US. Although we strive to tell more inclusive stories throughout the year, it feels like a good day to celebrate Black voices, and we asked some of our editors to tell us about their favorite stories, written or filmed, featuring Black characters.
Dana Grimaldi: I recently read and loved Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. The first season of the TV show based on this book was fantastic, too, but it does end with a cliffhanger! So once I’d finished the last episode, I had to read the book to find out how the story ends. If you love science fiction and fantasy, I’d definitely recommend seeking out books by authors like Octavia E. Butler, N. K. Jemisin and Nnedi Okorafor.
Katie Gowrie: I know I’m not the only Harlequin editor who loved Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, but I’m going to gush about it anyway. There was so much to love in this show! Not only did it feature a cast of amazing Black actresses, it also celebrated strength, independence, leadership and friendship. Watching Lady Danbury’s plight to secure her son’s title (for herself and for the good of her community), and seeing a young Queen Charlotte trying to support her husband, do right by her people, and keep her family together, had me thinking about the ways Black women are often the backbone of their communities (sometimes working behind the scenes to ensure the good of many, which was certainly true of my grandmother and her influence on my family). I loved how the show offered up dual timelines to show the early lives of Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte vs the present, when we catch up with them in their later years and can appreciate how they’ve navigated life’s obstacles and come out stronger for it. The other thing I loved about this show was all the amazing hairstyles celebrating Black hair. It was so refreshing to see royalty rocking a ballgown and a tiara atop a gorgeous afro or intricate braids! I hope we see more of this in historical romances to come.
Emma Cole: I’m a huge horror fan, and I am really enjoying its mainstream resurgence in general, but an increase in stories by Black creators in particular. I recently read Robin R. Means Coleman’s The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar, which is an incredibly accessible nonfiction book that talks about Black characters, writers and directors in horror cinema from its beginnings to the present. It’s wonderful to see the progression from caricatures to deeply layered and nuanced portrayals of Black protagonists like Keke Palmer’s unapologetic Emerald in Jordan Peele’s fantastic Nope. And I devoured Johnny Compton’s haunted house story The Spite House earlier this year. Such a rich story featuring a Black father and his two daughters who accept a job living in a haunted house to escape their troubled past. I could not put it down, and this was in large part because the family dynamics in the story rang so true. I loved the depiction of the strong, loving, and honest relationship between father and daughters and between sisters as well.
Carol Dunsmore: Juneteenth has me thinking about the incredible strength of friendships in stories about Black women. I love how they believe in each other, stand up for each other, and make each other laugh. Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan is a great example of women friendships, and so is Issa Rae’s HBO show Insecure. The women in these stories are always there for each other and leave me wondering, “how can I be a better friend?”
We hope you find some inspiration here for Black stories you want to read this June and beyond!
