Seven Self Help Books For Black Women By Black Women

These seven Black women self help books by Black authors offer different but supportive methods to bettering ourselves.

Since mother earth was struck by a pandemic nearly three years ago, everyone has been stressing the importance of self-care and mental health. We all need to take time for ourselves to ensure we are getting the rest and care we need to move through life. Unfortunately, for Black women, finding the best place to find advice is just as stressful as finding time for self-care. Many self help books are written for white people, by white people. Although books are the most common way to take in information, most people aren’t keen on finding the best book for their problem. So, to help get you started, here’s a list of self help books for Black women, by Black women. From former first lady Michelle Obama to award-winning professor and clinical psychologist Rheeda Walker, these seven books offer different but supportive methods to map out how best to cope with everyday and lifelong stressors. 

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Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes 

Our favorite TV show creator has produced a book to help you get out of your comfort zone. Rhimes inspires us to say yes to things we normally wouldn’t and see how our lives begin to change. She gives specific ways on how you can say yes in your everyday life and improve the things happening around you. This book is so important for Black women to read because we spend a lot of time saying yes to things we don’t usually want to do. But Shonda can inspire us to say yes only to the things that serve our wellbeing. 

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Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color by Iyanla Vanzant

Before the self help genre took shape as we know it today, we had Iyanla Vanzant. This list wouldn’t be complete without at least one title from our favorite auntie. Though Acts of Faith was published more than 25 years ago, it still helps Black women with its inspirational and thoughtful quotes. Vanzant has written words that expand across spiritual practices and teachings that most people can relate to. The best thing about this book is it was written for the Black experience through a spiritual lens, so it differs from other self-help books because of that. 

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Self-Help for Black Girls: Ways to benefit from Self-Love, Self-Care and Mindfulness by Carol Sinclair 

Self-help for Black Girls breaks down how different self-help is for Black women, and what happens when you don’t practice self-love adequately. Although we are all different there are similarities that bind us together, and Sinclair spills all the tea on the benefits of putting yourself first and being intentional about it. 

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Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept and Prioritize Your Mind, Body and Soul by Oludara Adeeyo 

Not only does Adeeyo help Black women develop a self-care habit, but she also lays out different exercises that help bring self-care into the workplace and school in this book. This is the only book on this list that focuses on radically turning your mind toward self-care, emphasizing how your mind, body, and soul are all priorities in bettering yourself. As a culture and community, Black women have had all three of those things ripped away from us at various points in history. This book helps us reclaim it, encouraging us to dive deep and take intentional steps toward improving ourselves.

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The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama 

If you read Mrs. Obama’s first book Becoming, be prepared for a different text with The Light We Carry. In this book, our favorite First Lady presents hard conversations surrounding identity, community, and relationships in manageable chapters and chats. She gives it to readers straight but somehow softens the blow at the same time, with humor and compassion employed throughout as she shares her own experiences to relate with readers. The end result is a book that lays out practical ways for staying hopeful in these trying times — a crucial part of self-care that’s easy to disregard.

Emotional Self-Care for Black Women: Discover How to Raise Your Self-Esteem, Eliminate Negative Thinking and Heal from Past Traumas Even if Your Life is Chaotic Right Now by Alicia Magoro 

Don’t be fooled by its long title — Emotional Self-Care for Black Women is surprisingly short. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t pack a powerful punch though. Alicia Magoro teaches us how to do away with negative thoughts and deal with our trauma head on, her book a tie between self-lead therapy and self-care. But a crucial aspect of the book is its emphasis on working on one’s self even when your life isn’t in order. Oftentimes, we believe our life has to be in a certain place to begin actively improving ourselves. But the reality is that it’s an ongoing process where we have to put in the work whenever we have time to. Emotional Self-Care for Black Women shows us that it’s OK to be strong and independent while doing the work to be better to ourselves.

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The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health: Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help you Deserve by Rheeda Walker 

Rheeda Walker takes a different approach to self-care for Black folk by focusing on the mental health crisis in the Black community, and guiding us to getting the care we need, want and deserve. This book wraps up our list as more of a professional text than something we would pick up as a weekend read. But its insights into how to better navigate our mental health and understand mental health in the Black community on a larger scale are so valuable.