In Mouths of Rain, Dr. Briona Simone Jones masterfully curates an anthology of Black women loving Black women. The concept seems simple, yet in a racist and sexist world, it is an act of political resistance. At a time when public displays of love for Black women feel few and far between, this collection is a balm that shows readers that Black feminism benefits us all.

When queer and transgender people seek to grow their families, it can feel insurmountably daunting to find information about the options that exist and the pros and cons of each one. Kelton and Hopkins’s podcast-turned-book makes the journey way feel more accessible and less lonely. In doing so, they also normalize the non-traditional journeys to parenting that queer, transgender, cisgender, and heterosexual people take, reminding us that queer liberation creates more space for everyone.

In this moving novel, readers meet Jonny, a two-spirit, queer Indigenous person navigating kinship, sex work, loss, and healing. In a country where too many people have an antiquated understanding of Native American people, dive into this Indigenous coming-of-age story that does not revolve around whiteness.

Darnell Moore is a seer. In moments of deep hatred and violence, he saw a future for himself as a queer, Black, and whole person. In his advocacy, he envisioned a world where all Black Lives Matter. And now as a creative executive, podcast host, and author, he builds spaces for queer Black people to see themselves as beautiful. No Ashes In The Fire shares this journey of “coming of age Black and free.”

A controversial aspect of the queer experience is the concept of “labels,” and even the acronym LGBTQIA+ relies on labels that leave many in the community feeling silenced and ignored. This all stems from the gender binary, and in this pocket-sized book, Vaid-Menon breaks down why gender isn’t black or white.

Just based on modern media and publishing, one might think that queerness didn’t exist before the late 20th century, and certainly not for Black people. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. In The Prophets, Jones takes readers back to a time in history when being Black and queer was unspeakable, and those who dared to love and be loved were true activists. In this poetic novel, you’ll meet Isaiah and Samuel, two enslaved men in the antebellum South fighting for autonomy and each other.

Janet Mock has been sharing authentic stories for years through the hit TV show Pose and her career as a bestselling author. But before that, she was a young woman trying to make it in an industry, and a country, that wants any marginalized person to stay quiet. In Redefining Realness, Mock, a transgender Black and Hawaiian woman, takes us on her journey before she entered the spotlight.

In this collection of essays, Lester, a singer-songwriter, composer, and activist, explores the transgender experience and expertly breaks down how we collectively relate to our own gender and one another. As cisgender elected officials continue to make sweeping decisions about the lives of transgender people, read this book to learn about the community’s most pressing issues from the perspective of those directly impacted.

So often, Black queer women are erased from the narratives around racial justice work. What we now know to be the Black Lives Matter movement all began as a digital love letter Alicia Garza posted on Facebook after the murder of Trayvon Martin. Her words would become the hashtag tweeted around the world and a rallying cry for a generation. In this book, Garza shares the lessons she’s gleaned about organizing and mobilizing people for change.

To know where we’re going, we have to examine the movements we’ve come from, and in Unapologetic, Carruthers does just that. As the founding national director of the Black Youth Project 100, Carruthers has mastered what few can—building safe activist spaces for queer Black youth—and here, she brings her perspective to a book that can act as a guide for any organizer.