The Battle for the Black Mind is a gripping, meticulously researched account of the fight for Black educational freedom, showing how resilience, leadership, and vision have always shaped the path toward justice. Everyone should read this book!

I appreciated this book for discussing known figures in Black education, but gave a deeper understanding of these people. At the same time, the author shone a spotlight on figures that have been forgotten by history.

It gave a lot of important context to the history of how education was different for Black Americans after slavery and those reprocussions are felt in education still today.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This should be required reading. The info is dense and researched base but wasn’t difficult to get through.

The Battle for the Black Mind by Karida L. Brown (book cover is in image), provides an account of the history of black education from slavery to the current day. Written as a historical analysis, with the of academic research, it is still written for a non-academic like me to easily understand, thanks to the amazing narration by Heni Zoutomou. This is a must read for those interested in how black education has evolved, in the US, and as well as a critical piece of African American history.

Thank you, Grand Central Publishing and Hachette Audio, for the opportunity to read this ARC ad listen to this ALC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 5 Stars
Audio Release Date: May 13 2025

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#Nonfiction
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This is a powerful new exploration into the segregation of schools and the dramatic legacy left behind by the people, organizations and institutions that laid its foundation. Karida Brown provides an invaluable perspective and an inspirational call to action.

Dr. Brown does a fantastic job of making the history of Black education in the U.S. accessible to a wide variety of readers and showing how timely this history is for today's fight against book banning, removal of Black history from curriculums, and defunding of public schools. She tells a clear and powerful story without sacrificing nuance and ideological differences. A fascinating book I can't wait to handsell at my indie bookstore!