5 books like Black Artists Shaping the World

By Sharna Jackson,

Here are 5 books that Black Artists Shaping the World fans have personally recommended if you like Black Artists Shaping the World. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

Richard D. Kahlenberg Author Of Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See

From my list on government housing rules in America.

Why am I passionate about this?

After decades writing about how to improve the lives of low-income children through education, I concluded that I had to writing about housing policy too. Government housing laws essentially dictate where kids go to school in America. In addition, since writing in college about Robert Kennedy’s 1968 campaign for president, in which he brought together a multiracial coalition of working people, I’ve been obsessed with finding ways to bring those groups together again.  Reforms of housing policy in a number of states has done just that: united working people across racial lines who were sick of being excluded – by government fiat – from places that provide the best opportunities.

Richard's book list on government housing rules in America

Richard D. Kahlenberg Why did Richard love this book?

The Color of Law does a brilliant job of making clear that racial segregation in America is not merely the result of market forces or individual choices; it was manufactured by government through a series of twentieth-century policies: racial zoning, redlining, and enforcement of racially restrictive covenants.  The effects are still felt today.

I modeled my own book after Rothstein’s and updated his analysis to show that today, economically discriminatory zoning laws have replaced racially discriminatory practices, which helps explain why racial segregation has declined by 30 percent since 1970, but income segregation has doubled.

By Richard Rothstein,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Color of Law as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Widely heralded as a "masterful" (The Washington Post) and "essential" (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law offers "the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation" (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced…


Book cover of Design Remix: A New Spin on Traditional Rooms

Kim Kuhteubl Author Of Branding + Interior Design: Visibility and Business Strategy for Interior Designers

From my list on feeling at home.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning producer, author, and member of the Producers Guild of America. One of my fondest memories as a child is coming home from a weekend at my oma’s house to find that my mother had redecorated my room. The bedspread was pink, red, and white and so were the curtains but the main event was the fluffy white pouf of a rug on the floor. Home is a place that has always been important to me, which is why these books have found their way into my library.

Kim's book list on feeling at home

Kim Kuhteubl Why did Kim love this book?

I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Corey Damen Jenkins, whose bold take on traditional interiors have won him a devoted following.

The designer, author, and television personality founded his firm during the 2008 recession and knocked on 779 doors in affluent neighborhoods around Detroit to do it. His patience and persistence are evident in his personal and stunning look at classic interiors; homes that have been reimagined for living now.

With sidebars on practical questions like how to hang a salon-style picture wall, and choosing the right window treatment, Corey is as generous with his advice as he is sharing his talent.

By Corey Damen Jenkins,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Design Remix as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Corey Damen Jenkins s bold interiors have won a devoted following. In his first book, he presents his take on classic interiors that have been beautifully reimagined for today s taste, sharing the building blocks of this fun, vibrant traditional look. Bold Standard is about how to use colour in unexpected ways. Good Bones showcases architectural details. Less Is More focuses on creating a minimal look within a traditional interior. Eclectic Exuberance celebrates a collected appeal. Night and Day is a new look at the classic, graphic pairing of dark and light colours. Haute House looks at accessorizing with fashion-inspired…


Book cover of Living Wild: How to Plant Style Your Home and Cultivate Happiness

Kim Kuhteubl Author Of Branding + Interior Design: Visibility and Business Strategy for Interior Designers

From my list on feeling at home.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning producer, author, and member of the Producers Guild of America. One of my fondest memories as a child is coming home from a weekend at my oma’s house to find that my mother had redecorated my room. The bedspread was pink, red, and white and so were the curtains but the main event was the fluffy white pouf of a rug on the floor. Home is a place that has always been important to me, which is why these books have found their way into my library.

Kim's book list on feeling at home

Kim Kuhteubl Why did Kim love this book?

I used to fancy myself as having a green thumb, until I planted my first outdoor garden.

These days I’m back inside with Hilton Carter’s Living Wild. Based in Baltimore, Carter is a director, editor, and fine artist with an encyclopedic knowledge about plants and how to style them. He’s also the dad to 250 plants including a fiddle-leaf named Frank.

In this, his fourth book, Living Wild, he talks about everything that is needed to design a “living home” and walks the reader through rooms he’s styled and his process. Check out his Instagram for a Living Wild playlist. 

By Hilton Carter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Living Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Living Wild, bestselling plant stylist, author, designer and family man Hilton Carter explores multiple ways to style your home with plants - and cultivate happiness along the way.

The therapeutic benefits of living with and tending plants are well known - they offer a connection to the natural world that nurtures our mental and physical health. In this, his latest book, Hilton shows how to create a lush, stylish space with flourishing plants that bring life to your home and promote a happy and contented mindset. He discusses interior design choices - choosing the right colour scheme, textures and…


Book cover of Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home

Kim Kuhteubl Author Of Branding + Interior Design: Visibility and Business Strategy for Interior Designers

From my list on feeling at home.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning producer, author, and member of the Producers Guild of America. One of my fondest memories as a child is coming home from a weekend at my oma’s house to find that my mother had redecorated my room. The bedspread was pink, red, and white and so were the curtains but the main event was the fluffy white pouf of a rug on the floor. Home is a place that has always been important to me, which is why these books have found their way into my library.

Kim's book list on feeling at home

Kim Kuhteubl Why did Kim love this book?

Nikki Boyd first started growing her audience on Youtube sharing beautiful images and advice for creating a welcoming, and well-organized home.

Based in Charleston, Boyd is a professional organizer who started organizing as a hobby and built her audience several years before mainstream design magazines recognized her talent. Even if you can’t get it together and organize your own house, looking at the images of her home and the homes of the clients she organizes is a whole lot of zen. 

By Nikki Boyd,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beautifully Organized as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Professional organizer Nikki Boyd has a gift of transforming a space into a captivating work of art. She sprinkles a little bit of glam and a whole lot of functionality into every space she touches."
-Toni Hammersley, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Author of The Complete Book of Home Organization In Beautifully Organized: A Guide to Function and Style in Your Home, Nikki Boyd shares her best advice for how to create an organized, beautiful, and welcoming home. Nikki developed and honed her five essential steps to an organized home through her experience working as a professional organizer. In Beautifully…


Book cover of The Drawing Book: A Survey of Drawing: The Primary Means of Expression

Maryclare Foá and Carali McCall Author Of Performance Drawing: New Practices since 1945

From my list on performance drawing for artists.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are artists who met as PhD researchers while individually undertaking research in different areas of drawing – each sharing an interest in process-based and expanded methods of working. In addition to our individual artistic practices, since 2008 we have collaborated on a range of performance drawing projects that address the relationship between the body and presence, and time and space through working with graphite and charcoal, light, sound, and animation. We have exhibited and lectured internationally on the topic of performance drawing and have curated programmes and workshops. Working together collaboratively in this way we aim to contribute to the creative process underpinned by generations of feminist art practice and defy traditional notions of authorship.

Maryclare's book list on performance drawing for artists

Maryclare Foá and Carali McCall Why did Maryclare love this book?

At times, it may seem apparent that successive generations of artists reinvent the wheel and explore performance drawing across a range of disciplines; it was in particular, Tania Kovat’s writing in The Drawing Book, that gave us the broad contextualization of things – it seemed to reach into diverse yet significantly relevant references of historical predecessors that excited us. The book is complete with brilliant replications of artworks and quotes by a collection of artists.

By Tania Kovats,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Drawing Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The works in "The Drawing Book", by artists, architects, sculptors, scientists, filmmakers and thinkers of all descriptions, attest to the versatility and immediacy of drawing. From first thoughts to finely wrought, elaborate artworks, from the lightest sketch in pencil to bold, gallery-wall installations, the medium is shown as an essential vehicle for creativity. The recent prominence of artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Chris Ofili, Rachel Whiteread, Ellen Gallagher, and a host of others who use drawing as a final means of expression, is addressed in both the works shown and essays by curators Kate Macfarlane and Katharine Stout,…


2 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Leonardo da Vinci?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo Da Vinci Explore 20 books about Leonardo da Vinci