The 2025 Black History Month theme, "African Americans and Labor," focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people. Work is at the very center of much of Black history and culture, and this Black History Month theme sets out to highlight and celebrate the important impact of this work.
In honor of Black History Month, please enjoy these reading and viewing recommendations.
All materials are available as e-books or online resources through the NEIU Libraries.
And check out the Black History Month events led by faculty, staff, and students that celebrate, honor, and recognize the work and culture of Black people.
Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945 by 
A. Philip Randolph and the Struggle for Civil Rights by 
African American Men and the Labor Market During the Great Recession by 
Kenny Riley and Black Union Labor Power in the Port of Charleston by 
Provide access to U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles.
Search more than 170 African American Periodicals published between 1825 and 1995
Essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself.
This collection features award-winning documentaries, newsreels, interviews and archival footage surveying the evolution of black culture in the United States, many from producers California Newsreel and Filmmakers Library. At present, the collection includes 145 videos, totaling 141 hours, going back to 1969. Many of the videos also have transcriptions.
More than 1,300 non-fiction published works of 1,210 authors, including leading African Americans. Includes complete non-fiction works, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, and letters.
