8 memoirs by Black authors that celebrate joy and help paint a fuller picture of the Black experience

Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital Arlan Hamilton was one of the authors featured in Goodreads' list of 96 books on Black joy.Rich Fury/Getty

• The Black Lives Matter movement focuses on several serious topics including police reform and discrimination in the health system.
• But activists also say that the movement shouldn't only focus on the hardships of Black Americans, but also on their successes and joys.
• Book review website Goodreads compiled a list of 96 books that celebrate Black joy.
• Here are eight inspiring memoirs by Black authors that help paint a fuller picture of the Black experience.

The Black Lives Matter movement — which was reignited this summer after disturbing video of the killing of George Floyd was widely shared online — focuses on several serious topics: police reform, over-incarceration, inequality in education, racism in the workplace, discrimination in the health system, to name a few.

As many Americans seek to adopt anti-racist thought, thought leaders like Ibram X. Kendi, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Isabel Wilkerson are topping bestseller lists. They help explain decades of inequality and violence that Black Americans have faced.

But that's only part of the story.

"The other part about Black Lives Matter that I think people miss is Black Joy and Black liberation," Genisha Metcalf, a 35-year-old mother of two and Black Lives Matter activist recently told Business Insider.

Book review website Goodreads recently compiled a list of 96 books on Black joy, which includes titles in fantasy, romance, science fiction, and essay collections. Here are eight memoirs by Black authors that highlight other sides of the Black experience.