Watch: theGrio Top 3 | What are the top 3 books every Black person should read?

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Alexandria Ikomoni and Jahliel Thurman have some suggestions for every Black person’s mental workouts.

When was the last time you sat down, kicked your feet up, and read a good book? Now that summer’s fading, it’s a good time for a reminder that literature is undeniably powerful. It can do everything from inspiring unknown places within us to teaching us an array of new skills to whisking us away to other worlds to reestablishing our long-held religious beliefs.

And that’s just on the average day with the average author.

TheGrio’s Alexandria Ikomoni and Jahliel Thurman discuss some of their favorite go-to books, works in print they think should be on every Black person’s reading list.

The following is a transcript of their conversation.

Alexandria Ikomoni: All right. Next one. What are the top three books every Black person should read? You know I’m going to put this in there. 

The Bible. It’s the guide of life. Let’s just be honest. 

I have another one: “Casual But Effective Prayers” by my parents, Dr. Alexander and Dr. Angela Ikomoni. They are my parents, but I put that in there because they really helped me figure out my life. My spiritual life. They taught me how to pray. They taught me how to pray well, like everything you do in life. It can be a simple prayer that can open the door to something else.

Jahliel Thurman: That’s what’s up!

Ikomoni: So, I really appreciate that. 

Another one. I’m all about investing. I’m all about money. I’m all about wealth. There’s this book called “Money. Wealth. Life Insurance” by Jake Thompson.

Thurman: OK, OK. 

Ikomoni:  It’s really solid. It teaches you the power of investing. And the knowledge that people don’t have about life insurance. Especially Black people. They talk about how you can use it to your advantage. 

Thurman: Life insurance is key.

Ikomoni: It is. 

Thurman: We don’t talk about it enough in our community. 

I’m going to keep it in the spirituality space. I’m going to go there first. I’m going with “Crazy Faith” by Pastor Michael Todd. When you talk about living a faith-driven life, writing things down — I think it’s very solid. 

You know, I’m also thinking of a book called “Relational Intelligence” by Dharius Daniels. I don’t think we talk enough about relationships and the keys to them, boundaries and expectations. They talk about how relationships and friendships should be. 

It really dives deep into how you should manage those expectations.

Ikomoni: OK, OK.

Thurman: And then I’m going with something for my entrepreneurs out there. I’m going with “Jump” by Steve Harvey. If you’re on an entrepreneur journey, and you’re thinking about jumping out there and chasing your dreams. I really liked that book when I decided to do something like that for myself. 

Ikomoni: He has a lot of gems. He knows his stuff. 

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