6 Must-Read Memoirs By Black Celebrities About Perseverance

In this inspirational memoir by the beloved creator of television series, including but not limited to Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes learns that it’s never too late to overcome yourself and learn a new, more empowered way of thinking. As a chronic introvert, Rhimes was used to saying no to things. No to new things, different things, exhausting things. But once she was confronted with the fact that she never says yes to anything by her sister one Thanksgiving, Rhimes knew she needed to shake things up. What followed was a yearlong challenge to herself to say yes to all the things she would have normally said no to, and not only did she learn how empowering it was to step outside of her comfort zone, but she realized how much happier and healthier she was as a result.

In this widely beloved memoir by the former FLOTUS, Michelle Obama lays out the story of her life: who she was, who she became, and how she learned to love the person she’s always been. As the first Black First Lady of the United States, Obama not only learned how to overcome her fair share of adversity, but also how to use that adversity to her advantage. With her help, the Obama administration welcomed the most inclusive White House in history, and she became a fierce advocate for all women across the world. But before she was First Lady, Michelle Obama was a young girl growing up on the south side of Chicago, a powerful executive climbing the corporate ladder while raising a family, and a wife to a budding young politician. In Becoming, she walks us through every stage of her life and how it brought her to the woman we know and love today, and she offers valuable insight into how we all just might, little by little, be enough to change the world.

Before he was the supermodel of the world, RuPaul was a young boy growing up poor, queer, and Black in San Diego, California. Far from a complete autobiography, The House of Hidden Meanings is a deep dive into the early life of America’s most beloved drag superstar and just how hard he had to fight to get there. Growing up with an unstable mother and absentee father, RuPaul quickly learned that identity isn’t something we’re assigned so much as it’s something we create. Gaining fame in and out of drag in the underground scenes of New York and Atlanta, he learned everything he could about culture — how it works and who it excludes. It helped lay the groundwork for the person he would become as an actor, recording artist, and the creator and producer of one of the world’s largest and most lucrative television franchises, RuPaul’s Drag Race. If you’re looking to meet the Ru off the runway, The House of Hidden Meanings is sure to be a revelatory read.

In her highly anticipated memoir (and its audiobook companion that finally made her an EGOT winner), Viola Davis recounts the stories from her life that made her into the icon she is today. Growing up in Central Falls, Rhode Island, in rat-infested apartments with rarely enough to eat, Davis learned that if she did not find a way to speak up for herself, she was never going to be heard. More importantly, Finding Me is not only Davis’s story as she rose to worldwide success as a powerhouse actress of film, television, and stage; it’s also the story of how she discovered we’re all not that different from each other in terms of what we yearn for in this life. As Davis put it, she wrote her memoir for the people who constantly need to reinvent themselves, those who never stop hustling to reach their dreams, healing past trauma, and creating some semblance of themselves who might be okay in this fractured world. Viola Davis figured out who she is, at long last, in Finding Me, and she invites us all to try and do the same thing — since the rewards are well worth the trouble.

In this memoir from the actress who rose to fame for her roles in the film Precious and the television series Empire, Gabourey Sidibe writes frankly about how the difficult aspects of her early life never slowed her down. She might have had an unreliable father who supported his family by busking in the subway, and she might have once had a career as a phone sex worker, but never once does Sidibe treat these experiences as anything more than fodder for the star she was born to be. Even in moments where she felt out of place in Hollywood, like when she was invited to people’s mansions when she still lived in her mom’s apartment, Sidibe uses it all to her advantage to bloom into the person she always dreamed of being in This is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare. Sidibe doesn’t shy away from the heavier parts of life either, writing candidly about her experiences with depression, friendship, and learning to love every part of herself. But above all, she never compromises herself for anyone or anything. As Sidibe writes, “Don’t let anyone else take away your joy. If they don’t want to be with you or around you, let them go. Pick up your shit and keep going. You came into the world by yourself, and the next person’s lungs don’t help you breathe.”

Early in her life, Tiffany Haddish learned she had a superpower. It was one that could make sad people happy, even just for the smallest of moments: she could make people laugh. It was a gift that served her well as she was growing up in one of South Central Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhoods. Making people laugh also stopped her from getting beaten up by other foster kids, and the smart kids would let her copy the answers to the homework. Maybe one day it could make her some money. In The Last Black Unicorn, Haddish illuminates readers on how there is never one clear path to success. In between trying to pursue comedy professionally and launch a career, sometimes all she was hoping for was enough money to make rent and buy food. It would be a long time before she stopped looking over her shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But one thing was clear to her very early on: Haddish simply cannot stop being funny. It’s who she is, and if she hadn’t learned how to make both others and herself laugh, she might never have gotten through the harder times in her life. The Last Black Unicorn will make you laugh, no doubt, but it will also make you feel less alone.