12 Recovery Memoirs by Black Authors You Need to Read

TIME TO READ … MORE! –

Feb. 9, 2021 – In early recovery, the stories of others are an invaluable resource. We hear stories around our recovery meetings, read stories online, and find hope in the stories of individuals who have gone through the same thing as us. We even love hearing stories from recovery podcasts.

But in my search for new recovery memoirs to read, one thing that has stood out to me on these lists of memoirs is that there are limited titles that are authored by Black people in recovery. And so, I decided to compile one.

Many of these memoirs are not exclusively memoirs focusing on recovery from substance use disorder, but memoirs chronicling the experience of being Black in America while also touching upon the universal theme of recovery from anything. We cannot have a conversation about Blackness without also discussing racism, and many of these stories deeply explore the theme of how racism has an impact on substance use disorder (SUD). Below are 12 recovery memoirs from Black authors that you need to add to your To Read List.