April Rivers Eberhardt is the interim editor for The Black Lens News, the chair of the Spokane NAACP’s Education Committee, and a revered career counselor at Shadle Park High School. Her exceptional work in the community has recently led to her being named an Inland Northwest Woman of the Year.
“[As] a Black educator in a city where they’re a stark racial minority,” reports the article featuring her in The Spokesman-Review, “Eberhardt feels compelled to stand up for her kids when they need a champion. Every week it’s something different, she said.”
Eberhardt is known as a great reader and writer in the community, too, as highlighted by her work with The Black Lens. Spokane Public Library reached out to her see what three books she’d recommend to Spokane readers for Black History Month. Here are her recommendations:
April Eberhardt says, “Cicely Tyson is one of the most regal women I can think of. I watched her in different movies growing up and I always admired her authentic beauty and the integrity of the roles she played. Her intelligence and sound wisdom also made me proud to be a Black woman, given the history of those who came before me. She was unapologetically Black. Short cropped afro or cornrows with beads—she affirmed Black women in their natural skin and hair and did not allow assimilation to guide her success. Hearing her life story put into perspective the journey of Black artists in a country that would typecast so many of us, and to hear her life interplay with the era of civil rights in her autobiography showed me, on a personal level, how being a force for change intersects with all that I do in this life. Her memoir showed me that if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”
April Eberhardt says, “This is the book I needed to read. Not conforming to social standards, being outspoken, and challenging the status quo are taboo for professional stability. It is frowned upon. As someone who will speak up and who will question why things are done the way they are done, confidence is not always accepted by others who like to go along to get along. Luvvie makes it okay not to fit the mold and confirms that stepping out of the pecking order that has been established in society is an act of confidence that brings about change. She validates the importance of individuality in a world where everyone wants to fit in, and this helped me shed the false guilt that often comes with being the squeaky wheel. Ultimately, she hones in on the idea that our purpose in this world and in this life are not wrapped up in what others think of us.”
April Eberhardt says: “The candor of James Baldwin is the way in which we need to talk about history. There is no sanitizing the harm and horror that the hatred of racism has created for generations. The Fire Next Time does not dance around the issues of bigotry, racism, and discrimination. Baldwin was one of the best, unfiltered truth-tellers of our time and he squarely tells the world what it feels like when the vice-grip and reverberating effects of racism are never called out, corrected, or addressed. The Fire Next Time makes denial impossible unless there is just a sheer unwillingness to know and understand the truth. Baldwin is a hero for never compromising the facts. He humanizes the mental impact that oppression has had, amplifying what many choose to ignore—and he doesn’t care who gets uncomfortable hearing it because, for the greater good of humanity, it needs to be recognized.”
Thank you, April Rivers Eberhardt, for your book recommendations, and congrats on having your amazing work in our community recognized! Below is a longer list of recently published titles to help us celebrate Black History Month in Spokane. You can also attend one of our upcoming events!
Black History Month Events
- Poetry Rising: Black History Month | Monday, February 10 at 6pm, South Hill Library
- A Community Practice: Love and Belonging, Black Liturgies for Staying Human | Thursday, February 27 at 6pm, Liberty Park Library
Black History Month Reads
For Children

Call Me Roberto! Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso, art by Rudy Gutierrez.

Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E Ransome

Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes by Traci N Todd, pictures by Shannon Wright

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
For Young Adult

How the Boogeyman Became a Poet by Tony Keith Jr.

Poemhood: Our Black Revival edited by Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin
For Adult

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune by Noliwe Rooks

This Thread of Gold: A Celebration of Black Womanhood by Catherine Joy White

Nat Turner, Black Prophet: A Visionary History by Anthony E. Kaye with Gregory P. Downs

Magically Black and Other Essays by Jerald Walker

The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby

HCBU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience edited by Ayesha Rascoe

This is the Honey edited by Kwame Alexander

Redwood Court by DéLana R.A. Dameron

The Mayor of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham