The 2026 EBONY Power 100 Book List

Every year, the EBONY Power 100 tells us who is moving culture forward. This year, under the banner “The Stories We Shape,” it also reminds us who is writing it down. Among the 2026 honorees are a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, hip-hop legends, a tennis champion, and tech leaders, all of whom have put their stories and ideas on the page. Some penned memoirs. Others wrote picture books for the next generation or took on the future of technology. A few have had their lives chronicled by others. Consider this your reading list, organized by the categories that name their influence.

Artists in Residence

COLSON WHITEHEAD

The Intuitionist (1999)

John Henry Days (2001)

Apex Hides the Hurt (2006)

Sag Harbor (2009)

Zone One (2011)

The Underground Railroad (2016), Pulitzer Prize winner

The Nickel Boys (2019), Pulitzer Prize winner

Harlem Shuffle (2021)

Crook Manifesto (2023)

Cool Machine (2026)

DEBBIE ALLEN

Brothers of the Knight (1999), a modern retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Dancing in the Wings (2000), a picture book loosely based on her own experiences as a young dancer, also illustrated by Nelson

TAYARI JONES

KIN (2026), a New York Times best seller and an Oprah’s Book Club Selection

An American Marriage (2018), a New York Times best seller and an Oprah’s Book Club Selection

Silver Sparrow (2011)

Leaving Atlanta (2002)

ALICIA KEYS

Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics (2004)

Blue Moon: From the Journals of MaMa Mae and LeeLee (2014, with Jessica Walton), a children’s book loosely based on her relationship with her grandmother

More Myself: A Journey (2020), her memoir, published through Oprah Winfrey’s imprint

Girl on Fire (2022, with Andrew Weiner)

Community Crusaders

COMMON

One Day It’ll All Make Sense (2011), a New York Times bestselling memoir

Let Love Have the Last Word (2019), a second memoir about love, mindfulness, and his relationships with his mother and daughter

Entertainment Powerhouses

QUESTLOVE

Mo’ Meta Blues (2013), his memoir

Soul Train and Something to Food About (2013)

Creative Quest (2018)

Music Is History (2021)

Hip-Hop Is History

KEKE PALMER

Master of Me (2016)

I Don’t Know About All That (2024)

50 CENT

From Pieces to Weight (2005)

The 50th Law (2009, with Robert Greene)

Playground (2011)

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter (2020)

Leaders in Sports

NAOMI OSAKA

The Way Champs Play (2022), her picture book, which grew out of her Play Academy foundation and was illustrated by Kamala Nair

Written about her: Naomi Osaka by Kekla Magoon (2024, a chapter-book biography in the She Persisted series), Naomi Osaka by Jon M. Fishman (2021), and Naomi Osaka by Meeg Pincus (2020)