What happens when language is created not to define Black life from the outside, but to explore it from within its many experiences, histories and possibilities? That question is at the center of Thinking From Black: A Lexicon, a new book from The Practicing Refusal Collective, coming September 8, 2026, from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Inspired by the idea of “thinking from Black,” the book challenges conventional approaches to defining Blackness. Rather than treating Black identity as a singular category, the collective approaches it as a political and ethical practice shaped by multiplicity, creativity, tension and possibility.
The Practicing Refusal Collective is an international Black feminist forum of artists and scholars focused on conversations surrounding Blackness, anti-Black violence and Black futurity. Its approximately 60 members work across disciplines including visual art, poetry, dance, history, architecture, anthropology, film, music and activism.
That range is reflected in the structure of the lexicon. Rather than functioning as a traditional dictionary, Thinking From Black brings together distinct interpretations and creative responses to words and concepts connected to Black life and culture.
Some entries are lyrical, while others are theoretical, political or visual. “Redaction” and “Song,” for example, take a poetic approach, while “Solidarity” and “Care” explore themes of collective possibility and support. “BlackSound” and “Dispossession” move into more theoretical territory.
Other entries deliberately challenge the conventions of a reference book. “Gesture” combines text and illustration to explore the physical body, while “Time” appears twice, allowing different meanings connected to rhythm, duration and resistance to coexist.
The result is a collection that reflects the diversity of Black experiences rather than attempting to reduce them to a single narrative.
The book also places language at the center of cultural and political imagination. Its contributors explore how words can preserve history, express vulnerability, create connections and offer new ways of imagining the future.
In that sense, the lexicon is both an archive and an invitation. Readers are encouraged not simply to look up definitions but to engage with the ideas collectively and consider how language influences the ways people understand themselves and the world around them.
The project has already drawn praise from artists and writers, including Claudia Rankine, who describes the collection as an exploration of new ways of creating meaning and imagining beginnings, and filmmaker and artist Steve McQueen, who calls it a reflection “through blackness into light.”
With its combination of scholarship, art, poetry and cultural inquiry, Thinking From Black: A Lexicon offers a multidimensional exploration of Black thought and creativity while creating space for new language, new perspectives and new possibilities.