A new collection from Farrar, Straus and Giroux invites readers to reconsider the language used to understand Black life, culture and possibility. Thinking from Black: A Lexicon, by the Practicing Refusal Collective, brings together essays, poetry, visual art and ideas from an international group of Black artists and scholars.
Published Sept. 8, the book approaches the concept of a lexicon not as a traditional dictionary, but as a living collection of words, concepts and creative interpretations. The contributors represent a wide range of disciplines, including visual art, dance, history, literature, architecture, anthropology, filmmaking, education, music and activism.
The collection takes the multiplicity of Black life as its starting point. Rather than presenting a single definition of Blackness, the contributors explore different ways of thinking, creating and engaging with the world.
Entries include concepts such as “Redaction,” “Seeing” and “Song,” as well as “Solidarity,” “Garden” and “Care.” Other entries, including BlackSound, Fantasy, Mathematics and Dispossession, approach Black life through theoretical and intellectual frameworks. Some entries combine written material with drawings, while “Time” appears twice, offering different perspectives on musicality, duration and refusal.
The result is an eclectic and cross-disciplinary work that encourages readers to consider how language can shape possibilities for understanding and imagining the future.
A starred review from Kirkus Reviews calls the book “a set of critical tools” for Black resistance and describes it as a reference work filled with contemporary Black thought spanning multiple disciplines and traditions.
The Practicing Refusal Collective is an international Black feminist forum made up of 60 members from across the humanities. The group focuses on dialogues surrounding Blackness, anti-Black violence and Black futurity in the 21st century.
Among the contributors is Tina Campt, a professor of the humanities at Princeton University and a member of the Collective. The project also has received advance praise from writer Claudia Rankine and artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen.
Rankine describes the collection as an exploration of alternative futures and new ways of creating meaning, while McQueen calls it a reflection on time and Blackness.
Thinking from Black: A Lexicon is designed to be read across genres and disciplines, with individual entries building connections when considered alongside one another. The collection ultimately presents language as a tool for questioning established ideas and imagining new possibilities.
Published as an FSG Original, the book offers readers an expansive exploration of Black thought, creativity and intellectual traditions while creating space for multiple voices and perspectives.
Thinking from Black: A Lexicon will be available Sept. 8, 2026, from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.