Reading lists, frameworks, guides, and essays for leaders who want to go deeper into the tradition the BLI is built on.
Some resources are free. Others come with the Extended Report or Cohort License.
A deep-dive into what each of the nine archetypes demands in practice within the Black leadership tradition — how they were forged, what they call for, and how their facets interact.
Access Free →A structured three-month practice guide that translates your archetype's calling into daily disciplines — weekly reflections, monthly milestones, and quarterly reviews.
Included with Extended Report →A complete facilitation guide for educators, coaches, and organizational leaders who want to use the BLI as a shared vocabulary tool with a team or cohort.
Included with Cohort License →A methodological note on how the nine archetypes and their facets were derived from the historical literature — the research and theoretical framework behind the instrument.
Access Free →A critical examination of the most widely used leadership instruments and the structural reasons they fail to capture the full range of Black leadership methodologies.
Access Free →A structured reflective exercise for integrating your folio results into your current role — mapping your archetype to your actual responsibilities, relationships, and challenges.
Included with Extended Report →Curated reading drawn from each archetype's tradition. Extended Report subscribers receive personalized lists matched to their specific folio.
I
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
Parable of the Sower
Octavia Butler
The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin
II
Harriet Tubman
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X & Alex Haley
Emergent Strategy
adrienne maree brown
The Art of War
Sun Tzu
III
Ella Baker
Reading list coming soon.
IV
Frederick Douglass
The Mis-Education of the Negro
Carter G. Woodson
Sister Outsider
Audre Lorde
Stamped from the Beginning
Ibram X. Kendi
V
George Washington Carver
Reading list coming soon.
VI
Sojourner Truth
Reading list coming soon.
VII
Thurgood Marshall
Reading list coming soon.
VIII
Stokely Carmichael
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Paulo Freire
The Purpose of Power
Alicia Garza
Let Nobody Turn Us Around
Manning Marable & Leith Mullings (eds.)
IX
Audre Lorde
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
Caste
Isabel Wilkerson
Extended Report subscribers receive a personalized 10-title list matched to their specific archetype and facet profile. See pricing →
Take the Inventory first. Then come back to the archive knowing which tradition you belong to.
Take the Inventory