Writers of Color 50 Books Challenge

This could be a book for me. I read a book I forget the title of, from the "for Beginners" series, and have decided that those books aren't beginner enough. I definitely learnt from it (especially about the transition from slavery to Jim Crow), but it was unclear in parts - jumping invisibly between dates, or assuming knowledge I didn't have (I don't know white America history either). I had similar problems with another book in the series, so I blame the series rather than the topic, author, or me.