Anti-Racist Lit and Books by Black Authors
Thursday, July 30, 2020
With the murder of George Floyd and the #BlackLivesMatter protests happening all across the United States, I felt that I needed to do my part. For a long time, I shied away from discussions of race. I felt that, as a white woman, I shouldn't discuss race. This was due in large part to me being a part of the majority group oppressing the minority and my tendency toward conflict avoidance. What I didn't realize was that as a white woman I have the privilege to discuss racism with other white people. Other white people are more likely to give me, a white woman, the benefit of the doubt and hear me out than a person of color. My privilege keeps me safe so I must advocate for those who cannot. I am ashamed of this country's past of racism and slavery, but I do not want this country's present and future to be full of racism. I know that in order to shape the future of my country to this vision, I need to be actively anti-racist and confront racist thoughts and actions in myself and others. A lot of these actions that need to be confronted are micro-agressions: actions that do not seem on the surface to be outwardly racist or prejudiced but such comments tend to reinforce the differences and the non-conformity of any minority community from the majority demographic. (Read more here, and here)
I highly encourage everyone to visit the Black Lives Matter website. I know that there is a lot of information and resources being produced right now and at times it can seem overwhelming. The movement's website is an excellent place to go for information regarding the movement, ways to better be an anti-racist, and is well organized. If you have the means to donate, Black Lives Matter has an online merchandise store as well as an option to just donate. Furthermore, if you feel like donating to another similar cause, another way to support the movement is to please share any other organization or group working with the Black Lives Matter movement that are accepting donations.
I have taken my time to reflect on what I can do for others. I have produced a list of anti-racist literature. Some of these books I read in college and others have been recommended to me by friends. I earned my degree in history and political science so in terms of anti-racist literature this is where I personally hold the most weight. Educating oneself is not something that ends with schooling, but continues throughout life and must be cultivated. I have also organized a list of novels by black authors about black characters and experiences, because let's be honest, some of these are dense academic books and I at least need to be able to break up that reading with a good story. Reading novels about black characters and experiences is not just for the good story, but also a good exercise in empathy as you are forced to step into the experiences of those characters, and get a glimpse into what it may be like as a Black American.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti–Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the lives of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and anti-racists. From Puritan minister Cotton Mather to Thomas Jefferson, from fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to brilliant scholar W. E. B. Du Bois to legendary anti–prison activist Angela Davis, Kendi shows how and why some of our leading pro-slavery and pro–civil rights thinkers have challenged or helped cement racist ideas in America.
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Packed with vivid details and telling quotations, Zinn’s award-winning classic continues to revolutionize the way American history is taught and remembered.
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo
I read an excerpt from this book in my class "The Political History of Sex and Sexuality” and highly recommend it. Besides being informative, it's an easy read.
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
In this breakout book, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today's racial landscape--from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement--offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.
The Burning House: Jim Crow and the Making of Modern America by Anders Walker
Anders Walker explores a racial diversity that was born out of Southern repression and that both black and white intellectuals worked to maintain. With great clarity and insight, he offers a new lens through which to understand the history of civil rights in the United States.
The New Jim Crow; Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
One of my friends from college (D) read this in her class "The Black Prison Experience." She has told me that it was one of the most influential books she read in college.
In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
The idea of black criminality was crucial to the making of modern urban America, as were African Americans' own ideas about race and crime. Chronicling the emergence of deeply embedded notions of black people as a dangerous race of criminals by explicit contrast to working-class whites and European immigrants, this fascinating book reveals the influence such ideas have had on urban development and social policies.
Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland by Jonathan M. Metzl
Physician Jonathan M. Metzl's quest to understand the health implications of "backlash governance" leads him across America's heartland. Interviewing a range of everyday Americans, he examines how racial resentment has fueled pro-gun laws in Missouri, resistance to the Affordable Care Act in Tennessee, and cuts to schools and social services in Kansas. And he shows these policies' costs: increasing deaths by gun suicide, rising dropout rates, and falling life expectancies. White Americans, Metzl argues, must reject the racial hierarchies that promise to aid them but in fact lead our nation to demise.
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
In this book, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism. How to Be an Antiracist is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation—that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, The Color of Law incontrovertibly makes clear that it was de jure segregation—the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments—that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.
Killing Rage: Ending Racism by bell hooks
If you completed college without reading anything written by bell hooks, stop what you are doing immediately and find something, anything written by her. bell hooks has written some of the most influential works on racism and sexism. If you get nothing else from her writing, get that to eradicate sexism we must eradicate racism. To be able to do this we must dismantle the system and rebuild it a new.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
I know. I know. I still haven't read Michelle Obama's highly acclaimed memoir and it has been out for two years. It's just a book that I keep saying and going “oh yea I want to read that” and then forgetting. I am excited to read Becoming because not only is Michelle Obama one true bad ass (and an incredibly eloquent speaker) but she went to Harvard Law! Which of course we know is where she met the love of her life and future President Barack Obama! As someone currently studying for the LSAT, I am glad I put this book on my list. I need a little inspiration and who better to look to?
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
What is more poignant than a YA novel about a black girl who witnesses her unarmed friend being shot by the police? Inspired by the #BlackLivesMovement
Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America an anthology of essays edited by Ibi Zoboi
"Black Enough is a star-studded anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi that will delve into the closeted thoughts, hidden experiences, and daily struggles of black teens across the country. From a spectrum of backgrounds—urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more—Black Enough showcases diversity within diversity."
Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
A new romance goes south when Katie dies. Jack goes back to the first moment they met and is given the opportunity to redo everything, but what is Jack willing to do for love?
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
The moment I read the synopsis for "Clap When You Land" I knew I needed to read it. "Clap When You Land" is the story of two Dominican girls, one in New York City and one in the Dominican Republic. They learn of each other's existence through the death of their father. It is a story of profound loss and the difficulty of forgiveness.
I actually have a friend who found out a few years ago that their dad had another family in the DR. For this exact reason, I simply cannot wait to read "Clap When You Land"
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
A sassy, steamy enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy about a woman whose new job requires her to work side-by-side with the best man who ruined her wedding: her ex-fiancé's infuriating, irritating, annoyingly handsome brother.
Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown
"Echo Brown is a wizard from the East Side, where apartments are small and parents suffer addictions to the white rocks. Yet there is magic . . . everywhere. New portals begin to open when Echo transfers to the rich school on the West Side, and an insightful teacher becomes a pivotal mentor. Each day, Echo travels between two worlds, leaving her brothers, her friends, and a piece of herself behind on the East Side. There are dangers to leaving behind the place that made you. Echo soon realizes there is pain flowing through everyone around her, and a black veil of depression threatens to undo everything she’s worked for."
(Echo Browns's debut novel, about WIZARDS and NYC?!?!?!?! I'm sold.)
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
Born into a family of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. But each year she fails to call forth her ancestral powers, while her ambitious mother watches with growing disapproval. There’s only one thing Arrah hasn’t tried, a deadly last resort: trading years of her own life for scraps of magic. Until the Kingdom’s children begin to disappear, and Arrah is desperate to find the culprit. She uncovers something worse. The long-imprisoned Demon King is stirring. And if he rises, his hunger for souls will bring the world to its knees… unless Arrah pays the price for the magic to stop him.
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Tavia is a black siren living in Portland. She's forced to keep her identity as a siren a secret as society wants to lock up all sirens. Then a siren murder trial goes viral. Tensions escalate and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop.
Who doesn't love a little Northwest magic mixed with some reality? This is one high on my To-Be-Read List!
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
Told in two distinct and irresistible voices, Junauda Petrus’s bold and lyrical debut is the story of two black girls from very different backgrounds finding love and happiness in a world that seems determined to deny them both.
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
I picked up The Proposal on a whim. I was in the Seattle airport on the way back to NYC after spending Christmas break in California. Let me just say I loved it. For anyone who's from California and misses home this is a really cute story set in LA with cupcakes, amazing food (you will get hungry reading this book), and a #girlboss main character.
Nikole Paterson is a freelance writer in LA with an actor boyfriend. At a Dodger game with his bros, he unexpectedly proposes after five months of dating. He misspells her name on the giant scoreboard proposal, and for more reasons than this Nikole says no. Carlos (a hot doctor) and his sister rescue Nikole from the angry Dodger fans. Unfortunately for Nikole, the entire thing was caught on video and uploaded to Youtube. The video goes viral, and not in a good way. Carlos provides a welcome distraction ;)
(I also may be a biased Dodger fan!) I happen to have a few more of Jasmine Guillory's books on my To-Be-Read list too!
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
The first science fiction written by a black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given...
Color Me In by Natasha Diaz
Color Me In is inspired by the authors own experiences. "Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time."
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Emoni Santiago is a high school senior who has other responsibilities besides her studies, namely her daughter and abuela. Emoni loves cooking and finds passion in it. She has dreams of working in a kitchen one day, but is it even possible?
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
In the midst of a family crisis one late evening, white blogger Alix Chamberlain calls her African American babysitter, Emira, asking her to take toddler Briar to the local market for distraction. There, the security guard accuses Emira of kidnapping Briar, and Alix's efforts to right the situation turn out to be good intentions selfishly mismanaged.
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
In this standalone novel, Tiffany D. Jackson tells the story of three Brooklyn teens who plot to turn their murdered friend into a major rap star by pretending he is still alive.
How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters
Everyone on campus knows Remy Cameron. He's the out-and-gay, super-likable guy that people admire for his confidence. The only person who may not know Remy that well is Remy himself. So when he is assigned to write an essay describing himself, he goes on a journey to reconcile the labels that people have attached to him, and get to know the real Remy Cameron.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.
Full Disclousure by Camryn Garrett
In a community that isn't always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love--and lust--for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.
All blurbs taken or adapted from Goodreads
Every one of these books that I have not read is on my To-Be-Read list. It would be foolish of me to assume that I am without bias or ingrained prejudice. I once heard someone say that it is not the initial thought that we are responsible for but our response to it. I try to always ask myself about why I am thinking what I am and if it is due to prejudices ingrained in me by society. I support #BlackLivesMatter and I pledge to do what I can to advance the movement and change the institutional racism we have in this country. I also pledge to review a wide range of books by a wide range of authors, particularly BIPOC and LGBT+ authors. Please comment any book recommendations you have by black authors!
-Rachel