Recommended Reading on the Topic of Racism

Blackout Tuesday, June 2, 2020, was initiated by the music industry in response to the police brutality that resulted in the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. The day was intended for people to take time to think about how best to fight against racism. With protests against racial injustice and discrimination happening in our cities and towns across the country and across the world, people are expressing their collective anger, frustration and solidarity. It is crucial to be informed so we can all contribute positively to our democracy and be part of the solution.  Knowledge is power. Below is a compiled reading list focused on racism to help us learn more and understand each other better.

Suggested Reading

How to Be an Anti-Racist by Dr. Ibram X Kendi

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Slavery By Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

The Light of Truth by Ida B. Wells

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

American Poison by Eduardo Porter

Policing the Black Man by Angela J. Davis, Bryan Stevenson, Marc Mauer, Bruce Western and Jeremy Travis

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Davis

Heavy by Kiese Laymon

White By Law by Ian Haney López

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

Note: Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine was required reading for freshman at Washington University in St. Louis in 2015.

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