The killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and many more have swept the nation and caused a public outcry for justice. It has launched a movement of change for our country and many are responding to the call by asking themselves how they can help. Before you act, it is crucial to educate yourself about white privilege, racial injustice, hidden-bias, and the history of racism in America. For those looking to educate themselves this list of anti-racism books can be a helpful resource. Books recommended for younger readers are located at the bottom.
A Good Place to Start
How to Be an Antiracist
By Ibram X. Kendi
Find it here
So You Want to Talk About Race
By Ijeoma Oluo
Find it here
Me and White Supremacy
By Layla F. Saad
Find it here
More Recommendations
Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
Find it here
The New Jim Crow
By Michelle Alexander
Find it here
The Fire Next Time
By James Baldwin
Find it here
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People
By Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
Find it here
I’m Still Here: I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
By Austin Channing Brown
Find it here
White Fragility
By Robin Diangelo
Find it here
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Find it here
How Does it Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America
By Moustafa Bayoumi
Find it here
Between the World and Me
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Find it here
Tears We Cannot Stop
By Michael Eric Dyson
Find it here
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race
By Reni Eddo-Lodge
Find it here
Minor Feelings
By Cathy Park Hong
Find it here
Good Talk
By Mira Jacob
Find it here
Mindful of Race
By Ruth King
Find it here
Stamped From the Beginning
By Ibram X. Kendi
Find it here
An African American and Latinx History of the United States
By Paul Ortiz
Find it here
Citizen
By Claudia Rankine
Find it here
The Color of Law
By Richard Rothstein
Find it here
Just Mercy
By Bryan Stevenson
Find it here
Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria?
By Beverly Daniel Tatum
Find it here
America’s Original Sin
By Jim Wallis
Find it here
The Fire This Time
By Jesmyn Ward
Find it here
The Warmth of Other Suns
By Isabel Wilkerson
Find it here
For Younger Readers
This Book is Anti-Racist
By Tiffany Jewell
Find it here
Stamped
By Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Find it here
List and image creation by Jane Mount. See her original post here.
Learn more about dismantling racism through the legacies of Rev. C.T. Vivian and Rep. John Lewis, two of America’s civil rights icons.
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