Recommended Reading: Antiracism Books and Resources

Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas--from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities--that will help readers see . . . [different] . . . forms of racism . . . , understand their . . . consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.

A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today's racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide. In 'So You Want to Talk About Race', ... Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the 'N' word. ... Oluo answers the questions readers don't dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans.

Austin Channing Brown provides an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America.

A memoir by the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement explains the movement's position of love, humanity, and justice, challenging perspectives that have negatively labeled the movement's activists while calling for essential political changes.

Laymon writes eloquently and honestly about the physical manifestations of violence, grief, trauma, and abuse on his own body. He writes of his own eating disorder and gambling addiction as well as similar issues that run throughout his family. Through self-exploration, storytelling, and honest conversation with family and friends, Heavy seeks to bring what has been hidden into the light and to reckon with all of its myriad sources, from the most intimate--a mother-child relationship--to the most universal--a society that has undervalued and abused black bodies for centuries.

Based on a series of interviews, the author relates the slave narrative of Cudjo Lewis.

Explores the history and impact of the Green Book, a travel guide for black motorists published from 1936 to 1966, that listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for black travelers in a time of segregation and racial discrimination.

A history of racist and antiracist ideas in America, from their roots in Europe until today, adapted from National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning.

Bryan Stevenson details from his personal experience his many challenges and efforts as a lawyer and social advocate, especially on behalf of America's most marginalized people.

Sethe, an escaped slave living in post-Civil War Ohio, struggles to keep Beloved, an intruder, from gaining possession of her present while throwing off the legacy of her past.

When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.

Coates takes readers along on his journey through America's history of race and its contemporary resonances through a series of awakenings--moments when he discovered some new truth about our long, tangled history of race, whether through his myth-busting professors at Howard University, a trip to a Civil War battlefield with a rogue historian, a journey to Chicago's South Side to visit aging survivors of 20th century America's 'long war on black people,' or a visit with the mother of a beloved friend who was shot down by the police.