People are in pain.
Lives have been lost.
It's impossible to verbalize things.
Repeating 'I'm sorry,' only goes so far.
I have spent much of this last few weeks responding to people on Facebook. Explaining things like "all lives matter is NOT an appropriate thing to say," and "there's no such thing as reverse racism!".
I've typed until my brain was tired.
And still. I've not done enough.
So, this weekend? I turn to books.
Here are some Black authors who have created the work we need to be reading.
Some books you need to buy, borrow, listen to, whatever you prefer.
I have decided to include links throughout this post to a number of Black owned bookstores throughout the United States. I've done the legwork. You make the purchase.
Friends. Join me. Learn all you can. Then? Take action.
11 Books By Black Authors White People Need To Read
* Purchase at: St. Hope Underground Books *
* Purchase at: Sankofa Video, Books, and Cafe *
* Purchase at: Brain Lair Books *
* Purchase at: Ashay By The Bay *
* Purchase at: Sankofa Video, Books, and Cafe *
* Purchase at: Pyramid Books *
This book is on backorder nearly everywhere you look -
so you may need to find an ecopy!
* Purchase at: Brain Lair Books *
* Purchase at: Brain Lair Books *
* Purchase at: Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery *
* Purchase at: Ashay By the Bay *
PRE-ORDER (COMING OUT IN EARLY JULY 2020)!
* Purchase at: Brain Lair Books *
So, friends, tell me - which book will you pick up first?
Thus far (at the time of this writing/posting) I have read So You Want To Talk About Race and I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. I'm currently reading What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker. I have a few others on hold at the library and a few on their way to me, with another book directly geared towards reading with my teen. It's critical that we educate ourselves, my friends.
An important note: Teach yourself, your kids, your friends, your family members why saying things like "I don't see color" is unacceptable. From one white person to another? Those four words can hurt.
I always wondered why people say they don't see color. I had an author friend say that to me when I was editing her book. She had a character who was supposed to be a POC, but her description didn't match. She justified it with that statement. It seemed more like whitewashing.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I've been guilty of it, too. We were taught (in school, not at home--won't go there) to treat others as equals, so we thought it was the right way to be. White suburbia.
Even if we thought we had self-corrected, last week proved we have a long way to go to be better. Do better. Be anti-racist.
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