If you are a white person interested in learning more about racial justice, we are trying to compile a list of reading materials we have found helpful or have been recommended. We were also lucky to have had an early introduction to the works of Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou thanks to a progressive English department at our small public high school. We’ve included some fiction works also.
This list is by no means exhaustive, we are starting with works that have impacted us or that are on our current reading list. Feel free to send us any additional recommendations.
Please buy any books from local (and Black-owned) bookshops if at all possible, or try indiebound.org otherwise.
Non-Fiction
Me and White Supremacy - Layla Saad
Farming While Black - Leah Penniman
The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander
Blues People - Amiri Baraka (as LeRoi Jones)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Fiction
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Beloved - Toni Morrison
Journalism
The 1619 Project - Nikole Hannah-Jones
Additionally, many people have done this work previously, and their exhaustive lists are readily available online. Here are a few more:
An Antiracist Reading List - Ibram X. Kendi
Antiracist Books - Word Up Community Bookshop
Understanding and Dismantling Racism - Charis Books and More