Antiracism + Shame Transformation Reading Lists
Change is in the air. The fight for freedom, justice, and liberty for Black lives continues. Allies, you are needed. Keep putting in the work. Together, we can make change.
We’ve compiled a list of books to help you on this journey from topics like “shame resistance” all the way to becoming “anti-racist.”
Most of these books are available for purchase online through the links. We also encourage you to check the availability of these titles with local bookstores such as The Regulator Bookshop, Letters Bookshop, and Golden Fig Books.
Shame Resistance/Transformation:
Looking systemic oppression in its face doesn’t feel good. When we really look at it properly, we realize that it looks a little too much like us. That’s hard.
Many allies are feeling shame and guilt in this moment. You’re not alone. Shame and guilt are the next logical emotions when we truly acknowledge our implicit and complicit roles in perpetuating racism.
There’s a lot of talk about “shame resistance,’ but resisting this natural emotion may not be the best path forward. What would it look like for us to explore ‘shame transformation’ instead?
Shame and guilt are the kinds of emotions that lead to wallowing, to unproductive behavior, to the paralysis of analysis. They don’t lead to sustained action. These emotions may lead to us shopping at a black business for the first time, but they won’t lead to a lifestyle of intentionality looking for ways to use our privileges wherever possible to elevate the voices and efforts of the oppressed.
In order to transform shame and guilt into lasting movement, we can’t stop there nor can we simply avoid feeling these emotions altogether. The goal is to move through the feelings, not around the feelings.
Through the powerful alchemy of relationships, we have the opportunity to transform shame and guilt into love. Loving someone – a real person – changes everything. Love will move us for a lifetime because then we realize that our own liberation is inextricably interwoven. True freedom for you is impossible while others remain oppressed.
If this is where you find yourself, here are a few volumes that speak to ‘shame transformation’:
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
By Brene Brown.
Brene Brown studies shame for a living. All of her published books are helpful on this topic, but this latest work dives deep into what lies beyond shame: authentic belonging.
Available at the Durham County Library in print, audio CD, and eBook via the Libby app.
Healing the Shame that Binds You
By John Bradshaw
Bradshaw makes key distinctions on healthy shame and toxic shame to help identify where and how to use this emotion for good.
By Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Taleb takes a different approach altogether, exploring what it could look like to welcome, and even seek, challenging situations to become the highest version of oneself.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook formats via the Libby app.
Also, follow @rainbennett (a vulnerable ally) on Instagram for more on this topic.
Anti-Racism Work
The undercurrent of society is a consistent flow of systemic racism and oppression. It’s not enough to be “not racist”, we need to be actively “anti-racist”. Let’s be clear, this work is paddling upstream. It’s hard. It requires a borderline-annoying level of persistence if we’re serious about it.
According to race theory scholar Ibram Kendi, “Becoming ‘antiracist’ requires every individual to choose every day to think, act, and advocate for equality,… changing systems and policies that may have gone unexamined for a long time.”
Now is not the time to look away. Here are some resources to help you stick with it and stay uncomfortable:
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
By Robin Diangelo.
Speaking of fragility… White fragility, among many things, is the ego’s uprising in the face of correction. This book will help you stay in conversations even when you’re uncomfortable or inconvenienced. Who knows – you may even find yourself less concerned about how removing Aunt Jemima’s picture from the syrup bottle affects your morning pancake routine.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, eBook and audiobook formats via the Libby app.
By Ibram X. Kendi
A powerful and necessary New York Times best-selling book with a vital approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in both our society and in ourselves.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook via the Libby app.
So You Want to Talk About Race
By Ijeoma Oluo
With honest conversations about race and racism and how the latter affects more areas of our lives than we’d like to admit, this book is timely and helpful. It will challenge you to dig deep down and ask the hard questions.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook via both the Libby and Hoopla apps.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
By Michelle Alexander
The Birmingham News calls The New Jim Crow “undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.” This New York Times bestseller unveils a scary truth that our nation has been reluctant to face about mass incarceration.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, audio CD, eBook, and audibook via both the Libby and Hoopla apps.
By Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi.
Now here’s a book that brings race issues to the forefront in the here and now. Learn about the many creative ways that racism shows up in modern society. This title is a remix of “Stamped from the Beginning” by Ibram X. Kendi.
AvailaBULL from the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook with both the Libby and Hoopla apps.
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
By Layla F Saad
An eye-opening and informative book that helps you understand racism and challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking the biases that we all have.
AvailaBULL from the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook with both the Libby and Hoopla apps.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
By Austin Channing Brown
Austin takes us into her story and encounters with racism at an early age. If you’re drawn to exploring these issues within story and narrative, this one is for you.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print and eBook format via the Libby app.
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
In an open and honest letter to his son, Ta-Nehisi offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook formats via the Libby app.
Black Joy + Black Triumphs
Part of transforming our inherent biases is to pay attention to what we’re consuming as content. How many examples do you watch or read about Black people winning? Most mainstream media paints a picture of Black despondency, but that’s so far from reality. Black people are incredible, so let’s find examples of black people doing their thing.
As a resource: Liberation Station is a phenomenal Black-owned independent bookstore that believes in making representation accessible and amplifying Black voices. They purposely DO NOT carry books on white fragility and antiracism, because they focus on books about Black joy, liberation, and triumph.
Follow them on Instagram at @liberationstationbookstore to see this in action.
By Margot Lee Shetterly
This #1 New York Times bestseller tells the phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, eBook, and audiobook formats via both the Libby and Hoopla apps.
By Michelle Obama
In her memoir, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her and made her into the person she is today.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print, audio CD, eBook, and audiobook formats via the Libby app.
Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
By Glory Edim
Edim brings together original essays by some of the best best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that all people are represented in literature.
AvailaBULL at the Durham County Library in print and audiobook via the Libby app.
Black Pioneers of Science and Invention
By Louis Haber
An account of the lives of fourteen gifted black innovators who have played important roles in scientific and industrial progress.
100 African Americans Who Shaped American History
By Chrisanne Beckner
This educational book takes a look at all the contributions these 100 African Americans have made to American history.
Conclusion
We can’t change the past, but we can own it, learn from it, and choose to make a better today and tomorrow. There is a lot of work to be done. As the Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW.”
Let’s all do the hard work and actively plant trees of justice that will take root and produce the lasting fruit of equality. We truly are in this together.
Natalie Minott
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