Since the uprising in Minneapolis started, we've been getting nonstop calls and emails from white folks wanting to read books on Blackness, anti-racism, and policing. Like other bookstores, we rapidly sold out of popular titles, including Me and White Supremacy, White Fragility, and How to Be an Antiracist. These books are now unavailable from publishers who are scrambling to reprint and meet the unexpected demand.
Beyond the "Big Five"
So what do you read if you don't want to wait for the bestsellers or want something for a more radical audience? We've got a few recommendations!
As Black As Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation by William C. Anderson and Zoé Samudzi — "The organization of the text is stunning - it reads as a historical indictment of the US's past, a nonlinear read of an ongoing black liberation struggle, and leaves the future only to our imagination." (Brittany J., Goodreads.com)
Memoir of a Race Traitor: Fighting Racism in the American South by Mab Segrest — "In this enlightening, compelling, and at times disturbing memoir, Mab Segrest takes the reader to the head of a struggle that many of us have tended to dismiss... In these times of a resurgent, fascist right-wing, we cannot afford to be so indifferent." (Ray Foy, Goodreads.com)
Taking Sides: Revolutionary Solidarity and the Poverty of Liberalism edited by Cindy Milstein — "Completely necessary and wonderful collection of essays. It’s been called a guide book for activists (especially white activists) that care about social justice. I think it made me understand what it means to organize, and actually make things happen with activism." (Iris, Goodreads.com)
Dixie Be Damned: 300 Years of Insurrection in the American South by Neal Shirley and Saralee Stafford — "This book disturbed my mind, deeply conditioned by a progressive liberal narrative of history and of southeast US in particular, and added depth to my awareness of southern history, Black history, labor history." (Jabari, Goodreads.com)
Audio Activism
Still looking for an out-of-stock title? We recommend that you consider an audiobook! Our co-operative has partnered with Libro.fm to provide a huge catalog of DRM-free audiobooks. Here are a few frequent requests:
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo