Black Lives Matter

12 Books We’re Adding to Our Anti-Racist Reading List

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Editor’s Note: We have updated all shopping links in this article to link out to Black owned bookstores. Please help us in supporting these businesses.

As conversations about racism, white supremacy, and the responsibility of people in positions of power and privilege (in particular, white people) to fight against it continue to take place, many of us (myself included) have realized how little we actually know or understand about these complex issues.

I’ve seen a number of posts asking how and why it has taken this long and this many atrocities to make white people care to the degree they seem to care now about the injustices Black Americans face daily. I don’t have that answer. I don’t know. I’m sorry that it has.

What I do know is that reading and learning from others is an excellent way to educate ourselves—about any topic—but in this case, about racism and white privilege.

To be clear, reading is a great first step, but it is just that: a step. To truly use privilege to affect change means committing to a lifelong journey of continuing to educate ourselves, listening, and taking action.

For those looking to learn more, we have compiled this list of anti-racist reading, which is by no means comprehensive and which is curated from recommendations on social media and websites, including posts and articles from experts such as: @mireillecharper@ibramxk, @ckyourprivilege, @tokenconfessions, and @vernonlibrary.

Scroll down for the list of 12 anti-racist books we’re adding to our reading list today. 

Layla F. Saad
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
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Ibram X. Kendi
How to Be an Antiracist
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Carol Anderson
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
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Robin Diangelo
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism
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Jennifer Harvey
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America
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Ijeoma Oluo
So You Want to Talk About Race
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Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
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Reni Eddo-Lodge
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race
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Angela Y. Davis
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
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Michelle Alexander
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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Jennifer L. Eberhardt
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do
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Dorothy Roberts
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-Create Race in the Twenty-First Century
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Read More: 33 Books Featuring Black Heroes and Characters That Every Kid Should Read