Set in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s, ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett is a novel about African American maids working in white households. It explores themes of racism, inequality, and the quest for freedom and dignity.
The Bluest Eye is a novel by Toni Morrison that explores themes of racial self-loathing and how it leads to further marginalization within the black community. The story follows Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl craving blue eyes, symbolizing the societal beauty and acceptance she associates with whiteness. Morrison’s narrative dives into the impact of systemic racism, societal expectations, and internalized self-hatred on individual identity and perception.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a heart-wrenching yet inspiring tale of a young lawyer’s fight for justice in the U.S. legal system. The book focuses on one of his first cases, Walter McMillian, a black man sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. It exposes shocking truths about inequality and injustice in the American criminal justice system.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography by Maya Angelou that provides a poignant account of her childhood and adolescence in the racially charged 1930s and 40s Southern America. It chronicles her experiences with racism, sexual abuse, and her struggle for identity, as well as her gradual empowerment as a Black woman in America.
White Fragility by sociologist Robin DiAngelo explores the defensive reactions white people often have when their racial worldviews are challenged. DiAngelo unpicks these reactions and presents a persuasive argument for the need of white people to confront their racial discomfort and examine their biases. The book underscores the importance of white people in the fight against racism.
How to Be an Antiracist is a groundbreaking approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society—and in ourselves. The author, Ibram X. Kendi, weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism.
Between the World and Me is a letter by Ta-Nehisi Coates to his teenage son about the reality of being black in America. The book is a reflection on how race has shaped American history, often at the cost of black bodies and lives. It provides a thoughtful and personal exploration of America’s racial history and what it means to be black in the USA today.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee. Set in the 1930s, it explores the racial inequality and injustice prevalent in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama through the eyes of a young girl, Scout Finch. As Scout and her brother Jem become friends with a boy named Dill, they become obsessed with a reclusive man, Boo Radley. Meanwhile, their father, the idealistic lawyer Atticus Finch, defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.
An illuminating exploration of racism’s deep roots in American history.