HOW WE GET FREE

As if the pandemic wasn't enough to deal with, white supremacy has seemed to reach a new all-time high...

For black and brown folks, the latest news is anything but new but GOD FORBID we forget ourselves for two seconds and assume that racist cops and community watchmen aren't on the hunt for their latest lynching while COVID is running loose. Adding insult to injury, we have no choice but to see these atrocities circulated on the news and on our feeds because if there isn't video evidence...does racism actually exist? 

This book list includes anti-racist reads, historical literature on Black America, and varied perspectives on how we can shape change. The books below present possibilities on how we can participate in the necessary work to undo the white supremacist notions that maintain a hold over and threaten our present lives.

It is important to educate ourselves on the long history of racism in this country, but it is just as important to unlearn bias and heal from internalized hatred and any aspects of ourselves that lend to the upholding of systems of oppression. 

 

"I still hear my brother crying “I can’t breathe,” Now I’m in the struggle saying “I can’t leave.”

We are calling out the violence of these racist police, We ain’t gonna stop until our people are free."

 

list curated by Deidre

 

 

 

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color By Andrea Ritchie, Angela Y. Davis (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Andrea Ritchie, Angela Y. Davis (Foreword by)
$21.00
ISBN: 9780807088982
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Beacon Press - August 1st, 2017

“A passionate, incisive critique of the many ways in which women and girls of color are systematically erased or marginalized in discussions of police violence.” —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow


Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do By Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780735224957
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Penguin Books - March 3rd, 2020

"Poignant....important and illuminating."—The New York Times Book Review

"Groundbreaking."—Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy

From one of the world’s leading experts on unconscious racial bias come stories, science, and strategies to address one of the central controversies of our time


The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power By Deirdre Mask Cover Image
$26.99
Out of Stock - Not Available
ISBN: 9781250134769
Published: St. Martin's Press - April 14th, 2020

Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction | One of Time Magazines's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 | Longlisted for the 2020 Porchlight Business Book Awards

"An entertaining quest to trace the origins and implications of the names of the roads on which we reside." —Sarah Vowell, The New York Times Book Review


Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty By Dorothy Roberts Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780679758693
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Vintage - December 29th, 1998

Killing the Black Body remains a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women. It is as crucial as ever, even two decades after its original publication.
 


Negroland: A Memoir By Margo Jefferson Cover Image
$19.00
ISBN: 9780307473431
Availability: Backordered
Published: Vintage - August 23rd, 2016

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An extraordinary look at privilege, discrimination, and the fallacy of post-racial America by the renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning cultural critic


At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement  from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power By Danielle L. McGuire Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780307389244
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Vintage - October 4th, 2011

Here is the courageous, groundbreaking story of Rosa Parks and Recy Taylor—a story that reinterprets the history of America's civil rights movement in terms of the sexual violence committed against Black women by white men.

"An important step to finally facing the terrible legacies of race and gender in this country.” —The Washington Post


Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race By Beverly Daniel Tatum Cover Image
$21.99
ISBN: 9780465060689
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Basic Books - September 5th, 2017

The classic, New York Times-bestselling book on the psychology of racism that shows us how to talk about race in America.

Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy?


Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds By Adrienne Maree Brown Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9781849352604
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: AK Press - April 18th, 2017

In the tradition of Octavia Butler, radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want.


The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love By bell hooks Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780743456081
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: Washington Square Press - December 21st, 2004

From the New York Times bestselling author of All About Love, a brave and astonishing work that challenges patriarchal culture and encourages men to reclaim the best part of themselves.

Everyone needs to love and be loved—even men.


Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower By Brittney Cooper Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250112880
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Picador - March 5th, 2019

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An Emma Watson "Our Shared Shelf" Selection for November/December 2018 • NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2018/ MENTIONED BY: The New York Public Library Mashable • The Atlantic Bustle The Root • Politico Magazine ("What the 2020 Candidates Are Reading


Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good By Adrienne Maree Brown (Editor) Cover Image
By Adrienne Maree Brown (Editor)
$20.00
ISBN: 9781849353267
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: AK Press - March 19th, 2019

How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life?


How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (Editor) Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781608468553
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: Haymarket Books - December 5th, 2017

"If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free." -Combahee River Collective Statement.


Parable of the Sower By Octavia E. Butler Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781538732182
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Grand Central Publishing - April 30th, 2019

This acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale" and includes a foreword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York Times).


Parable of the Talents By Octavia E. Butler Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781538732199
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: Grand Central Publishing - August 20th, 2019

Originally published in 1998, this shockingly prescient novel's timely message of hope and resistance in the face of fanaticism is more relevant than ever.


Native Son: A Novel By Richard Wright Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780060837563
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Harper Perennial Modern Classics - January 10th, 2023

“If one had to identify the single most influential shaping force in modern Black literary history, one would probably have to point to Wright and the publication of Native Son.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.


The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781620971932
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: New Press - January 7th, 2020

Named one of the most important nonfiction books of the 21st century by Entertainment Weekly' Slate' Chronicle of Higher Education' Literary Hub, Book Riot' and Zora


Homegoing By Yaa Gyasi Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9781101971062
Availability: In stock at Brooklyn or Jersey City -- click for more details
Published: Vintage - May 2nd, 2017

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE'S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE • WINNER OF THE PEN / HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION • Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle.


The Hate U Give: A Printz Honor Winner By Angie Thomas, Amandla Stenberg (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Angie Thomas, Amandla Stenberg (Foreword by)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780062498533
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Balzer + Bray - February 28th, 2017

8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best  ·  William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller!

"Absolutely riveting!" —Jason Reynolds


Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century By Monique W. Morris, Khalil Gibran Muhammad (Introduction by) Cover Image
$14.95
ISBN: 9781595589194
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: New Press - January 28th, 2014

An essential handbook of eye-opening--and frequently myth-busting--facts and figures about the real lives of Black Americans today


Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America By Michael Eric Dyson Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9781250135995
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: St. Martin's Press - January 17th, 2017

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, INDIEBOUND, LOS ANGELES TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, CHRONICLE HERALD, SALISBURY POST, GUELPH MERCURY TRIBUNE, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER | NAMED A BEST/MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2017 BY: The Washington PostBustleMen's JournalThe Chicago Re


White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide By Carol Anderson Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781632864130
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Bloomsbury USA - September 5th, 2017

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016
A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016


Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools By Monique Morris, Mankaprr Conteh (Foreword by), Melissa Harris-Perry (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Monique Morris, Mankaprr Conteh (Foreword by), Melissa Harris-Perry (Foreword by)
$18.95
ISBN: 9781620973424
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: New Press - January 16th, 2018

The "powerful" (Michelle Alexander) exploration of the harsh and harmful experiences confronting Black girls in schools, and how we can instead orient schools toward their flourishing


How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance By Akiba Solomon, Kenrya Rankin Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781568588490
Availability: Available from our distributor; usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Bold Type Books - March 26th, 2019

This celebration of Black resistance, from protests to art to sermons to joy, offers a blueprint for the fight for freedom and justice -- and ideas for how each of us can contribute