White People: Listen, and then Educate Yourselves

As I sat down to write this, I started scrolling through my past posts. My post on Charlottesville, my post on the 2016 election, my post on Ferguson. And here I am again, begging white people to do the work necessary to dismantle the systemic racism in this country, because it's on us--the people who created it--to tear it down. 

So listen to your black friends/family/neighbors/colleagues, and then educate yourself. Ask questions if you need, but don't expect them to teach you about something your ancestors created. 

Below is a list of some of the resources that I've read/watched as I've tried to educate myself. This list is by no means exhaustive, and my own work continues. 

History Lessons: 

Wilkerson's book traces the migration of over six million Black Americans from the South to the North from 1915-1970s as they looked for better lives. She focuses on three individuals in particular--Ida Mae Gladney, George Swanson Starling, and Robert Pershing Foster--telling their lives before their moves, the issues they had while moving, and the issues they encountered once they found their new homes. (Spoiler: racism and segregation aren't just a Southern thing.) A really good overview of the time and the people who continue to change our country.

I know Dr. King's name has been used to try to discredit what is currently going on, so I hesitated to include the movie here, but I think it's important for people to realize that it hasn't mattered HOW Black Americans have protested in the past--white people have never liked it. A good look at the lead-up and consequences of the March on Selma. 

Also: Check out Rep. John Lewis' three volume graphic novel memoir March about his experiences during the same time period. I would recommend watching  movie and then reading the graphic novels together. 

Black America and the Criminal Justice System: 

Michelle Alexander takes a deep look into the criminal justice system and the practices put into place that have resulted in more Black Americans behind bars in this country than were enslaved. It isn't a coincidence that these policies took over once Jim Crow laws were abolished. 

Ava Duvernay's documentary The 13th covers much of the same ground as Alexander's book, particularly how our justice system actually kept slavery in the Constitution with the 13th Amendment: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." 

That loophole has allowed our government to justify the things discussed in Alexander's book as well as the "tough on crime" stance of a lot of our politicians (on both sides of the aisle). 

Bryan Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, dedicated to ending mass incarceration and racial inequality. His book chronicles his experiences both as a lawyer in Alabama working to free people wrongfully charged and as a black lawyer in the South. 

(This was recently turned into a movie starring Michael B. Jordan as Stevenson, but I haven't watched it yet.)

Memoir/Essay: 

James Baldwin's 1963 work was written during the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, and consists of two letters, one to his nephew discussing what life is like as a young black man in America. His line "This is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what it must become" contrasts greatly with current administration's views on this country, as well as echoing Langston Hughes' poem, Let America Be America Again. 

An incredibly important work, this one should really be at the top of your list. 

The eighteen pieces in the collection, written by contemporary authors of color (Black and otherwise), address the situations Baldwin brought up over fifty years ago. These essays, poems, and memoir continue the conversation of race in this country--both historical and contemporary, as well as the hope for the future. 

Following in Baldwin's footsteps, Coates' 2015 book is a letter to his teenaged son about being a Black man in America and everything that entails, including the very real threat of police brutality. 

Fiction/Poetry:

Rankine's work was published in 2014, only a few months after Michael Brown was murdered by police in Ferguson, MO. This is a mixed media work, including poems, artwork, and video links that address the spectrum of racism Rankine and her friends have experienced, from subversive to the explicit. 

This is one of the most powerful pieces I've read in recent years, and asks that you look at your own biases and place in the systemic racism in the country. 

Ruffin imagines a not-so-distant dystopian future (present? It's hard to tell, and that's the point.) where a Black father decides to do everything he can to protect his biracial son from society, including medically lightening his skin. It's a horrific, chilling look at a world not that different from our own, where Black men are forced to wear surveillance devices, police can legally cut off locs, and deportation "back to Africa" is a justified punishment. 

Ruffin recently tweeted: 

    Reader Question: why did you make the police so brutal in your book? 

    Me: I didn't make them anything. 

We're seeing evidence of that every day. 

Don't be put off by the "Young Adult" tag on this novel. It's every bit as important as all the works on this list. (I'll save my rant on the dismissal of YA lit for another day.) Angie Thomas tells the story of Starr Carter, a young Black teen who lives in a poor Black neighborhood but attends a predominately white high school. She witnesses the death of her best friend at the hands of a police officer, and has to decide whether or not to come forward with what she knows. Meanwhile, the national media attention and protests begin, with very real consequences for everyone involved.

Read it. And then watch the movie. With lots of tissues nearby. 

And as always, 

Rabbit Hole #37: The New York Times by the Book Tag

I stumbled across another fun book tag the other day on BookTube (I know; I'm addicted.) This one was created by Marie Berg, and you can watch her original video here: NY-Times By the Book Tag

The tag consists of ten questions, taken from a book of collected "By the Book" columns from The New York Times Book Review: 

1. What is currently on your nightstand? I currently have two books going: On Beauty by Zadie Smith and The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore. I never used to be a serial book reader, but I've found it is a lot of fun, and actually increases the number of books I read. I usually save fiction for bedtime, and the nonfiction for after work/evening reading.

2. What was the last truly great book you read? I just finished Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I am so in awe at everything she has accomplished in her lifetime, both for herself and women.

3. If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? And what would you want to know?
Alive: There's a tie between Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. I am in love with their words and wisdom. I wouldn't even necessarily need to ask them anything, just being in their presence would be enough. Dead: Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, for the same reasons. I would also love to sit down with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and hear their stories from the 1920s.

4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves? People who know me know I read just about everything, so I don't really know if anything would be a surprise.

5. How do you organize your personal library? On my main bookcase I have a section for poetry, then autobiography/memoir, biography, and general nonfiction. I also have the bulk of my fiction books followed by fantasy series (LOTR, HP, and Narnia) and YA. I have a small bookshelf that holds my short story collections and New Orleans books; another bookshelf with my plays, ancient/medieval texts, graphic novels, comic collections, literary and feminist theory, and writing guidebooks. I also have a couple of shelves with environmental and self-improvement books.
I may have a problem...

6. What book have you always meant to read and haven't gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed to have never read? There's a lot of Margaret Atwood's backlist that I still want to read, but other things keep getting in the way (I've read The Handmaid's Tale and the Maddaddam trilogy, of course). Embarrassed? As an English teacher, I always feel there are gaps that I should feel ashamed of--I've never read Dostoevsky or Dumas or or several of Shakespeare's plays--but I feel I'm widely enough read to make up for it.

7. Disappointing, overrated, or just not good--what book did you feel you were supposed to like but just didn't? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing? The Magicians by Lev Grossman should have been the perfect book for me, but I just could not get into it. I didn't like the world building, the characters, or the writing style. The last book I put down without finishing is one I will come back to: The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I love Fitzgerald, but this is an odd compilation of essays, 200 pages of his notes, letters, etc. It's just not something you can really sit down and read a large chunk of. It's nice to dip in and out of, though.

8. What kind of stories are you drawn to? Any you steer clear of? I really like fairy tale retellings or reworkings, fantasy, paranormal, and books dealing with political and social themes. I tend to stay away from traditional science fiction, mystery/thriller, and romance; although I will try anything if a person I trust recommends it!

9. If you could require the President to read one book, what would it be? Since President Obama already reads a lot, and widely, I'm going to recommend our next President, whomever he or she may be, to read Citizen by Claudia Rankine and The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward.

10. What do you plan to read next? I have a reread of Native Son by Richard Wright for my book club, Barbara Kingsolver's collection of essays, Small Wonder, and the final book in the Lunar Chronicles series, Winter, by Marissa Meyer.


There you have it--my By the Book Tag. Let me know what your answers would be!

Rabbit Hole #16: June Reading Wrap-up

If you read my June Read Harder update, you'll know that while May was a rather lack-luster reading month for me, I finally came out of my reading slump in June. (Too be fair, I did move halfway across the country in May!)

I ended up reading 14 books last month, 5 of which were graphic novels/comic collections, which is a new avenue for me. I'm really enjoying Ms. Marvel, Thor: Goddess of Thunder and Saga. I also read one of the most disturbing graphic novels (or stories, period) I've read in a while in Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann. Think Pixar's Inside Out with a Stephen King flavor. Yep, that twisted.

A few other highlights from this month: (obviously I read more, these just rose to the top)

Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older: This is a fun urban fantasy novel. If you like mysteries mixed with the paranormal and a whole lot of sass, definitely pick this up. The main character is a partially resurrected human being who is basically a gun-for-hire for the ghost world, keeping the dead from interfering too much with the living. Older does a great job with world building, and his characters are smart and funny, with the requisite melancholy. This is the book that pulled me out of my reading slump; I highly recommend it.


All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: This novel follows two young children throughout World War II. One is a young blind French girl who becomes part of the Resistance; the other is a young German boy with a gift for electronics, radios in particular, who is trained by the Nazis to search out and destroy the underground networks. This shows a very human side to the war, and how even the young were pulled in to the conflict.


Citizen by Claudia Rankine: Read this. This is probably the most important book about our society and race relations that I have read in a long time. Rankine uses prose poetry, essays, and scripts from videos she and her husband produced to create a very real picture of how far we still need to come in this country. It's not an easy read by any means given the subject matter, but it is a necessary one.


The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige: This is the second in Paige's YA reworking of the Wizard of Oz. In this novel, Amy has to regroup after failing to kill Dorothy. She has lost the other members of the Wicked, and finds herself being drawn into the dark side of magic. Paige adds to the Oz legend without compromising the original mythos, creating a fun, quick read.

If you want to know more about these or any of the other books I read, let me know--I'm more than happy to chat about them!