Racism & Anti-Racism: Recommended reads for adults

Learn about forms of racism, race privilege, and anti-racism

Updated April 9, 2024
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1

The new age of empire : how racism and colonialism still rule the world
Andrews, Kehinde
Paper Book
A damning exploration of the many ways in which the effects and logic of anti-black colonialism continue to inform our modern world. Colonialism and imperialism are often thought to be distant memories, whether they're glorified in Britain's collective nostalgia or...

2

Bringing up race : how to raise a kind child in a prejudiced world
Asika, Uju
Paper Book
"Uju Asika has written a necessary book for our times."--Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters' Street You can't avoid it, because it's everywhere. In the looks Black kids get in certain spaces, the manner in which some people speak to them, the stuff that goes over their heads. Stuff...
Also available in eBook format.

3

The skin we're in : a year of Black resistance and power
Cole, Desmond
Audiobook
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2020 TORONTO BOOK AWARD A bracing, provocative, and perspective-shifting book from one of Canada's most celebrated and uncompromising writers, Desmond Cole. The Skin We're In will spark a national conversation, influence policy, and...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

4

What white people can do next : from allyship to coalition
Dabiri, Emma
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER In the spirit of We Should All Be Feminists and How to Be an Antiracist, a poignant and sensible guide to questioning the meaning of whiteness and creating an antiracist world from the acclaimed historian and author of Twisted. Vital and...

5

Caste : the origins of our discontents
Wilkerson, Isabel
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * "An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Also available in DAISY, eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

6

Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race
Eddo-Lodge, Reni
Paper Book
Selected by Emma Watson as the Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick for January/February 2018 Sunday TimesBestseller Winner of the British Book Awards Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year Winner of the Jhalak Prize "This is a book that...
Also available in eBook format.

7

White tears brown scars : how white feminism betrays women of color
Hamad, Ruby
Paper Book
Called "powerful and provocative" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times bestselling How to be an Antiracist, this explosive book of history and cultural criticism reveals how white feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against...
Also available in eBook format.

8

Speaking of race : why everybody needs to talk about racism--and how to do it
Headlee, Celeste Anne
Paper Book
"Simply the best book I've read on how to have those conversations. Unflinchingly honest, exceptionally well-reasoned and researched, there is so much to admire about Speaking of Race."--Angela Duckworth, founder and CEO of Character Lab and New York Times bestselling author of Grit A...
Also available in eBook format.

9

Minor feelings : an Asian American reckoning
Hong, Cathy Park
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER * ONE OF TIME'S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE * A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness "Brilliant...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

10

My remarkable journey : a memoir
Johnson, Katherine G.
Paper Book
The remarkable woman at heart of the smash New York Times bestseller and Oscar-winning film Hidden Figures tells the full story of her life, including what it took to work at NASA, help land the first man on the moon, and live through a century of turmoil and change. In...
Also available in eBook format.

11

How to be an antiracist
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a "groundbreaking" (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society--and in ourselves. "The most...

12

How to raise an antiracist
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The book that every parent, caregiver, and teacher needs to raise the next generation of antiracist thinkers, from the author of How to Be an Antiracist and recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Grant. "Kendi's latest . . . combines...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

13

How to be an antiracist
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a "groundbreaking" (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society--and in ourselves. "The most...

Sur la question du racisme, la neutralite n'est pas une option : tant que nous ne nous impliquons pas dans la solution, nous faisons ineluctablement partie du probleme. Conteur hors-pair et enseignant talentueux, Ibram X. Kendi nous aide a admettre que tout un chacun se fait, de temps a autre, complice du racisme - inconsciemment ou non. En racontant son propre voyage du racisme a l'antiracisme, il nous montre comment faire notre part et demolit le mythe de la societe post-raciale, donnant ainsi naissance a une nouvelle et necessaire perception du racisme : qu'est-il ? Ou se cache-t-il ? Comment le reconnaitre ? Qu'en faire ?

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

14

My grandmother's hands : racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies
Menakem, Resmaa
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER "My Grandmother's Hands will change the direction of the movement for racial justice."-- Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

15

Me and white supremacy : combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor
Saad, Layla F
Paper Book
The New York Times and USA Today bestseller! This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color,...
Also available in eBook, eAudiobook and Large Print formats.

16

How we fight white supremacy : a field guide to Black resistance
Solomon, Akiba
Paper Book
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 Many of us are facing unprecedented attacks on our democracy, our privacy, and our hard-won civil...
Also available in eAudiobook format.

17

Seven fallen feathers : racism, death, and hard truths in a northern city
Talaga, Tanya
Paper Book
Winner, 2017 Shaughnessy Cohen Writers' Trust Prize for Political Writing Winner, 2017 RBC Taylor Prize Winner, 2017 First Nation Communities Read: Young Adult/Adult Winner, 2024 Blue Metropolis First Peoples Prize, for the whole of her work Finalist, 2017 Hilary Weston...

Also available in Book Club Kit, eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.


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