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<\/a><\/div>\nJust Mercy<\/a><\/u><\/b>\u00a0by Bryan Stevenson<\/p>\n As I said, I am a reader. I devour books like a starving man at a buffet. And this book, like none I can recall before it, required me to put it down. I would sob, listening in the car on the way to school, and know my face would be blotchy in first period. I would cry cooking dinner, and know that I really did need to see through my tears so what I was chopping wasn\u2019t a finger\u2026<\/p>\n This book is a memoir of a lawyer who worked on death row in Alabama, not all that long ago. It shows the cases he lost, and the downright heroic victories he won, and the way he swam upstream for every inch of ground. This book was also made into a film recently, so if you\u2019re not a reader, you can still appreciate the story!<\/p>\n This is an incredible book geared toward young adults that explores the history of the Civil War through the beginning of Jim Crow. For most of my life, I would absolutely have summarized this era as, \u201cSlavery was bad, so we fought the civil war. The South lost, so we progressed from slavery to segregation and then eventually to civil rights around the 60s. Right?\u201d<\/p>\n But no – there is so much more to the story. One day, when I was reading during SSR in class, I put the book down and asked my students when they believed the first black person was elected to congress. All their answers ranged from maybe the 70\u2019s to the 90\u2019s, and they were shocked to learn that no, it was 1870, during the incredible period where black people thrived that was the Reconstruction. This book makes those lost stories really accessible for young readers.<\/p>\n Well-Read Black Girl<\/a><\/u><\/b> collected by Glory Edim<\/p>\n This book is a collection of essays by black, female writers, exploring the first books where they \u201csaw\u201d themselves and the impact this had on them as women and as artists. As an English teacher, there\u2019s nothing more heartwarming than hearing how books were formative for young people, but I couldn\u2019t help but ask, \u201cIf these are the books that changed lives, why are these not on my assigned reading lists?\u201d Toni Morrison came up many times, but not the particular book that I teach (Home).<\/p>\n Biggest advantage: A substantial set of books to put on my list. My next is The Bluest Eye<\/i>. <\/a><\/p>\n Eloquent Rage<\/a><\/u><\/b> by Brittney Cooper<\/p>\n However, her perspective is so well-argued, so impactful, that it was really awesome to see my marriage in a new context. This book is absolutely difficult, and might not be for white people just getting started in their social-justice reading, but if you\u2019re comfortable with being uncomfortable, this book offers smart insights that you won\u2019t find everywhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I fell in love with Coates\u2019 writing, so I had to read both of his books. His background is in journalism, but I swear, he writes more like a poet. You will not find finer or more incisive prose.<\/p>\n He\u2019s another writer whose unapologetic arguments pushed my thinking – he made me feel the extent to which I need a wider base of understanding of black intellectuals and literaries over time. He was critical of everyone from WEB DuBois, to Dr. King, to Obama, all of whom I had a limited but complementary knowledge of. He had a lot to say about Malcolm X, who I know little to nothing about. Coates sparked my curiosity, which I love – there is such a substance and richness to these leaders, but they were human, and I must acknowledge that my perception is, well, whitewashed. I have to honestly wonder: are these the civil rights\u2019 perspectives that I was allowed to learn about for a reason? What other perspectives or voices were too controversial to make it into the curriculum I was delivered, and what might their merits have been? I can\u2019t wait to learn more, now that the door of inquiry has been opened.<\/p>\n Coates also has a new novel out, The Water Dancer<\/a><\/i>, that\u2019s absolutely on my list for this summer.<\/p>\n Underground Railroad<\/a><\/u><\/b> by Colson Whitehead This book was historical fiction, following the saga of a pair or escaped slaves. The literal railroad featured in the book is fantastical, but not the struggles the characters face as they navigate the tenuousness that passed for \u201cfreedom.\u201d It\u2019s also on Oprah\u2019s book club!<\/p>\n This book really made me reflect on what it might be like for even modern black people to exist in our society. We talk a big game about \u201cliberty and justice for all,\u201d but they know that isn\u2019t true. Nowadays, the \u201cGeorgia\u201d or the \u201cslave catcher\u201d might be metaphorical, but all the same, it\u2019s more pervasive. \u201cGeorgia\u201d is a traffic stop, or a phone call from a white woman. This book did a masterful job of showing the way the psyche can be on constant alert, constant surveillance, because the threat is real, and you never know when it will come for you. Powerful.<\/p>\n Harlem Hellfighters<\/a><\/u><\/b> by Max Brooks<\/p>\n This was one of the few graphic novels I\u2019ve read – I don\u2019t have strong visual literacy. (I blame the<\/p>\n Japanese manga comics I tried as a child, and didn\u2019t realize you\u2019re supposed to read them backwards\u2026) Slay<\/a><\/b> by Brittney Morris<\/p>\n It was too funny – when I finished Slay, I reached out to Steph in absolute delight because I had found such a gem! …Only to have her remind me that she, too, had reached out in delight about this book a while ago.<\/p>\n You know how it is: there are too many recommendations to keep up.<\/p>\n Slay is a novel about a high school senior who creates an elaborate online game that is exclusive to black people. When a real-world murder occurs between players, the news gets wind of the game, and – inevitably – the ideas of \u201cracism against white people\u201d or \u201creverse racism\u201d spring forth. This book does the important work of addressing these problematic ideas while showing black beauty, strength, and creativity in all its glory.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/u><\/b>Dark Sky Rising<\/a><\/u><\/b> by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Tonya Bolden<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n
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\nThis story followed a troop of black soldiers into WW1, chronicling their struggles to even serve their country as well as those that followed as they did. This resonated with me as I read some of The 1619 Project<\/a> around the same time – it floors me to think about the service and sacrifice and bravery that these black men demonstrated, and for a country that had promised the sky and effectively delivered dirt for them. Black people have always believed in the promises of America more fervently than anyone else, and they deserve the fulfillment thereof.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n