I love reading books. They give us a unique opportunity to connect with the stories, perspectives and experiences of others in a deep and personal way. Because of this, I think they’re an incredibly important part of social justice and the fight for equality. As a non-Black person of colour, I look, in part, to books as a way to learn more and become a better ally in the fight against anti-Black racism. Black History Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate Black culture in the past, present, and future. But educating ourselves, celebrating, and consuming Black art and literature should not be limited to the month of February, it should be something we do all year round. With that in mind, here are some books that I loved that you should add to your TBRs for Black History Month and after.
Anything written by Angela Y Davis
Angela Davis is one of my favourite authors of all time. An activist, author, and academic, Davis has written many books on the subjects of race, class, gender, prison abolition, and culture. I am slowly making my way through them all, and each of them is expanding the ways I think. Davis’ writing is brilliant, approachable but packed with knowledge. I can’t wait to keep reading.
First, Are Prisons Obsolete? investigates the history and injustices of the criminal justice system and presents modern arguments for prison abolition. It is incredibly important for understanding how racism is deeply embedded in institutions in our society. The book examines slavery, capitalism, the targeting of Black men by the carceral system, and the prison industrial complex. It asks readers to imagine a world in which society focuses on healing and rehabilitation instead of punishment. Davis concludes that prisons are, in fact, obsolete and advocates for, not reformation, but abolishment. This book is a necessary investigation into the injustices of the prison system and absolutely changed my perspective on its role and necessity.
Women, Race and Class explores the history of the feminist movement and reveals how white feminism has historically relied on white supremacist narratives to further their own agendas while subjugating Black and lower-income women and excluding them from the movement. The book also highlights the resistance of Black and lower-income women and their strength in the ongoing fight for equality. It is essential to understand this history and how it remains today, ultimately preventing, as it did then, achievements that benefit all. This knowledge will help us build a feminist movement that is truly intersectional and that fights for the liberation of all women.
Hood Feminism – Mikki Kendall
Mikki Kendall’s Hood Feminism critiques mainstream feminism and calls for the movement to shift its focus. Kendall argues that the feminist movement is interested in increasing the privilege of the few, rather than in ensuring the basic needs of all. She implores us to consider issues such as hunger, gun violence, and access to education as fundamental feminist issues, as without addressing them, we cannot sincerely pursue equality for all. Feminism, she writes, has failed to fight for all women, and this must be corrected by using an intersectional approach that truly considers the needs of all. I really appreciate this collection of essays, and it has helped me better understand the meanings and practices of intersectionality.
White Tears/Brown Scars – Ruby Hamad
White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color examines the feminist movement across time and space, tracing white women’s active oppression of women of colour from colonialism to the present, dispelling assumptions that they were — and are — passive actors in this history. The book describes white feminism as a “weapon of white supremacy” and examines the socially constructed dichotomy between fragile innocent white femininity and women of colour, who are not extended that same definition of femininity. This dichotomy, Hamad explains, exists today and is leveraged to protect the power of white women. For example, the weaponization of white women’s tears in order to silence women of colour’s voices relies on this. This book is eye-opening and essential. My summary can’t do it justice.
Open Water – Caleb Azumah Nelson
Open Water is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Following the love story of two Black artists, it explores love, grief, vulnerability, fear, violence, art, gender, and race in such a poetic and emotional way. The writing and story are absolutely beautiful, and I haven’t stopped talking about this book since I first read it. The descriptions of, as is written on the back cover, “what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body” and Black love, are deeply meaningful and absolutely essential. I’m grateful to Nelson for such a beautiful novel.
Policing Black Lives – Robyn Maynard
As I’m putting together this list, I’m reading Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard, an investigation into state violence in Canada. This book is especially important to read as a Canadian, as racism in our country is often seen as historical, washed away by multiculturalism and Canadian kindness. The book follows Canadian state violence through enslavement, capitalism and poverty, police and the criminal justice system, immigration, the child welfare system, and education. It highlights resistance against these injustices and looks into the future. Only a few chapters in, I’ve learned truths about the history of the country I live in that were never addressed in my education growing up, and how these have continued impacts today. We cannot move forward if we do not understand our past, as Maynard writes, “a history that goes unacknowledged is too often a history doomed to be repeated”. This book is crucial to better understand the anti-Black racism embedded in our country.
The Fire Next Time – James Baldwin
I am also reading The Fire Next Time this month. The book is composed of two letters written by Baldwin on the 100-year anniversary of the American Emancipation Proclamation. A deeply personal, unflinching account of Baldwin’s experience as a Black man in the 1960s, it discusses white supremacy, discrimination, systemic violence, and inequality. The first letter is addressed to Baldwin’s nephew. In it, he gives his nephew advice, urging him to be resilient, accept and value himself, and reject desires to be accepted by white society. The second letter is more broadly about Baldwin’s experiences, exploring themes like religion, pain, power and identity. Baldwin’s writing is insightful and powerful, and this book is a necessary reading.