Summer Reading 2020: Do the Work

Image from @jane_mount on Instagram

I usually slam into summer--physically and mentally exhausted--ready to recharge through the escape of books. But like so many of you, I'm feeling soul tired. And if I'm weary--a privileged white woman in America--then I can't imagine how my Black friends feel. So I refuse to drape the veil of indifference over myself, slip into "summer mode," and resume this "heavy" reading in a more convenient season. That is the very essence of White privilege and one of the reasons we keep repeating this horrific cycle of brutality against People of Color. Nope. This will be a "self-work summer" for me--to continue the hard, necessary work of becoming an antiracist.

This is the 10th year that I've shared my Summer Reading List in this space, and it's not the first time that I've shared my journey to learn more about systemic racism. I started leaning into the discomfort when in 2016 a Hispanic student told me, "Miss, reading is for white people." If you don't know that story, you can read it here. In 2017, my school community was shaken to its core by the murder of Jordan Edwards, a freshman with a million-watt smile, by a police officer. As a way to deal with the raw rage of our students, the book club that I organize read THE HATE U GIVE and got to skype with the author, Angie Thomas. You can read about it here. Jordan Edwards should be graduating in a few days, ready to launch into life rather than be remembered as a hashtag. That was three years ago. And here we are again.

Do you see why we need to DO THE WORK?

With so many amazing reading lists about how to combat racism floating around in recent weeks, I know it can feel a bit overwhelming, so my hope is to offer a curation of books and resources to help us be the change we want to see in the world.

So let's get started.

I've read these books and highly recommend them: 
   


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I know that all of these books have been staples on the anti-racist reading lists, as well they should be, and most of them are currently sold out on Amazon. But Amazon is not the only place to buy books. In fact, this would be a GREAT time to support Black-owned bookstores! Here's a list:

Click here for another list of Black-owned bookstores.

Being my book bossy self, I've informed my family that we are doing a Summer Book Club together. As the mom of two teenage girls, I can't think of a better way to dig into these essential conversations with them. Here is what our Fam of Four plans to read and discuss together.
If you have teens in your life,  read and discuss these books WITH THEM: 

                                 

These are books that I want to read to continue my learning: 

  

  

Here are some links to some more powerful resources: 
An Essential Reading Guide for Fighting Racism
For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies
Antiracism Resources for White People
This List is Antiracist from Brain Lair Books (and you can order books from them!)
Seeing White Fragility (REALLY GREAT video!)
A Decade of Watching Black People Die from NPR's Code Switch 
Brene Brown's Podcast with Ibram X. Kendi on How to be Antiracist 

As a high school librarian, you know I've got some Young Adult books on my summer list.

YA Books by IBPOC authors: 
  

  

  

This quote by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop is a pillar in my philosophy as a librarian and reader. For some of us, these books are windows that hopefully become sliding glass doors to allow us to walk in the shoes of someone who does not share the same life experience. This is how we grow those vital empathy muscles! I've lived a very sheltered, white, middle-class life, and I owe so much of my awakening to the world around me to books. And to listening to and learning from my students. For so many of my students and other IBPOC, these books are much-needed mirrors to show them that EVERYONE holds space in the world.

Adult Fiction Books that I've Got My Eye On: 
  

 

Right now I am currently reading CLAP WHEN YOU LAND (it is EXCELLENT), listening to TEARS WE CANNOT STOP on my walks (I highly recommend listening to this one since it is written as a sermon to White America--it's been on my list for years; I'm finally getting to it), and I've got SUCH A FUN AGE next in the pile:

   

If you've read my words, thank you. Honestly, I'm tired of the words, which is ironic since I'm a word lover, because I'm ready for action. But I know that the catalyst for action is words; they prick our minds and hearts, prompting us to make the move--"to do the next right thing, one thing at a time" as Glennon Doyle says.

So let's choose wisely the words we savor this summer. Hopefully, they will fuel us to know better and therefore, do better (thank you, Dr. Angelou, for this WISDOM).

Here's to a summer of self-work. Let's get to it. ♡