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Books

Assata: An Autobiography (Assata Shakur)
Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials.
The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.
(Racial Justice) (Gender Justice)
Becoming (Michelle Obama)
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address.
(Identity and Community) (Racial Justice)
Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of Black people—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion.
(Racial Justice) (Identity and Community)
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Isabel Wilkerson)
Examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
(Racial Justice)
Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States (Carl A. Zimring)
Clean and White offers a history of environmental racism in the United States focusing on constructions of race and hygiene.
In the wake of the civil war, as the nation encountered emancipation, mass immigration, and the growth of an urbanized society, Americans began to conflate the ideas of race and waste.
(Racial Justice)
Defining Moments in Black History: reading Between the Lines (Dick Gregory)

In this collection of thoughtful, provocative essays, Gregory charts the complex and often obscured history of the African American experience.

In his unapologetically candid voice, he moves from African ancestry and surviving the Middle Passage to the enjoyment of bacon and everything pig, the headline-making shootings of black men, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

A captivating journey through time, Defining Moments in Black History explores historical movements such as The Great Migration and the Harlem Renaissance, as well as cultural touchstones such as Sidney Poitier winning the Best Actor Oscar for Lilies in the Field and Billie Holiday releasing Strange Fruit.

(Racial Justice)
Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul (Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.)
Part manifesto, part history, part memoir, this book argues that we live in a country founded on a "value gap"—with white lives valued more than others—that still distorts our politics today.
Whether discussing why all Americans have racial habits that reinforce inequality, why black politics based on the civil-rights era have reached a dead end, or why only remaking democracy from the ground up can bring real change, Glaude crystallizes the untenable position of black America—and offers thoughts on a better way forward.
(Racial Justice)
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower (Brittney Cooper)
Far too often, Black women's anger has been caricatured into an ugly and destructive force that threatens the civility and social fabric of American democracy.
But Cooper shows us that there is more to the story than that. Black women's eloquent rage is what makes Serena Williams such a powerful tennis player.
It's what makes Beyoncé's girl power anthems resonate so hard.
It's what makes Michelle Obama an icon. In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Brittney Cooper reminds us that anger is a powerful source of energy that can give us the strength to keep on fighting.
(Intersectionality) (Gender Justice)
Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America's Metro Areas (Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor)
In the last several years, much has been written about growing economic challenges, increasing income inequality, and political polarization in the United States.
This book argues that lessons for addressing these national challenges are emerging from a new set of realities in America’s metropolitan regions: first, that inequity is, in fact, bad for economic growth; second, that bringing together the concerns of equity and growth requires concerted local action; and, third, that the fundamental building block for doing this is the creation of diverse and dynamic epistemic (or knowledge) communities, which help to overcome political polarization and help regions address the challenges of economic restructuring and social divides.
(Identity and Community)
Freedom is A Constant Struggle (Angela Y. Davis)
In this collection of essays, interviews, and speeches, the renowned activist examines today’s issues—from Black Lives Matter to prison abolition and more.
(Racial Justice) (Gender Justice)