It’s heart-breakingly disappointing that it took a string of killings and nation-wide protests for many of us to get a glimpse at what it’s like to be black in America. I’ve been trying to be quiet and just listen — I mean, no one needs to hear my opinion about the Black Lives Matter protests. I haven’t lived the black experience, and amplifying the voices of those who actually have is more important.
A week ago my cousin sent me an article about “mirror books” (where you see characters like you in their pages) vs. “window books” (where you get to see into someone else’s world), and I realized I need a lot more window books in my life.
Here’s a list of books, both fiction and nonfiction, that I want to dive into, and if you feel like you’re in need of horizon-broadening, too, I hope you’ll join me:
a list to start:
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
“Notes of a Native Son,” by James Baldwin
“How to Be An Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi
“Sula,” by Toni Morrison
“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Red at the Bone,” by Jacqueline Woodson
Have you read any books by black or minority authors that you’ve loved? Post them in the comments — I’d love to read and share them, and hopefully we can all become better, more understanding people in the process.