Aint no black in the union jack- Paul Gilroy - This classic book is a powerful indictment of contemporary attitudes to race. By accusing British intellectuals and politicians on both sides of the political divide of refusing to take race seriously, Paul Gilroy caused immediate uproar when this book was first published in 1987
Brit-ish - Afua Hirsch - Challenging the harmful legacy of white-centred British history, this is a powerful, hard-hitting examination of modern, divided Britain. Essential reading for our times.
How to Argue with a Racist: history, science, race, and reality - Adam Rutherford - A vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry.
How to be an antiracist - Ibra X. Kendi - In this rousing and deeply empathetic book, Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracism Research and Policy Centre, shows that when it comes to racism, neutrality is not an option: until we become part of the solution, we can only be part of the problem.
I am not your baby mother – Candice Brathwaite - From the founder of Make Motherhood Diverse, I Am Not Your Baby Mother is a brilliantly observant and timely book about the problematically homogenous portrayal of maternity in British media.
I'm still here: Black Dignity in a World Made Fore Whiteness - Austin Channing Brown - From a powerful new voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America.
Me and White Supremacy - Layla Saad - A blistering expose of how entrenched white privilege is in modern society, Saad’s Me and White Supremacy blog dug deep into the - often unconscious – racial prejudice which many white people took completely for granted. Packed with practical exercises and enlightening socio-political context, the book of the blog offers numerous ways of transforming the discourse surrounding institutionalised racism.
Me and White Supremacy: How to recognise your privilege, combat racism and change the world - Layla Saad and Robin DiAngelo - Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of colour, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism - Robin DeAngelo, PHD - In this thought-provoking and incisive book, Robin DiAngelo tackles the issue of racism in America by challenging white supremacy. She asks white people to examine their culture and socialization in order to understand and disrupt racism as a system and structure.
Why I'm not talking to white people about Race - Renni Eddo-Lodge - The book that sparked a national conversation. Exploring everything from eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today.
Books By Black Activists
A Burst of Light by Audre Lorde
Aint I a Woman: Black Women & Feminism by bell hooks
Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Ibram X. Kendi’s reading list for The New York Times
My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay
Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
Slay In Your Lane by Elizabeth Uviebinené & Yomi Adegoke
Taking Up Space: The Black Girls Manifesto For Change by Chelsea Kwakye & Ore Ogunbiyi
The Good Immigrant compiled by Nikesh Shukla
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
White Rage by Carol Anderson
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect: Police Violence and Resistance in the United States (multiple authors)
Women Race and Class by Angela Davis
Fiction
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Citizen: An American Life by Claudia Rankine
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
On Beauty and White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Articles
Being Black in Britain: The Civil rights movement they never taught you in school - Joasmin Botchley
Why You Need To Stop Saying “All Lives Matter” by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle for Harper’s Bazaar
Uncover the brutal truth about the British empire - Marc Parry
If ‘Black Lives Matter’ to brands, where are your black board members?
“America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
“The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)