Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams

Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has my highest recommendation. Even with as much as I read about democracy and politics I still found this book to be highly educational and motivational. It should be required high school/college reading especially with our democracy in increasing danger. The two main topics are fair elections and the importance of a complete and accurate census. That sounds a bit dry, but Abrams makes the topics come alive with her passion and knowledge.

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“Voting is a constitutional right in the United States, a right that has been reiterated three separate times via constitutional amendment.”

“Voter suppression works its might by first tripping and causing to stumble the unwanted voter, then by convincing those who see the obstacle course to forfeit the race without even starting to run.”
― Stacey Abrams

Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams

Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is really good. Much like Stacey Abrams is a jack-of-all-trades this book cannot be fit into one neat category: it's part political memoir, of course, part self-help business book, part antiracism book, part you-should-just-read-it-okay? As I learned more and more about Abrams I was reminded of Benjamin Franklin. She's a renaissance woman! We're too often discouraged from this wide approach to knowledge and career to the detriment of current society, I think.

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“Never tell yourself no. Let someone else do it.”

“What’s not right is giving credence to bad actions, and thereby becoming complicit.”

Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is more of a book about cleaning your own emotional house and doesn't really at all address structural inequality. It rejects the idea of persuasiveness and instead counts on readers who pick up this book being completely dedicated to the cause already, and so it might be effective for a pretty limited audience. I found some interesting new perspectives in it.

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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this would be a mini version of Stamped from the Beginning for children but that’s completely wrong. This is very much its own book, excellent for adults and teens alike. It was packed on every page with facts and thoughtful analysis, likely the result of amazing writing and tight editing. I can’t recommend it enough.

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Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There were times when I was reading this that I thought I didn’t like this book that much. It’s not an easy book. But I kept at it and finally it opened up. This is a classic among the classics.

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Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely worth the time to read. I wish I knew exactly the difference between this and the kid version because I'd like to buy the kid version for my 9-year old son and eventually my younger daughter.

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How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A powerful and moving memoir about Uwiringiyimana's experiences in the Congo, a Burundi refugee camp, and finally New York. Her story is important and she's a very relatable writer.

The horrifying thing is that the ethnic cleansing in the Congo has barely slowed down. In January of 2019: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46896159. In general, all the news from The DR of Congo is bad: https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cvenzmgylgwt/democratic-republic-of-congo.

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The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was shocked by how wonderful this book is because I'd actually read it before as a teenager and I didn't remember it being this phenomenal. I think as a teen, I was so mired down in the horror and sadness of the beginning that that's what stood out for me the most. Plus, having no life or significant literary reading experience, I failed to get most of the brilliance of the book. But what a beautiful perfect book. Amazing characters, amazing sentences, amazing everything. Favorite favorite.

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An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was very good and I definitely recommend it. It just sort of missed being one of my favorites this year because it lacked a little something. While I really became invested in Roy and all of Roy's parents, Celeste and her entire family lacked the same kind of depth. Andre was a decent enough character but I just didn't feel his significant connection to Celeste. Maybe I just didn't believe enough in Celeste as a character to believe in her relationships generally.

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The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander

The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This reminded me a lot of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking except I liked it better because I could palpably feel the love and loss of Alexander's husband Ficre. Alexander's writing is wonderful, and to read this book is to understand love on this earth a little better.

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The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very good coming-of-age YA in a poetic prose style. The scene with her mother at the end, this was so my mother, minus the religion.

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How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the sociology and history aspect of this book and I definitely recommend reading it. I did struggle a little with the memoir portion. Because of my preference and the other reviews, I think I should also read Kendi's other book, Stamped from the Beginning, so I have that on hold at the library now.

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Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington

Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a complicated book to review. It's partly a memoir and partly an attempt to advertise the Tuskegee school he built and for which he fundraised. There's a line in here where Washington says not to say anything in the North that you wouldn't say in the South. Well, this entire book is things he would say in the South, and its effect is a possibly false positiveness. Nonetheless, Washington was a phenomenal person and his autobiography is well worth reading.

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Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington

Feeding the Dragon by Sharon Washington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this as one of my "Audible Originals" free selections for September. It was a very short memoir (1 hour, 18 minutes). I picked it because I was excited to listen to the delights of living in a library, but it was more about her young life generally and only a little bit about the library. It was enjoyable though, Washington is a good writer and performer.

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Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The memoir started out slowly and I was worried that it wouldn't live up to my hopes and expectations. Turned out, it far exceeded my expectations. At one point, having burst into tears so many times during reading it, I started keeping count: I cried 6 times. Her parents are so amazing. Her love for her husband is the real kind of love that is based on mutual respect and sacrifice. Her love for her home neighborhood, and especially the kids there, and really, children throughout America, it's a lot to get through without some serious tears.

Also, Michelle Obama is definitely not running for office. I believe her. This is practically an essay on "I'm sorry, I love you too, and I know you want me to run, but I did my time and I'm never going back to the political world. Here is why."

One of her big points is how much we can do, and should do, to move our society forward and to help the most disadvantaged outside of politics. We should vote, yes, but we should also do things to actually help. But she doesn't make this point by lecturing us, she makes this point just by showing her own struggles and hopes so that we see our struggles and hopes are normal too. And here's a thing that I actually got from Nassim Nicholas Taleb, but is illustrated very clearly in this book: we don't need huge groups of people to change the world (though we certainly have millions of Americans on our side) we just need a few very determined hard-working people to make big important positive changes.

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Race Matters by Cornel West

Race Matters by Cornel West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting nuanced views. I was especially interested in his specific ideas about capitalist consumerism and mass media pushing particular values, especially increased sexuality and violence. I was also interested in his discussion of redistribution of wealth that predominantly affects the middle class and not the poor and his short essay on Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill which stood the test of time pretty well.

West's essay about black and white sexuality reminded me a lot of some essay I read in college about sexuality as rebellion in Cuba's oppressive regime. And feminism also talks a lot about the patriarchy's restriction of sexuality. It doesn't strike me as intuitive, and I struggle to understand why sexual control leads to political control? But it seems universal and pervasive in oppressive regimes all over the world.

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The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I laughed out loud, I cried, this was intense. I wasn’t familiar with Tiffany Haddish before. Apparently, I’m just not paying attention though because she’s in about a million movies. She has a special coming up on Netflix and I’m excited to see it.

Also, I love her friends!

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Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is wonderfully written and I loved everything about it, even the sad parts... until the end. Then I felt like Helen said a lot of weird unrealistic things about wanting to feel like a woman (?). And I wanted a more realistic future for the easy-to-love Giovanni too.

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So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is race and racism 101. The explanations were extremely cogent and even where you might not initially see the author's point she is also very persuasive. I especially loved when she explained some of the dynamics in her relationship with her white mother and how she had to explain some things even to her. This would be a fabulous gift for almost everyone in America.

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Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is excellent. I try to read a lot of books about feminism and racism, and this book is so great because there is not one wasted paragraph- not once did I think oh, I've read all this before. Cooper has an excess of interesting and nuanced ideas. She is an excellent writer as well, so she is able to communicate her unique ideas in an especially clear and persuasive manner. This is clearly going to be one of those nonfiction books that I proselytize about by buying it for lots of unsuspecting friends and family.

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