Continuing my efforts to educate myself and to help me be a better ally, to not just say I'm not racist but to truly be antiracist.
It isn't an easy to look within and acknowledge biases and work on changing them. But it is a worthy endeavor and one I will have to, we all have to, work on each and every day.
One of the ways I have been working on this is reading books, watching movies and documentaries, reading articles, and taking advantage of the opportunity to attend (virtually these days) seminars and lectures.
Ibram X. Kendi writes this book from a personal point of view, sharing his own missteps and growth as he teaches his reader history, terminology, the value in being willing to have your mind changed, and learning from mistakes.
The focus of How To Be An Antiracist is on the role policy plays in racism. There is an exploration of the intersection between race and other identifiers, gender, sexuality, class, and how hard it is to pull them apart, my interpretation being that we can't and shouldn't be. There were times I had to reread a passage a couple of times to really take in and digest the meaning. I say this not to say that the book is a difficult or unapproachable read, it isn't either of those things, but because it is so rich and full of big ideas and a lot of information that slowing down and really soaking it in is called for. After laying out his case for what being antiracist means Kendi offers ideas on how to bring about change, a cure if you will.
I think a huge take away for me upon finishing this book is how much I had learned so far and how much I still needed to learn.
(Finished July 11, 2020)
My Antiracist Reading List So Far:
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
White Fragility
Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice
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