If you're not feeling up to calling out those racist family members this holiday season, give the gift of enlightenment. Each book offers an honest depiction about the notions of race relations, and the future of racial inequality in America.
Blackballed: The Black & White Politics of Race on America's Campuses by Lawrence Ross
This book discusses the racial politics on many American college campuses. Ross asserts that the physicality of black identity cannot be ignored, and focuses on the contradictions that lay at the foundation of America’s governance of its black citizens. In this current political climate, black Americans have fully realized white America’s inability to address their issues. According to Ross, this pivotal realization will alter future interpretations of black identity.
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race Jesmyn Ward
The Fire This Time discusses race in America.Ward takes a collection of poems and essays, in addition to, the 1963 James Baldwin examination of race. The book challenges the idea that we are living in a post-racial society, and asserts the contradictory nature of living in a color blind society is doing more damage than good. As stated in the book preview, Baldwin’s “fire next time” is now upon us, and it needs to be talked about.
Assata An Autobiography of Assata Shakur
This book recounts the life of Assata Shakur, who was a black nationalist activist, member of the former Black Panther Party (BPP) and Black Liberation Army. Along with describing the events that inspired her life of activism, this autobiography also explores, the tension that eventually led to the demise of the black revolutionary groups, as a result of government intervention. Assata Shakur was convicted for murder. Two years after her conviction, she escaped from prison, and was given political asylum by Cuba, where she lives now.
