As the national conversation begins to address longstanding issues of systemic racism, it has become clear that for some, inequality and injustice are a daily reality, while others are only beginning to learn about these issues. This troubled period, however, is also a time of possibility – it provides a spark for real and lasting social change. In light of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and others, many of us are wondering what we can do to make our world a better, fairer place. To that end, our staff has compiled this list of recommended resources. Stories — be they fiction or non-fiction, written or visual — help us address our current reality, as well as provide a framework for historical events that lead to where we are today. We hope you will read, watch, listen, and discuss with your families and friends. If you have found other helpful resources on this topic, please share them in the comments below.
Picture Book
- The Bell Rang by James Ransome
- Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford
- Hands Up! by Breanna McDaniel
- Lillian’s Right to Vote by Jonah Winter
- The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
- Sing a Song: How “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations by Kelly Starling Lyons
- The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
Fiction
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (hoopla eBook) J Fiction
- You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P! by Alex Gina (hoopla eAudiobook) J Fiction
- Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes J Fiction
- Blended by Sharon Draper Y Fiction
- A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée Y Fiction
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes Y Fiction
- It All Comes Down to This by Karen English (hoopla eBook) Y Fiction
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Nonfiction
- #BlackLivesMatter: Protesting Racism by Rachael L. Thomas
- The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch by Chris Barton
- Answering the Cry for Freedom: Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution by Gretchen Woelfle
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement by Ann Bausum
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higgenbotham (hoopla eBook)
- The March Against Fear: The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power by Ann Bausum
- Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges
- Say Her Name by Zetta Elliot
- The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, A Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
Movies
- Ruby Bridges (ages 9 & up)
- Akeelah and the Bee (ages 10 & up)
- Watsons Go to Birmingham (ages 11 & up)
Fiction
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
- I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- Monster by Walter Dean Meyers
- Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
- Slay by Brittney Morris
- Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
Nonfiction
- March: Books 1-3 by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson with Tonya Bolden
Fiction
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Nonfiction
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
- The Color Of Compromise: the Truth About The American Church’s Complicity In Racism by Jemar Tisby
- Eyes on the prize : America’s civil rights years, 1954-1965 by Juan Williams
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- The Souls of Black Folk [eAudiobook (hoopla)] by W. E. B. Du Bois
- Stamped From the Beginning: the Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
- Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
- We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- Writings by W.E.B. Du Bois
Movies
- 12 Years A Slave
- BlacKkKlansman
- The Central Park Five
- Dear White People
- Do the Right Thing
- Fruitvale Station
- Get Out
- The Hate U Give
- Hoop Dreams
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Just Mercy
- I Am Not Your Negro
- Malcolm X
- Moonlight
- O.J. Made in America
- Selma
- Sorry to Bother You
- Us
- Whose Streets?
Podcasts
- 1619
- Code Switch
- Floodlines
- Pass the Mic (Christian Podcast)
- Still Processing
- Uncivil
- We Are Family – from Parents Magazine
Categories: Books and More
