How To Be an Anti-Racist Reader

How To Be an Anti-Racist Reader We talk a lot about reading diversely around Book Riotâ€"because its awesome and importantâ€"but there are lots of other ways you can weave racial justice into your reading life. From using books to help you navigate hard conversations about race to providing the kids in your life with diverse books, here are ten suggestions on how to be an anti-racist reader. 1. Read diversely Reading diversely (which can mean a lot of different things) is probably the best first step you can take on your journey toward being an anti-racist reader. Book Riot has an awesome and informative five-part series on reading diversely, so I wont delve here into all the reasons that reading diverse books by diverse authors is a) important, b) mind-heart-and-brain -opening, and c) super fun. If youre not already reading diversely, I guarantee that doing so will deepen and enrich your reading life. 2. Buy books by currently working authors of color I am an avid library user, and I have a limited book-buying budget, so Ive always given careful thought to what books I actually throw down money for.  In my quest to enact anti-racism in my reading life, Ive started paying attention to racial diversity not only in the books I read, but in the books I buy. Thousands of authors of color are out there writing brilliant books and telling incredible stories; buying their work is the most direct and straightforward way to celebrate it. 3. Support POC-owned bookstores businesses Buying books by authors of color isnt the only way to use your money to support diverse voices in the book business and publishing industry. Publishing in the US is overwhelmingly white. Its a systemic problem that will take more than a shift in personal book-buying habits to changeâ€"but shifting your book-buying habits is a great place to start. Do a little research to see if theres a POC-owned bookstore in your community. An article published in 2014 by the African American Literature Book Club reported only 54 black-owned bookstores remaining in the country.  You can use this excellent list to search for black-owned bookstores by state. Small publishers are another great source for diverse books, as they often publish books that dont get mainstream attention.  The Cooperative Childrens Book Center has a fantastic list of small presses that publish diverse books, most (but not all) of which are owned by people of color. You can also check out this list of five rad black-owned publishers I put together. Bookstores and publishing houses arent the only way to buy books. Book Riot did a great roundup of book subscriptions featuring diverse authors. I subscribed to My Lit Box this winter and I absolutely love it. Its a POC-owned business, and every month I get a fantastic book by an author of color in my mailbox. Ive also sampled boxes from Noir Reads and Call Number, two other POC-owned book subscription boxes, and if I had an unlimited budget, Id happily subscribe to all three. Call Number offers a fiction and nonfiction box, and Noir Reads packs two books into each $35 box. 4. Fund books and comics on Kickstarter written and produced by people of color Crowd-soured funding platforms are a fantastic way to find out about awesome books and comics that mainstream publishing may be ignoringâ€"not because they arent incredible stories, but because the publishing industry is skewed toward white.  Some of my favorite comics are self-publishedâ€"many of them webcomics that used crowd-sourced funding to print digital and/or paper books. A search through Kickstarter will likely reveal a whole bunch of great publishing projects. Not only are there books and comics written by people of color to fund, but some great reading-related projects as well. To give you a sense of the awesomeness that is out there, here are some recent projects Ive backed, all either produced by people of color or featuring writers/illustrators of color: Bingo Love (a black queer romance comic novella), Dates 2, (a comic anthology of queer historical fiction), Were Still Here (an all-trans comics anthology), The Well-Read Black Girl Writers Conference Festival (a festival that will address the dire  need to create empowering communal spaces for Black women in literature), and  Cut From the Same Cloth (a collection of essays written by British hijabis). 5. Use books as a jumping-off points for conversations about racial justice Sometimes its hard to get through to the people were closest to, especially our friends and family. Emotion can cloud our ability to have honest, open, and nonjudgmental conversations. Its often easier to get defensive, frustrated, or hurt by people we know  well. A fellow Rioter recently recounted a story about his ongoing conversations with his father about systemic racism and white supremacy. As someone who saw the injustice in police brutality and wasnt an actual Nazi, his father had continually refused to understand how he could be racist or uphold racist systems. Frustrated at his inability to get through to his dad, my fellow Rioter decided to send him a copy of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. A few days later, he got an email from his dad thanking him for the book. In the email, he admitted his own ignorance and said that the book had helped  him fill in many holes in his own understanding of white supremacy and systemic racial oppression. This story gives me so much hope. Books have real power, and they can help moderate converations about race with your loved ones. Sometimes all you need is a little help from a voice that isnt your own. 6. Start or join a social justice book club Books are powerful, and reading can change your worldview in deep and profound ways. But if you never talk about what youre reading, or ask big questions, or explore any of it with other humans, it can be easy to let all that learning just fade away. Reading is the first step. Action is the second step. Action can be as small as having a conversation with a friendâ€"a conversation can go a long way. Talking to other people about what youre reading can be as enlightening, comforting, challenging, rewarding, and important as reading itself. Book Riot has got some great info about how to start book clubsâ€"advice you can apply to a book club with a social justice theme.  You can start an online book club focusing on social justice, or you can start a mini two-person book clubâ€"just pick a friend and a book and youre good to go! Bustle has some great advice on starting a feminist book club. Its also possible there are existing book clubs focusing on racial justice in your area that you can join. A quick google search for racial justice book clubs yielded several groups meeting across the country. 7. Dont be an apologist for racist classics;  dont be  afraid  to openly discuss the problematic parts of books you love Im willing to bet that at least some of your childhood favorites are racist. I adore Laura Ingalls Wilders Little House  series. But when I reread the books as an adult, I was appalled by their rampant racism. I cant make myself not love these books, or erase the sense of magic I felt when my parents read them to me as kid. But I dont defend them. I dont make excuses for Wilders racism or recommend them to the kids in my life. I let them go. There are thousands of incredible books out there that arent racist. Theres no need to defend books that uphold and perpetrate violent racist rhetoric. One rioter recently wrote about rereading Harry Potter as an adult, and recognizing some of the problematic ways J.K. Rowling failed to address race and perpetuated stereotypes. Sometimes writers get a bunch of things right and a couple things wrong. It doesnt always mean you need to throw the book out the window. But neither should you ignore the problems. Like refusing to see color or pretending we live in a post-racial world, refusing to talk about issues of race in literature is dangerous. Its important to talk about the problems in Harry Potterâ€"or any other literature that you cant stop loving despite its shortcomings. Talking about things out in the open is an important part of creating change. Sometimes tough love works. 8. Shower the kids in your life with diverse books You dont have to be a parent to be an anti-racist role model for the children in your life. I have a seven year old nephew who is obsessed with reading. Ive made it my mission to give him books by authors of color, full of diverse protagonists. Its really fun for me and its a great way to start conversations about race with kids. We Need Diverse Books has lots of great resources for finding diverse books for kids of all ages. Book Riot has you covered, too: diverse, spooky read for kids, picture books featuring children of color, middle grade books featuring kids of color, middle grade fantasy with black girl leads, middle grade #ownvoices books, and intersectional feminism in YA fiction (just to get you started). 9. Follow authors of color on social media Friends, I dont do Twitter. But pretty much everyone else in the universe does. If I did, Id quickly fill up my feed with some of my favorite authors of color. Writers are usually smart and awesome people, and they generally have interesting and relevant stuff to say. Looking for some resources to help you set up your perfect social media feed?  This list isnt all authors of color, but itll get you started. Here are some diverse bookish Instagram accounts to follow. Heres a list of black authors of follow on Twitter, and heres a list of fifteen smart women of color on Twitter (many of whom are writers). 10. Use books to educate yourself about racismâ€"dont ask people of color to explain it to you If youre a white person, and especially if youve just started to educate yourself about white supremacy and systemic racism, you might be feeling overwhelmed. The US has a long and ugly history with racism. Understanding that history is a crucial part of dismantling systems of oppression that exist today. But it can be scary and uncomfortable. Youre  not sure where to start. It might be tempting to turn to your black friend and ask them to explain it all to you. Doing so is problematic for so many reasons. Its  asking someone to do a huge amount of emotional labor, unprompted. Its centering your own needs and experiences over those of the person youre talking to. Kali Halloway discusses it eloquently in this article on Salon. Luckily, books are here to help! On Book Riot: 100 Must-Read Books About the Law and Social Justice The Effects of Racism: A Reading List 3 Short Reads on Race and Activism Elsewhere on the internet: These 16 Books Explain White Supremacy   16 Books About Race That Every White Person Should Read 18 Books Every White Ally Should Read 17 Books on Race That Every White Person Needs to Read This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are literally thousands of books, articles, blogs, and organizations out there to help you understand racism in the US. Go forth and educate yourself!