Social Justice

John Lewis creates an incredibly compelling historical memoir in Walking with the Wind. It’s one man’s experience, but it also chronicles the experience of a whole community. While it was written in 1996, so many parts ring true for today’s turbulent world. If you...

Katherine Boo won the 2012 Nonfiction National Book Award for Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Subtitled Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, it is an intensely challenging book. Beautiful Forevers tells the story of a select group of slum dwellers. They live in...

When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors absolutely gutted me. I couldn’t breathe in so many parts of the book. I was holding my breath in sorrow, anger, outrage. With all this, you should know that I’m not a particularly emotional reader. I cry while...

Michael Eric Dyson tells it like it is in Tears We Cannot Stop. Subtitled A Sermon for White America, it is just that. In both structure and tone, Dyson combines his experience as both pastor and professor. It is a moving and emotional book. But it’s also exquisitely...

During 2017 I've made a specific effort to broaden my reading experience, with emphasis on balancing my white, middle-class education and upbringing. I've tried to choose classics written by African Americans, historical works, as well as books that discuss the...