Random House – Antiracist Reading List
Events of injustice against the Black community, most recently including the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police officers, have highlighted the urgent need for us to examine and disrupt the beliefs, policies, and structures that have led to a society that is deeply unjust and inequitable. To paraphrase Angela Davis, it’s not enough to be “not racist”—we must be actively antiracist.
We are committed to making changes and taking action as an organization and as an industry.We’ve put together a series of antiracist resources meant to educate, inspire, and strengthen. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but it’s a place to start.
Hear from the co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter
This past Thursday’s One World Ideas x Action event featuring Alicia Garza in conversation with One World editor-in-chief and Publisher Chris Jackson was powerful and inspiring. Garza is the Principal at the Black Futures Lab, co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, co-founder at Supermajority, host of the Lady Don’t Take No podcast, and author of the forthcoming book The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart.
Thank you to Color of Change for partnering with us on this event. Color of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, they move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
WATCH I’m Still Here is this month’s Reese’s Book Club pick We’re pleased that Reese Witherspoon is using her platform to amplify Austin Channing Brown’s story.
In her announcement, Reese notes, “The memoir I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by @austinchanning is a personal narrative from a black, Christian woman who takes us through what she experiences every day as a Black person in America. This June pick is teaching me so much about how we perpetuate racism in our society. I still have so much to learn and want you to join me in having meaningful conversations, no matter how uncomfortable they may feel—it’s part of it.”Austin Channing Brown is a writer, speaker, and practitioner who helps schools, nonprofits, and religious organizations practice genuine inclusion. Her writing has appeared in outlets like Christianity Today, Relevant, Sojourners, and The Christian Century.
From a powerful new voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America.
Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man.
Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion.
Please consider buying from a Black-owned bookstore.