Important books on racism

CIVIL RIGHTS, racism and police brutality dominated the international news last week as demonstrators across the world responded to the death of George Floyd, killed after an arresting Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck.

Floyd’s death is a sobering reminder of the racial injustice that constantly surfaces. If we are going to tackle racism, it is important that we become better informed about why racism exists.

Here are some of my favourite books on the topic of racism.

1. I Can't Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street by Matt Taibbi – Published in 2017, I Can’t Breathe tells the story of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 after a New York police officer put him in a chokehold. Garner, arrested for selling loose cigarettes, had repeatedly told the arresting officer, “I can’t breathe.” Hailed by critics as an excellent example of narrative journalism. Taibbi presents a riveting story of racism and police brutality.

2. Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle that Changed a Nation by Jonathan Rieder – On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, Dr King was arrested before his civil rights march in Birmingham, Alabama. Attacked in the media by a group of clergymen who criticised his timing for the demonstration, King wrote his response to his critics while he sat in jail. This book presents the letter and Rieder’s analysis of the letter and the events surrounding King’s march.

3. They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery – Another important piece of journalism, this story of the deaths of Michael Brown, Tair Rice and Freddie Gray focuses on how police brutality sparked public response and demonstrations. There are books that tell us about historical events; this book shows how a movement like Black Lives Matter builds.

4. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley – In many ways, Malcolm X was the polar opposite of Martin Luther King. Malcolm X condoned violence; Martin Luther King preached nonviolence. Malcolm X’s story shows the transition of this civil rights leader religiously and personally. It is a fascinating study in one man’s evolving ideology.

5. The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B Tyson – No civil rights book has haunted me more than this one about 14-year-old Emmett Till, lynched by a mob in 1955 on a visit to a relative in Mississippi. The woman who set the chaos in motion by accusing Till of flirting with her, confessed to Tyson that she lied. Till’s trial, a mere sham, comes to life with shocking details.

6. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander – As a civil rights advocate and lawyer, Alexander has an insider’s view of US prisons. The author questions the purpose of prisons and makes a compelling argument that they replaced slavery as a way to control and disenfranchise black people.

7. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin – Written by a journalist in 1960, Black Like Me exposes racism through the eyes of Griffin, a white man who finds a medical way to darken his skin. Griffin documents his experiences of posing as an unemployed black man in the deep South.

8. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia – This multiple award-winning novel introduces the topic of civil rights to children from eight to 12. When three sisters leave their grandmother’s home in New York to visit their mother in Oakland, California in 1968, they learn of their mother’s involvement with the Black Panther Movement. The author does an admirable job of confronting the stereotypic image of the violent Black Panthers by showing their important social role as community organisers.

9. Stokely: A Life by Peniel E Joseph – Every Trinidadian needs to be aware of Trinidadian-born Stokely Carmichael’s important role in the civil rights movement. As a community organiser, he signed up black people to vote in the deep South. He served as leader of the Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee and marched with Martin Luther King Jr. Articulate, humorous and outspoken, Carmichael, who would take the name Kwame Ture and reinvent himself as a pan-Africanist after the civil rights movement in the 60s, occupied a unique space between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. This is a must-read biography.

There are many good books that tackle the topic of racism. These books can inspire and inform readers so that they understand the historical and social context of the Black Lives Matter movement.