February 19, 2021

Americanah

[Fiction] A powerful, tender story of race and identity. Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, (more...)
February 19, 2021

The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness

Law professor and mindfulness practitioner Rhonda Magee shows that the work of racial justice begins with ourselves. When conflict and division are everyday realities, our instincts tell us to close ranks, to find the safety of our own tribe, and to blame others. The practice of embodied mindfulness�paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in an open, nonjudgmental way�increases our emotional resilience, helps us to recognize our unconscious bias, and gives us the space to become less reactive (more...)
February 19, 2021

Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do

Claude M. Steele, who has been called �one of the few great social psychologists,� offers a vivid first-person account of the research that supports his groundbreaking conclusions on stereotypes and identity. He sheds new light on American social phenomena from racial and gender gaps in test scores to the belief in the superior athletic prowess of black men, and lays out a plan for mitigating these �stereotype threats� and reshaping American identities.
February 19, 2021

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Some Americans cling desperately to the myth that we are living in a post-racial society, that the election of the first Black president spelled the doom of racism. In fact, racist thought is alive and well in America – more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, if we have any hope of grappling with this stark reality, we must first understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated, (more...)