Be the Bridge Resources
/I’m currently hosting a Be the Bridge group and we decided to create a shared document where we could compile resources (books, websites, movies, podcasts, etc) around diversity, racism, racial reconciliation, as they relate to our nation’s history, current cultural moment, and more. As I was adding my recommendations to the list I realized that mine mainly included, what else, books. So I figured I’d share it here as well as much is what I’ve read in recent years around these topics. And I included picture books here along with adult ones because I’ve learned SO much about Black History Month, and more, through children’s literature. Note that this list is a work in progress and not comprehensive at all! I have pulled much inspired over the years from HereWeeRead and HappilyEverElephants and hope you check them out and their booklists as well. In the meantime, I hope you find something for yourself, or your family crew, to grow and deepen your understanding of race relations and the socio-political history of our country. I’d love to hear some of your favorites as well!
Non-fiction/Memoir
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness: Austin Channing Brown
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border: Francisco Cantú
All You Can Ever Know: Nicole Chung
Tell Me How it Ends: Valeria Luiselli
Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation: LaTasha Morrison
A $500 Dollar House in Detroit: Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City: Drew Philp
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen: Jose Antonio Vargas
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After, Clementine Wamariya
Fiction
Americanah: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chains/Forge/Ashes Trilogy, Laurie Halse Anderson
Elijah of Buxton, Christopher Paul Curtis
The Kitchen House: Kathleen Grissom
Glory Over Everything: Kathleen Grissom (sequel to The Kitchen House)
Homegoing: Yaa Gyasi
Someone Knows My Name: Laurence Hill
An American Marriage: Tayari Jones
America’s First Daughter: Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
The Invention of Wings: Sue Monk Kidd
The Help: Kathryn Stockett
The Hate U Give: Angie Thomas
The Underground Railroad: Coleson Whitehead
Picture Books
Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream and You
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin
Trailblazer: The Story of Ballerina Raven Wilkinson
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
Our Legendary Ladies: Harriet Tubman
The Blacker the Berry (poetry)
Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness
Fancy Party Gowns: The Story of Fashion Designer Ann Cole Lowe
So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom
Ice Breaker: How Mabel Fairbanks Changed Figure Skating
We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story of the Underground Railroad
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie: A Story about Edna Lewis
The Doctor With an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13