(Did you know VFC has a library with many of these titles available?)

• The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations: This book by Robert Livingston addresses the need for organizations as well as individuals to be part of the solution to racial injustices. He speaks to the responsibility of everyone to be concerned about racism, offers possible solutions to eradicating racism and identifies specifically what racism is. By addressing racial divides and disparities that are often at odds with the belief that society is fair and just, Robert Livingston provides the reader an opportunity to become a part of the solution. Purchase here or watch an interview with the author.

• Family Life: a novel: This novel by Akhil Sharma is based on the authors life experiences as his family moved from Delhi to life begin a new life America. It addresses the challenges the family faced as they realized the stark contrast to their life in India, the challenge of assimilating to a different culture and also the challenges faced when tragedy strikes. The Author transcends the immigration experience however by thinking broadly about “the totality of the experience that the novel provides”. Purchase here.

• We Can't Talk About That at Work: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics: As a thought leader in the field of diversity and inclusion, Mary-Frances Winters has been helping clients create inclusive environments for over three decades. In this concise and powerful book, she shows managers, HR departments, CEOs, and VPs how to lay the groundwork for having bold, inclusive conversations in the workplace. According to Winters, competence and preparation are key. Purchase Here or read a Preview.

• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. Purchase Here or Listen Online to the author at the Chicago Humanities Festival.

• Just Mercy: Bryan Stevenson’s unforgettable true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America — from one of the most inspiring lawyers of our time. This bestseller has also been made into a movie with Jamie Foxx. Bryan Stevenson has spoken at many conferences as well. You can watch his keynote at Stanford OpenXChange or his TedTalk.

• The Bluest Eye: A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel, The Bluest Eye, asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing. Purchase Here *Note: Book includes violence.

• How to Be an Antiracist: In his memoir, Ibram X. Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science-- including the story of his own awakening to antiracism--bringing it all together in a cogent, accessible form. He begins by helping us rethink our most deeply held, if implicit, beliefs and our most intimate personal relationships and reexamines the policies and larger social arrangements we support. How to Be an Antiracist promises to become an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society. Purchase Here.

• Me and White Supremacy: Me and White Supremacy: A 28-Day Challenge to Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor leads readers through a journey of understanding their white privilege and participation in white supremacy, so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on black, indigenous and people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too. The book goes beyond the original workbook by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and including expanded definitions, examples, and further resources. Purchase Here.

• Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America: Raising White Kids is a book for families, educators, and communities who want to equip their children to be active and able participants in a society that is becoming one of the most racially diverse in the world while remaining full of racial tensions. Purchase Here.

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America: In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation— that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies, unscrupulous real estate agents, unethical mortgage lenders, and exclusionary covenants working outside the law. This is what is commonly known as “de facto segregation,” practices that were the outcome of private activity, not law or explicit public policy. Yet, as Rothstein breaks down in case after case, private activity could not have imposed segregation without explicit government policies (de jure segregation) designed to ensure the separation of African Americans from whites. Purchase Here.

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents: Isabel Wilkerson goes beyond race, class, or other factors, and shows there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. Purchase Here.

The following are books we are also aware of that discuss Social Injustice and promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. These books will challenge the reader to think outside their comfort zones and encourages the reader to face bias.

White Fragility – by Robin Deangelo

New Jim Crow – by Michelle Alexander

Between the World and Me – by TaNehisi Coates

The Person You Mean to Be – by Dolly Chugh

White Rage – by Carol Anderson

Inclusive Conversations - by Mary-Frances Winters