Antiracism & Social Justice

The skin we're in : a year of Black resistance and power

Cole, Desmond, 1982- author
2020

Both Desmond Cole's activism and journalism find vibrant expression in his first book - puncturing once and for all the bubble of Canadian smugness and naïve assumptions of a post-racial nation. Cole chronicles just one year - 2017 - in the struggle against racism in this country. In a month-by-month chronicle, Cole locates the deep cultural, historical, and political roots of each event so that what emerges is a personal, painful, and comprehensive picture of entrenched, systemic inequality.

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#IdleNoMore : and the remaking of Canada

#IdleNoMore : and the remaking of Canada

Coates, Kenneth, 1956- author
2015






Hood feminism : notes from the women that a movement forgot

Hood feminism : notes from the women that a movement forgot

Kendall, Mikki, author
2020

"A collection of essays taking aim at the legitimacy of the modern feminist movement, arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women"-- Provided by publisher.

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How to be an antiracist

How to be an antiracist

Kendi, Ibram X., author
2019

"The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it -- and then dismantle it." Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America -- but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. He asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.

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How to be less stupid about race : on racism, White supremacy, and the racial divide

How to be less stupid about race : on racism, White supremacy, and the racial divide

Fleming, Crystal Marie, 1981- author
2018

"How to Be Less Stupid About Race is your essential guide to breaking through the half-truths and ridiculous misconceptions that have thoroughly corrupted the way race is represented in the classroom, pop culture, media, and politics. Centuries after our nation was founded on genocide, settler colonialism, and slavery, many Americans are kinda-sorta-maybe waking up to the reality that our racial politics are (still) garbage. But in the midst of this reckoning, widespread denial and misunderstandings about race persist, even as white supremacy and racial injustice are more visible than ever before. Combining no-holds-barred social critique, humorous personal anecdotes, and analysis of the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on systemic racism, sociologist Crystal M. Fleming provides a fresh, accessible, and irreverent take on everything that's wrong with our "national conversation about race." Drawing upon critical race theory, as well as her own experiences as a queer black millennial college professor and researcher, Fleming unveils how systemic racism exposes us all to racial ignorance--and provides a road map for transforming our knowledge into concrete social change. Searing, sobering, and urgently needed, How to Be Less Stupid About Race is a truth bomb and call to action for everyone who wants to challenge white supremacy and intersectional oppression. If you like Issa Rae, Justin Simien, Angela Davis, and Morgan Jerkins, then this deeply relevant, bold, and incisive book is for you."-- Provided by publisher.

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I'm still here : Black dignity in a world made for whiteness

I'm still here : Black dignity in a world made for whiteness

Brown, Austin Channing, author
2018

The author's first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when her parents told her they named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. She grew up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, and has spent her life navigating America's racial divide as a writer, a speaker, and an expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion. While so many institutions claim to value diversity in their mission statements, many fall short of matching actions to words. Brown highlights how white middle-class evangelicalism has participated in the rise of racial hostility, and encourages the reader to confront apathy and recognize God's ongoing work in the world.

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Me and white supremacy : combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor

Me and white supremacy : combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor

Saad, Layla F, author
2021

When Layla Saad began an Instagram challenge called #meandwhitesupremacy, she never predicted it would become a cultural movement. She encouraged people to own up and share their racist behaviors, big and small. She was looking for truth, and she got it... Thousands of people participated in the challenge, and over 80,000 people downloaded the supporting work Me and White Supremacy. Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.

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A mind spread out on the ground

A mind spread out on the ground

Elliott, Alicia, author
2019

In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight and understanding to the ongoing legacy of colonialism. What are the links between depression, colonialism and loss of language--both figurative and literal? How does white privilege operate in different contexts? How do we navigate the painful contours of mental illness in loved ones without turning them into their sickness? How does colonialism operate on the level of literary criticism? A Mind Spread Out on the Ground is Alicia Elliott's attempt to answer these questions and more.

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Our History Is the Future

Our History Is the Future

Estes, Nick
2019

How two centuries of Indigenous resistance created the movement proclaiming "Water is life" In 2016, a small protest encampment at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, initially established to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, grew to be the largest Indigenous protest movement in the twenty-first century. Water Protectors knew this battle for native sovereignty had already been fought many times before, and that, even after the encampment was gone, their anticolonial struggle would continue. In Our History Is the Future , Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance that led to the #NoDAPL movement. Our History Is the Future is at once a work of history, a manifesto, and an intergenerational story of resistance.

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Seven fallen feathers : racism, death, and hard truths in a northern city

Seven fallen feathers : racism, death, and hard truths in a northern city

Talaga, Tanya, author
2017

Over the span of ten years, seven high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of miles away from their families, forced to leave their reserve because there was no high school there for them to attend. Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest, and struggle with, human rights violations past and present against aboriginal communities.

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Shame on me : an anatomy of race and belonging

Shame on me : an anatomy of race and belonging

McWatt, Tessa, author
2020

Tessa McWatt has been judged not black enough by people who assume she straightens her hair. Now, through a close examination of her own body - nose, lips, hair, skin, eyes, ass, bones and blood - which holds up a mirror to the way culture reads all bodies, she asks why we persist in thinking in terms of race today when racism is killing us. This is a personal and powerful exploration of history and identity, colour and desire from a writer who, having been plagued with confusion about her race all her life, has at last found kinship and solidarity in story.

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So you want to talk about race

So you want to talk about race

Oluo, Ijeoma, author
2018

Ijeoma Oluo offers a take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on issues such as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the "N" word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don't dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans.

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They can't kill us all : the story of the struggle for Black lives

They can't kill us all : the story of the struggle for Black lives

Lowery, Wesley, 1990- author
2017

A behind-the-scenes account of the #blacklivesmatter movement shares insights into the young men and women behind it, citing the racially charged controversies that have motivated members and the economic, political, and personal histories that inform its purpose.

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Until we are free : reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada

Until we are free : reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada

2020

"An anthology of writing addressing the most urgent issues facing the Black community in Canada. The killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 by a white assailant inspired the Black Lives Matter movement, which quickly spread outside the borders of the United States. The movement's message found fertile ground in Canada, where Black activists speak of generations of injustice and continue the work of the Black liberators who have come before them. Until We Are Free contains some of the very best African-Canadian writing on the hottest issues facing the Black community in Canada. It describes the latest developments in Canadian Black activism, organizing efforts through the use of social media, Black-Indigenous alliances, and more. Rodney Diverlus is a Port-au-Prince-born, Toronto-based dance artist, curator, and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto. Sandy Hudson is the founder of the Black Lives Matter movement presence in Canada and Black Lives Matter--Toronto and a co-founder of Black Liberation Collective Canada. Syrus Marcus Ware is a core team member of Black Lives Matter Toronto, a Vanier Scholar, a facilitator and designer for the CulturalLeaders Lab, and an award-winning artist and educator. Contributors Silvia Argentina Arauz, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Patrisse Cullors, Giselle Dias, Omisoore Dryden, Paige Galette, Dana Inkster, Sarah Jama, El Jones, Anique Jordan, Dr. Naila Keleta Mae, Janaya Khan, Gilary Massa, Robyn Maynard, Leroi Newbold, QueenTite Opaleke, Randolph Riley, Camille Turner, Ravyn Wngz."-- Provided by publisher.

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Warrior life : Indigenous resistance & resurgence

Warrior life : Indigenous resistance & resurgence

Palmater, Pamela D. (Pamela Doris), 1970- author
2020

This is the second collection of writings, Pamela Palmater addresses a range of Indigenous issues - empty political promises, ongoing racism, sexualized genocide, government lawlessness, and the lie that is reconciliation - and makes the complex political and legal implications accessible to the public. This is an unflinching critique of the colonial project that is Canada and a rallying cry for Indigenous peoples and allies alike to forge a path toward a decolonial future through resistance and resurgence.

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Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race

Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race

Eddo-Lodge, Reni, author
2017

"In 2014, award-winning journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote about her frustration with the way that discussions of race and racism in Britain were being led by those who weren't affected by it. She posted a piece on her blog, entitled: 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race'. Her words hit a nerve. The post went viral and comments flooded in from others desperate to speak up about their own experiences. Galvanised by this clear hunger for open discussion, she decided to dig into the source of these feelings. The result is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary examination of what it is to be a person of colour in Britain today. Exploring issues from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance, whitewashed feminism to the inextricable link between class and race, Reni Eddo-Lodge offers a new framework for how to see, acknowledge and counter racism today. Full of clear, bold and keenly felt arguments, [this book] is a wake-up call to a nation in denial about the structural and institutional racism occurring at its heart. It is a timely, essential book by a vital new voice."--Publisher.

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