RaeAnna + A Nerdy Lifestyle
Asians have been a part of the fabric of the United States for as long as the country has existed, yet they are often over looked, forgotten, and excluded. Cathy Park Hong explores racial consciousness and her own feelings of shame and sadness in her book and theory Minor Feelings.
This is obviously a list by a white lady with white privilege on her own imperfect and perpetual journey to being antiracist. But I am trying. There are better lists out there, but here's mine. A little of my own experiences and a lot of make room for BIPOC.
The Water Dancer delves into magical realism and familiar themes of justice, humanity, freedom, and equality. Ta-Nehisi Coates sets his debut novel in pre-Civil War Virginia. Though the prose is excellent and interesting, I found the story largely forgettable.
The book is pretty much summed up in the quote, “We know how to be racist. We know how to pretend to be not racist. Now let’s know how to be antiracist.”
I have too many good things to say about this novel for a soundbite. Absolutely affecting in every way.
Nikita Gill transforms traditional fairy tales into beautiful pieces of poetry in Fierce Fairytales extending beyond the stories we are familiar with. Reading this was supremely satisfying.