Is there a book you want me to read or do a post on? Recommend it in a comments below! I am making decisions about what to read in 2013, so tell me by January 31st 2013. I will do a post on each of the eight books that receive the most recommendations, at least one a month.
I will take the top eight and not 12 because I have already promised these four (so no need to recommend them):
1. Rebecca Skloot: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” (2011) – Henrietta Lacks died of cancer in 1951 but her seemingly immortal cells live on in medical research labs all over the world, saving countless lives. Did John Hopkins take advantage of her? Did Rebecca Skloot? Either way, very well written.
2. Jill Lepore: “New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan” (2005) – in the winter of 1741 ten fires break out across Manhattan. Was it a slave uprising or just white fear of one? A hundred blacks are thrown in prison, 30 will hang or burn. Shapes American ideas of freedom of the press.
3. Francis Cress Welsing: “Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors” (1991) – understanding white racism.
4. Kola Boof: “Diary of a Lost Girl” (2007) – Growing up in Sudan, Egypt and America. How she had to deal with black self-hatred in America. My son thinks I am just reading it for the sex parts. Good writing badly edited.
See also:
Please read my book, On the Side of My People: A Religious Life of Malcolm X (NYU Press). 🙂
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The Ways Of White Folks Langston Hughes and The Henrietta Lacks book would be cool with me.
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Wouldn’t it be easier for the reader to have a list of books that you’ve already read listed so we won’t re-recommend a book?
For my book I recommend ANYTHING by Isaac Asimov.
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New York Burning sounds interesting as well.
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“The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined”
by Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University
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Here are a few books that I heard of that may be good for you:
“The Condemnation of Blackness” by Khalil Muhammad
“The Black Image in the White Mind” by Robert Entman and Andrew Rojecki
“Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America” by Melissa V. Harris-Perry
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Read the Book of Negroes
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Is that after Deuteronomy?
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Aba:
An American Dilemma by Gunnar Myrdal, (especially chapter 7)
The Mis-education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion by Sergei Nilus
***********************************************************************************
All wonderful, thought provoking and very disturbing material.
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Oh… of course… Um… I knew that.. :-\
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I vote for “Diary of a Lost Girl”, by Kola Boof.
I have not read it, but I kinda like the author, for some reason.
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I went on Lawrence Hill’s website. That is something I’d be interested in. Somebody Knows My Name.Thanks Joaquin.
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Germany’s Black Holocaust is a really great book!
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The Resurrection of Nat Turner by Sharon Ewell Foster
The Ditchdigger’s Daughters by Yvonne Thornton
Slavery By Another Name by Douglas Blackmon
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
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I am reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. An unbelievable true story.
I would recommend a book by Mahmood Mamdani. Excellent analyzes of the inherently political aspect of “race” and racism.
When Victims become Killers (on the political history of Rwanda as a state)
Saviors and Survivors (on the impact of policies in Darfur and Sudan)
If you read French, a book by Claude Ribbe. He has written several of them on the Dumases, on Chevalier Saint George, on Napoleon’s racist laws and his last in on Eugène Bullard, one of the Tuskegee Airmen.
A book by Mongo Beti (several have been translated), an essential French-speaking African author.
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MA’s The New Jim Crow!
Smith’s Killers of the Dream!
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Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
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Aftershock by Robert B. Reich
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“Smith’s Killers of the Dream!”
yeah!!
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White Flight
by Kevin Kruse
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8043.html
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“The Long Fall” by Walter Mosley
“A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin
“Running on Race” by Jeremy Mayer
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1996 by Gloria Naylor
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Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief about Racism (Ann Todd Jealous, Caroline T. Haskell)
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Abagond,
I recommend Michelle Alexander’s – The New Jim crow.
http://www.newjimcrow.com/buy.html
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Arressted Justice by Beth Richie
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M. T, Anderson
Becoming Abagail by Chris Abani
N-W by Zadie Smith
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Erasure by Everett Percival
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Last one>Ruined by Lynn Nottage
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“Diary Of A Lost Girl” gets my vote too.
The Moors by Ivan van Sertima. I think you’ll love this book Aba.
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@E.L.Harris(@JabberJustice) You have good taste in books. Everett Percival’s Erasure is on my list and in my Amazon cart.And you know Ayana Mathis has been anointed by Oprah so she is on her way to literary success. I see lots of people on the commuter train on my way home from work reading Little Bee. I just love reading. Books are one of my favorite pastimes.
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@phoebeprunell; Gloria Naylor haven’t heard from her in a long time. Wil have to check that one out.
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Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Dr.Joy Degruy Leary
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@Mary,
That book isn’t new, but it is a great fiction/non-fiction read that got overlooked.
I say non-fiction because the reader is left to wonder if this at all happened to the author.
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Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series
Ray Bradburry’s Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man
Anything by Anton Checkhov
Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed
Sister Citizen by MHP
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I must really have gotten strange as I rarely read seriously anymore – I’m too busy writing and researching.
And when I do take the time to read I’m almost ashamed to mention the titles since they are science fiction/fantasy – you know like the hobbit or lord of the rings – which I read and reread oh so long ago.
And all these titles suggested are so serious and important.
I remember when I got worked up and begged for “The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors” (1991) by Dr.Francis Cress Welsing”
That was before I learned I could have my own blog and get my own audience and do my own reviews – And my world is still expanding.
way to go Churchs
“The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined”
by Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University
I have not read it but I did read extensive interviews and I think its a very interesting trend.
BTW aren’t we all going to check out each others suggestions;-)
and Abagond is going to be reading for months if not years.
another suggestion, I used to do this extensively – look for said title on amazon (what a name for a online store;-) and then check the customer reviews to get a idea of what the work is about and how its reacted to.
And finally this is for everyone – some non serious titles for your entertainment if I may ..
Jhereg is a fantasy novel by Steven Brust in his Vlad Taltos series, originally published in 1983 by Ace Books.
Thieves’ World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies.
Take time out for Some serious fun. Its good for you.At least that’s what I heard.
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I’m currently ploughing my way through Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84. There are some parts that are really interesting to read, but especially now that I am somewhere around halfway through the second book (I got a three-in-one book) I think it could have been shorter and it may not be his best work.
There are many books I want to read, but of course I do not know if they are any good unless I am familiar with the author.
I’ve been checking the library databases in my home town as I will be going back for a visit soon and I am unaware of any local libraries where I live with books in English. I want to do some research into the history of Hong Kong and also the UK itself (for the latter, particularly when it comes to race), but I have not found any appropriate books available. 😦
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@phoebepruenelle; Yes, I was reading an NPR interview she did with Ed Gordon. I think I remember someone saying she had a nervous breakdown. It still sounds interesting I will check it out.
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The discussion about black businesses on the “American Racism Against Blacks” post reminded me of an NPR story I heard not too long ago about a black family who pledged to support black businesses for a year. Their story can be found in “Our Black Year: One Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy” by Maggie Anderson.
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A couple of years old now, and you may have read it already, but Nell Irvin Painter’s “History of White People” is quite good, and quite readable (I’ve used it in an undergraduate course).
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I recommend “A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World” by William J Bernstein.
Unlike most of books recommended by your readers, this is not specifically about race, slavery, or civil rights. Slaves, of course, were big business, and the book does discuss the slave trade, alongside trade of many other commodities.
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annoying typo’s on
3. Francis Cress Welsing: “Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors” (1991) – understanding white racism.
should be corrected to read – Dr.Francis Cress Welsing :The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors” (1991) understanding white racism.
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Notes on self – why Is this the main book I’m interested in?
And why are 90% of the amazon book reviews positive but superficial?
Why do I have little to no interest in any of the other titles mentioned?
Why is it that although I’m not an passive reader – that is I’m not that interested in reading what others wrote or even writing my own book – I’m still regularly and actively engaged in reading and writing?
Both the book The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors” (1991) and this blog
focus factually /nonfiction on the social issue of phenotypic groups and phenotypic group identity.
Why Do I try to use new words that are unfamiliar to most people – because the old words are not good enough and there have been several discussions on this blog alone that I am aware of.
I even remember a discussion in which Neely fuller said (appeal to authority falsie )…….
Why don’t I just put my questions and life on hold until I’ve completed psychology 101 to phd plus sociology 101 to phd ?
I MEAN what choice do I have being a atheist since i was six years old.
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@ Bulanik
What a wonderful idea. Thank you for the recommendation!
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Yes, please do a review of this for us.
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Hi abagond, I was thinking about this post and tracked it down and bookmarked it.
Anyway I was curious as to your progress in regards to this project.
How many of them have you read ?,have you posted a review of any that I may have missed?
Your definitely are a skilled writer yourself as well as prolific ,add that to a blog that attracts thousands of interesting people and now I have a blogsite that I’m woefully behind in just reading much less commenting myself.
Anyway you definitely are a treasure as worthy as many of the great titles and authors you’ve commented on.
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Well it’s 2016 And I am reading Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns. About The Great Migration. Black Americans fleeing the nightmare that is the Jim Crow South. I ende 2015 with Between The World And Me. Ta-Nehisi Coats. It was pessimistic and profound and insightful.
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Melissa Harris-Perry Sister Citizen was a good and informative read learning about the place of black women in society and addresses gender and social injustice. Just where does the black woman in America fit in from slavery to modern society. Read this in the Summer of 2015.
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