Subject Guides: Antiracist's Book Shelf: Books

Reading List

This book list consists of recommended eBooks on antiracist practices. Links to the books take you either to the Free Library of Philadelphia's Overdrive collection of eBooks or to PHS's eBook vendor, ProQuest. A Free Library card is available at no cost to anyone who lives, works, pays taxes, or goes to school in the City of Philadelphia. In addition, anyone who lives in the state of Pennsylvania can obtain a Free Library card without charge.

Information here.

If you are not familiar with Overdrive, see instructions for downloading and using the Overdrive eReader known as "Libby" here.

Books in PHS's eBook vendor's database, ProQuest may be accessed by PHS staff and members. To learn more, click here.

An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
ISBN: 9780807005934
Publication Date: 2018-12-11
An intersectional history of the shared struggle for African American and Latinx civil rights.
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
ISBN: 9780812993547
Publication Date: 2015-07-14
Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race.”
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney
ISBN: 1469614480
Publication Date: 2014-06-01
In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans.
Available ProQuest
Black Stats by Monique W. Morris; Khalil Gibran Muhammad (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781595589194
Publication Date: 2014-01-28
Black Stats—a comprehensive guide filled with contemporary facts and figures on African Americans—is an essential reference for anyone attempting to fathom the complex state of our nation.
Available ProQuest
Black Stats by Monique W. Morris; Khalil Gibran Muhammad (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781595589194
Publication Date: 2014-01-28
Black Stats—a comprehensive guide filled with contemporary facts and figures on African Americans—is an essential reference for anyone attempting to fathom the complex state of our nation.
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
ISBN: 9781631494536
Publication Date: 2018-05-01
This “powerful and disturbing history” exposes how American governments deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide (New York Times Book Review).
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
The Color of Success by Ellen D. Wu
ISBN: 9780691168029
Publication Date: 2015-12-29
For decades, Asian Americans have been perceived as the "model minority," but for a long time, the country feared the threat of their "yellow terror." How did this particular minority group's stereotype transform so radically, and in what way does the new perception of Asian Americans cause harm?
Available ProQuest
The Color of Success by Ellen D. Wu
ISBN: 9780691168029
Publication Date: 2015-12-29
For decades, Asian Americans have been perceived as the "model minority," but for a long time, the country feared the threat of their "yellow terror." How did this particular minority group's stereotype transform so radically, and in what way does the new perception of Asian Americans cause harm?
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
ISBN: 9781250112880
Publication Date: 2019-03-05
America Ferrera: "Razor sharp and hilarious. There is so much about her analysis that I relate to and grapple with on a daily basis as a Latina feminist."
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
The Hidden Rules of Race by Andrea Flynn; Susan R. Holmberg; Dorian T. Warren; Felicia J. Wong
ISBN: 9781108417549
Publication Date: 2017-09-08
Why do black families own less than white families? Why does school segregation persist decades after Brown v. Board of Education? Why is it harder for black adults to vote than for white adults?
Available ProQuest
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
ISBN: 9780525509288
Publication Date: 2019-08-13
New York Times Bestseller
From the National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society—and in ourselves.“
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
How We Fight White Supremacy by Akiba Solomon; Kenrya Rankin
ISBN: 9781568588490
Publication Date: 2019-03-26
This celebration of Black resistance, from protests to art to sermons to joy, offers a blueprint for the fight for freedom and justice -- and ideas for how each of us can contribute.
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad; Robin DiAngelo (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9781728209807
Publication Date: 2020-01-28
"This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too."
Available ProQuest
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad; Robin DiAngelo (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9781728209807
Publication Date: 2020-01-28
"This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too."
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander; Cornel West (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781595586438
Publication Date: 2012-01-16
With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it."
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander; Cornel West (Introduction by)
ISBN: 9781595586438
Publication Date: 2012-01-16
With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it."
Available ProQuest
On Account of Race by Lawrence Goldstone
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781640093928
Publication Date: 2020-05-05
Award-winning constitutional law historian, Lawrence Goldstone examines case-based evidence to reveal the court's longstanding support for white supremacy (often under the guise of "states rights") and how that bias has allowed the court to solidify its position as arguably the most powerful branch of the federal government.
Available ProQuest
On Account of Race by Lawrence Goldstone
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781640093928
Publication Date: 2020-05-05
Award-winning constitutional law historian, Lawrence Goldstone examines case-based evidence to reveal the court's longstanding support for white supremacy (often under the guise of "states rights") and how that bias has allowed the court to solidify its position as arguably the most powerful branch of the federal government.
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon
ISBN: 9780385722704
Publication Date: 2009-01-13
A Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the “Age of Neoslavery,” the American period following the Emancipation Proclamation in which convicts, mostly black men, were “leased” through forced labor camps operated by state and federal governments.
Available Free Library Overdrive
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
ISBN: 9781580056779
Publication Date: 2018-01-16
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America.
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
ISBN: 9781568585987
Publication Date: 2017-08-15
The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society.
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates
ISBN: 9780525559559
Publication Date: 2020-04-07
A profound new rendering of the struggle by African-Americans for equality after the Civil War and the violent counter-revolution that resubjugated them, as seen through the prism of the war of images and ideas that have left an enduring racist stain on the American mind.
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King
ISBN: 0062504908
Publication Date: 1987-01-01
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s account of the first successful large-scale application of nonviolence resistance in America is comprehensive, revelatory, and intimate.
Available ProQuest
Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
ISBN: 9781250135995
Publication Date: 2017-01-17
“One of the most frank and searing discussions on race ... a deeply serious, urgent book, which should take its place in the tradition of Baldwin's The Fire Next Time and King's Why We Can't Wait."
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
This Muslim American Life by Moustafa Bayoumi
ISBN: 9781479835645
Publication Date: 2015-09-18
In This Muslim American Life, Moustafa Bayoumi reveals what the War on Terror looks like from the vantage point of Muslim Americans.
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors; asha bandele
ISBN: 9781250306906
Publication Date: 2020-01-14
"This remarkable book reveals what inspired Patrisse's visionary and courageous activism and forces us to face the consequence of the choices our nation made when we criminalized a generation. This book is a must-read for all of us."
Available from Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo; Michael Eric Dyson (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9780807047415
Publication Date: 2018-06-26
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
Available Free Library Philadelphia Overdrive
White Rage by Carol Anderson
ISBN: 9781632864130
Publication Date: 2017-11-02
From the Civil War to our combustible present, White Rage reframes our continuing conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America.
Available Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive

For Younger Readers

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds; Ibram X. Kendi
ISBN: 9781432876326
Publication Date: 2020-04-15
Audience: Young Adult, Grade & and up.
A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism—and antiracism—in America.
Available from Free Library of Philadelphia Overdrive.

Your Kids Aren't Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup
Books About Racism and Social Justice
The Common Sense Media book list has book titles on racism and social justice that is broken out by age group (ages 4 – 16).

This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
ISBN: 9780711245211
Publication Date: 2020-01-07
For ages 10-17.
Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to disrupt it? Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation.
Available Free Library Overdrive