As we end Black History Month, it is important that we do not forget that we can learn to be better allies all year long. Our friends at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library have shared a list of books for children, teens, and adults that provide a platform to learn about race, empathy, and compassion. All of these books can be checked out at your local branch.
Booklist to Broaden Understanding about Race, Empathy, and Compassion
CHILDREN
Not my Idea – by Anastasia Higginbotham
A is for Activist – by Innosanto Nagara
Enough – by Emily Easton
Something Happened in Our Town – by Marianne Celano
The Big Umbrella – by Amy June Bates
How to Make the World Better – by Kelly Swift
Counting on Community – by Innosanto Nagara
This Book is Anti-Racist – by Tiffany Jewell
All Are Welcome – by Alexandra Penfold
I Am Enough – by Grace Byers
The Day You Begin – by Jacqueline Woodson
Desmond & the Very Mean Word – by Desmond Tutu
I Am Human – by Susan Verde
Hands Up – by Breanna McDaniel
We March – by Shane Evans
Can I Touch Your Hair? – by Irene Latham
Separate Is Never Equal – by Duncan Tonatiuh
My Hair is a Garden – by Cozbi A. Cabrera
The Youngest Marcher – by Cynthia Levinson
Sit-In – by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Rise Up – by Jo Rippon
Resist – by Veronica Chambers
Ghost Boys – by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Harbor Me – by Jacqueline Woodson
It All Comes Down To This – by Karen English
Each Kindness – by Jacqueline Woodson
TEENS
I Am Alfonso Jones – by Tony Medina
March – by John Lewis
Stamped – by Jason Reynolds
All American Boys – by Jason Reynolds
A Few Red Drops – by Claire Hartfield
Black Enough – by Ibi Zobol
The Hate You Give – by Angie Thomas
Dear Martin – by Nic Stone
Tyler Johnson Was Here – by Jay Coles
Poet X – by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Stars Beneath Our Feet – by David Moore
Anger is a Gift – by Mark Oshiro
Light It Up – by Kekla Magoon
Say Her Name – by Zetta Elliott
I’m Not Dying With You Tonight – by Kimberly Jones
Take the Mic – by Bethany Morrow
How I Resist – by Tim Federle
Watch Us Rise – by Renee Watson
ADULTS
Wilmington’s Lie – by David Zucchino
Mindful of Race – by Ruth King
The New Jim Crow – by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility – by Robin DiAngelo
How to Be Anti-Racist – by Ibram Kendi
Me & White Supremacy – by Layla Saad
Citizen, Claudia Rankine
Another Day in the Death of America – by Gary Younge
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America – by Richard Rothstein
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – by Bryan Stevenson
When They Call You A Terrorist – by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
The Racial Healing Handbook – by Anneliese Singh
How To Be Less Stupid About Race – by Crystal Fleming
Things That Make White People Uncomfortable – by Michael Bennett
Why We Won’t Talk Honestly About Race – by Harry Stein
Uprooting Racism – by Paul Kivel
So You Want to Talk About Race – by Ijeoma Oluo
A Kind of Freedom – by Margaret Sexton
Tell Me Who You Are – by Winona Guo
What Truth Sounds Like – by Eric Michael Dyson
I’m Still Here – by Austin Brown
White Rage – by Carol Anderson
