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Black reconstruction in America - - If you're not Black, you may have wondered why so many Black folks are upset and angry. This book, by W.E.B. Du Bois, will help you understand. Published in 1935, it looks at the brief period, just after the Civil War, when Black people were able to participate as citizens in our society. Their accomplishments in this brief period will impress you. The reactions of White racist Americans will sadden and infuriate you. As slaves, Black people literally built this country and its wealth. As free men and women, they did their best to build its democracy as well, but, within a few years, were thwarted at every turn, belittled, persecuted, lynched, and massacred by racist Whites, a process that continues today.

How would you feel?

This is a book that should be in every high school curriculum today. Borrow it from Open Library at the link above, or Buy it at Bookshop.org.

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, a book by Clint Smith - - Society is shaped by the stories we tell about ourselves and our history. The markers we create and later visit are a powerful source of those stories. If we want a just, fair society, we need those markers to speak the truth. Clint Smith wanted to understand more about how historical sites shape the story we tell ourselves about America, so he traveled across the South and to Senegal, interviewing people he met along the way.

The Sum of Us - - Many members of the 1 percent will hate this book, because it blows their cover: It shows how their class has, and still is using the lie of Race to divide the rest of us, with the result that we all suffer while they become even more powerful. McGhee debunks the zero sum assumptions used to divide us. Even better, she shows the good that will follow when we ignore those lies and work together.

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Black reconstruction in America - - If you're not Black, you may have wondered why so many Black folks are upset and angry. This book, by W.E.B. Du Bois, will help you understand. Published in 1935, it looks at the brief period, just after the Civil War, when Black people were able to participate as citizens in our society. Their accomplishments in this brief period will impress you. The reactions of White racist Americans will sadden and infuriate you. As slaves, Black people literally built this country and its wealth. As free men and women, they did their best to build its democracy as well, but, within a few years, were thwarted at every turn, belittled, persecuted, lynched, and massacred by racist Whites, a process that continues today.

How would you feel?

This is a book that should be in every high school curriculum today. Borrow it from Open Library at the link above, or Buy it at Bookshop.org.

Home, Land, Security - Deradicalization and the Journey Back from Extremism - - This book takes a deep look at why people become radicalized and finds that there is more to the story than meets the eye. With a better understanding of the process, people around the world are finding ways both to bring extremists back and to mitigate the elements in society that favored the development of extremism to begin with.

While the book's initial focus is on Islamist extremism, its lessons and examples can apply just as well to American Racism. An excerpt from the book shows how, during a time when disenchanted young men and women across Europe were rushing to enlist in ISIS, a city in Belgium created an atmosphere that led its residents not toward, but away from extremism.

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, a book by Clint Smith - - Society is shaped by the stories we tell about ourselves and our history. The markers we create and later visit are a powerful source of those stories. If we want a just, fair society, we need those markers to speak the truth. Clint Smith wanted to understand more about how historical sites shape the story we tell ourselves about America, so he traveled across the South and to Senegal, interviewing people he met along the way.

The Sum of Us - - Many members of the 1 percent will hate this book, because it blows their cover: It shows how their class has, and still is using the lie of Race to divide the rest of us, with the result that we all suffer while they become even more powerful. McGhee debunks the zero sum assumptions used to divide us. Even better, she shows the good that will follow when we ignore those lies and work together.