Books about Race and Justice for Adults

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How to Be an Antiracist Cover Image

How to Be an Antiracist (Hardcover)

By Ibram X. Kendi
$27.00
ISBN: 9780525509288
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: One World - August 13th, 2019

#1 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.

So You Want to Talk About Race Cover Image

So You Want to Talk About Race (Paperback)

By Ijeoma Oluo
$16.99
ISBN: 9781580058827
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Seal Press - September 24th, 2019

In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Cover Image

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Paperback)

By Michelle Alexander
$18.99
ISBN: 9781620971932
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Published: New Press - January 7th, 2020

Named one of the most important nonfiction books of the 21st century by Entertainment Weekly' Slate' Chronicle of Higher Education' Literary Hub, Book Riot' and Zora

Citizen: An American Lyric Cover Image

Citizen: An American Lyric (Paperback)

By Claudia Rankine
$20.00
ISBN: 9781555976903
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Graywolf Press - October 7th, 2014

* Finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry *
* Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry * Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism * Winner of the NAACP Image Award * Winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize * Winner of the PEN Open Book Award *

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America Cover Image

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (Paperback)

By Ibram X. Kendi
$19.99
ISBN: 9781568585987
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Bold Type Books - August 15th, 2017

The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society.

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism Cover Image

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism (Paperback)

By Robin DiAngelo, Michael Eric Dyson (Foreword by)
$16.00
ISBN: 9780807047415
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Beacon Press - June 26th, 2018

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.

Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling Cover Image

Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling (Paperback)

By Marc Mauer, Sabrina Jones, Michelle Alexander (Foreword by)
$17.95
ISBN: 9781595585417
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: New Press - April 2nd, 2013

"Do not underestimate the power of the book you are holding in your hands."
--Michelle Alexander

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor Cover Image

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor (Hardcover)

By Layla Saad, Robin Diangelo (Foreword by)
$25.99
ISBN: 9781728209807
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Sourcebooks - January 1st, 2020

The New York Times and USA Today bestseller 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.

The Underground Railroad: A Novel Cover Image

The Underground Railroad: A Novel (Paperback)

By Colson Whitehead
$16.95
ISBN: 9780345804327
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Anchor - January 30th, 2018

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Cora is a young slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunity and escapes with him.

The Bluest Eye (Vintage International) Cover Image

The Bluest Eye (Vintage International) (Paperback)

By Toni Morrison
$14.95
ISBN: 9780307278449
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Vintage - May 8th, 2007

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK!
 
Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison powerfully examines our obsession with beauty and conformity—and asks questions about race, class, and gender with her characteristic subtly and grace.
 

Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel Cover Image

Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel (Paperback)

By Jesmyn Ward
$17.00
ISBN: 9781501126079
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Scribner - May 8th, 2018

WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A finalist for the Kirkus Prize, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and a New York Times bestseller, this majestic, stirring, and widely praised novel from two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward, the story of a family on a journey through rural Mississippi, i

Between the World and Me Cover Image

Between the World and Me (Hardcover)

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
$26.00
ISBN: 9780812993547
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: One World - July 14th, 2015

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT

Such a Fun Age Cover Image

Such a Fun Age (Hardcover)

By Kiley Reid
$26.00
ISBN: 9780525541905
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Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons - December 31st, 2019

A Best Book of the Year:

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot Cover Image

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot (Hardcover)

By Mikki Kendall
$26.00
ISBN: 9780525560548
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Published: Viking - February 25th, 2020

A New York Times Bestseller
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020

"If Hood Feminism is a searing indictment of mainstream feminism, it is also an invitation. . . . [Kendall] offers guidance for how we can all do better."--NPR

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race Cover Image

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race (Paperback)

By Jesmyn Ward
$16.00
ISBN: 9781501126352
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Scribner - June 20th, 2017

The New York Times bestseller, these groundbreaking essays and poems about race—collected by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward and written by the most important voices of her generation—are “thoughtful, searing, and at times, hopeful.

A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota Cover Image

A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota (Paperback)

By Sun Yung Shin, Taiyon Coleman (Contributions by), Heid E. Erdrich (Contributions by), Vanessa Fuentes (Contributions by), Shannon Gibney (Contributions by), David Grant (Contributions by), Carolyn Holbrook (Contributions by), IBé (Contributions by), Andrea Jenkins (Contributions by), Robert Karimi (Contributions by), JaeRan Kim (Contributions by), Sherry Quan Lee (Contributions by), David Mura (Contributions by), Bao Phi (Contributions by), Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria (Contributions by), Diane Wilson (Contributions by), Kao Kalia Yang (Contributions by)
$18.95
ISBN: 9781681340029
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Minnesota Historical Society Press - April 1st, 2016

Essays that challenge, discomfort, disorient, galvanize, and inspire all of us to evolve now, for our shared future.

The Nickel Boys: A Novel Cover Image

The Nickel Boys: A Novel (Paperback)

By Colson Whitehead
$15.95
ISBN: 9780345804341
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Anchor - June 30th, 2020

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times bestselling follow-up to The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.
 

Friday Black Cover Image

Friday Black (Paperback)

By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
$14.99
ISBN: 9781328911247
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Mariner Books - October 23rd, 2018

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“An unbelievable debut, one that announces a new and necessary American voice.” —Tommy Orange, New York Times Book Review

“An excitement and a wonder: strange, crazed, urgent and funny.” —George Saunders

“Dark and captivating and e

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays Cover Image

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays (Hardcover)

By Damon Young
$27.99
ISBN: 9780062684301
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Ecco - March 26th, 2019

A Finalist for the NAACP Image Award

A Finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Nonfiction

Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

An NPR Best Book of the Year

Homegoing Cover Image

Homegoing (Paperback)

By Yaa Gyasi
$16.95
ISBN: 9781101971062
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Vintage - May 2nd, 2017

Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery.
 

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir Cover Image

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir (Hardcover)

By Saeed Jones
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9781501132735
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Simon & Schuster - October 8th, 2019

From award-winning poet Saeed Jones, How We Fight for Our Lives—winner of the Kirkus Prize and the Stonewall Book Award—is a “moving, bracingly honest memoir” (The New York Times Book Review) written at the crossroads of sex, race, and power.

One of the best books of the year as selected by The New York Times; The Washington Post

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Cover Image

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Paperback)

By Bryan Stevenson
$17.00
ISBN: 9780812984965
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: One World - August 18th, 2015

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.

The Fire Next Time (Vintage International) Cover Image

The Fire Next Time (Vintage International) (Paperback)

By James Baldwin
$13.95
ISBN: 9780679744726
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (Subject to Availability)
Published: Vintage - December 1st, 1992

An official Oprah Winfrey’s “The Books That Help Me Through” selection

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation, gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today.  

Civil Wars Cover Image

Civil Wars (Paperback)

By June Jordan
$16.99
ISBN: 9780684814049
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Touchstone - September 1st, 1995
The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood Cover Image

The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood (Paperback)

By Tommy J. Curry
$34.95
ISBN: 9781439914861
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Published: Temple University Press - July 1st, 2017

The Before Columbus Foundation 2018 Winner of the AMERICAN BOOK AWARD

Tommy J. Curry’s provocative book The Man-Not is a justification for Black Male Studies. He posits that we should conceptualize the Black male as a victim, oppressed by his sex.

Arbitrary Justice: The Power of the American Prosecutor Cover Image

Arbitrary Justice: The Power of the American Prosecutor (Paperback)

By Angela J. Davis
$28.95
ISBN: 9780195384734
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Published: Oxford University Press, USA - April 1st, 2009

What happens when public prosecutors, the most powerful officials in the criminal justice system, seek convictions instead of justice? Why are cases involving well-to-do victims often prosecuted more vigorously than those involving poor victims? Why do wealthy defendants frequently enjoy more lenient plea bargains than the disadvantaged? In this eye-opening work, Angela J.

Barracoon: The Story of the Last

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" (Paperback)

By Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker (Foreword by), Deborah G. Plant (Introduction by)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062748218
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Published: Amistad - January 7th, 2020

New York Times Bestseller •  TIME Magazine’s Best Nonfiction Book of 2018 • New York Public Library’s Best Book of 2018 • NPR’s Book Concierge Best Book of 2018 • Economist Book of the Year • SELF.com’s Best Books of 2018 • Audible’s Best of the Year • BookRiot’s Best Audio Boo

Big Black: Stand at Attica Cover Image

Big Black: Stand at Attica (Paperback)

By Frank "Big Black" Smith, Jared Reinmuth, Ameziane (Illustrator)
$19.99
ISBN: 9781684154791
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Archaia - February 18th, 2020

A graphic novel memoir from Frank “Big Black” Smith, a prisoner at Attica State Prison in 1971, whose rebellion against the injustices of the prison system remains one of the bloodiest civil rights confrontations in American history.

FOUR DAYS IN 1971 CHANGED THE COURSE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir Cover Image

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (Paperback)

By Patrisse Khan-Cullors, asha bandele
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250306906
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - January 14th, 2020

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.
New York Times Editor’s Pick.
Library Journal Best Books of 2019.
TIME Magazine's "Best Memoirs of 2018 So Far."
O, Oprah’s Magazine’s “10 Titles to Pick Up Now.”
Politics & Current Events 2018 O.W.L. Book Awards Winner
The Root Best of 2018

Native Son (Perennial Classics) Cover Image

Native Son (Perennial Classics) (Paperback)

By Richard Wright
$16.99
ISBN: 9780060837563
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Published: Harper Perennial Modern Classics - August 2nd, 2005

“If one had to identify the single most influential shaping force in modern Black literary history, one would probably have to point to Wright and the publication of Native Son.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons Cover Image

Breathe: A Letter to My Sons (Hardcover)

By Imani Perry
$18.00
ISBN: 9780807076552
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Beacon Press - September 17th, 2019

2020 Chautauqua Prize Finalist

2020 NAACP Image Award Nominee - Outstanding Literary Work (Nonfiction)

Best-of Lists: Best Nonfiction Books of 2019 (Kirkus Reviews) · 25 Can't-Miss Books of 2019 (The Undefeated)

Men We Reaped: A Memoir Cover Image

Men We Reaped: A Memoir (Paperback)

By Jesmyn Ward
$17.00
ISBN: 9781608197651
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Bloomsbury USA - September 16th, 2014

Named one of the Best Books of the Century by New York Magazine

Two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward (Salvage the Bones, Sing, Unburied, Sing) contends with the deaths of five young men dear to her, and the risk of being a black man in the rural South.

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Cover Image

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (Paperback)

By Richard Rothstein
$17.95
ISBN: 9781631494536
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Liveright - May 1st, 2018

New York Times Bestseller • Notable Book of the Year • Editors' Choice Selection
One of Bill Gates’ “Amazing Books” of the Year
One of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Best Books of the Year
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction
An NPR Best Book of the Year
Winner of the Hillman Prize for Nonfiction
Gold Winner • California Book Award (Nonfi

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower Cover Image

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower (Paperback)

By Brittney Cooper
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250112880
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Picador - March 5th, 2019

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An Emma Watson "Our Shared Shelf" Selection for November/December 2018 • NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2018/ MENTIONED BY: The New York Public Library • Mashable • The Atlantic • Bustle • The Root • Politico Magazine ("What the 2020 Candidates Are Reading

The End of Policing Cover Image

The End of Policing (Paperback)

By Alex S. Vitale
$17.95
ISBN: 9781784782924
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Verso - August 28th, 2018

LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches Cover Image

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (Paperback)

By Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clarke (Foreword by)
$16.99
ISBN: 9781580911863
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Crossing Press - August 1st, 2007

Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature.

“[Lorde's] works will be important to those truly interested in growing up sensitive, intelligent, and aware.”—The New York Times 

Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership (Justice) Cover Image

Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership (Justice) (Hardcover)

By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
$30.00
ISBN: 9781469653662
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: University of North Carolina Press - October 21st, 2019

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
FINALIST, 2020 PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY

Chokehold: Policing Black Men Cover Image

Chokehold: Policing Black Men (Paperback)

By Paul Butler
$17.99
ISBN: 9781620974834
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: New Press - September 18th, 2018

Finalist for the 2018 National Council on Crime & Delinquency's Media for a Just Society Awards

Nominated for the 49th NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Nonfiction)

A 2017 Washington Post Notable Book

A Kirkus Best Book of 2017

The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, with a New Preface Cover Image

The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, with a New Preface (Paperback)

By Khalil Gibran Muhammad
$15.95
ISBN: 9780674238145
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Harvard University Press - July 22nd, 2019

Winner of the John Hope Franklin Prize
A Moyers & Company Best Book of the Year

"A brilliant work that tells us how directly the past has formed us."
--Darryl Pinckney, New York Review of Books

Stokely Speaks: From Black Power to Pan-Africanism Cover Image

Stokely Speaks: From Black Power to Pan-Africanism (Paperback)

By Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), Mumia Abu-Jamal (Introduction by)
$16.95
ISBN: 9781556526497
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Lawrence Hill Books - February 1st, 2007

In the speeches and articles collected in this book, the black activist, organizer, and freedom fighter Stokely Carmichael traces the dramatic changes in his own consciousness and that of black Americans that took place during the evolving movements of Civil Rights, Black Power, and Pan-Africanism.

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Cover Image

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement (Paperback)

By Angela Y. Davis, Frank Barat (Editor), Cornel West (Preface by)
$15.95
ISBN: 9781608465644
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Haymarket Books - February 9th, 2016

In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches, world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world.

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable Cover Image

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable (Paperback)

By Michael Bennett, Dave Zirin
$17.95
ISBN: 9781642590234
Availability: Usually Ships from Wholesaler in 1-5 Days
Published: Haymarket Books - September 3rd, 2019

A version for Young Adults is also available.

Michael Bennett is a Super Bowl Champion, a three-time Pro Bowl defensive end, a fearless activist, a feminist, a grassroots philanthropist, an organizer, and a change maker. He's also one of the most scathingly humorous athletes on the planet, and he wants to make you uncomfortable.

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