540WMain’s Winter Reading List (Books You Must Read) in 2020

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Knowledge is power. As we Scale Up our mission of curating education rooted in antiracism here’s a list to guide you to reading all that you need to read in 2020. Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a powerful book and with this list you will immerse yourself in the voices of those most marginalized by the oppression of white supremacy culture. The books listed are what light our fire, keep us inspired and in many cases drive our programming. A few titles are hold overs from our debut summer reading list but most make the list for the first time. The books at the top of the list are titles that will most likely be a part of our online book club.

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The upcoming book to be discussed: How to be An Antiracist by New York Times best selling author Ibram X Kendi // The discussion begins January 6th 2020

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540WMain’s Winter Reading List (Books You Must Read) in 2020

1. Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia
2. Killing the Black Body:Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
3. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young
4. Diversity Inc: The Failed Promise of A Billion Dollar Business by Pamela Newkirk
5. Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching by Crystal N. Feimsted 
6. All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir Manifesto by George M. Johnson
7. Ninety Feet Under: What Poverty Does to People by John Strazzabosco
8. The Torture Letters: Reckoning with Police Violence by Laurence Ralph 
9. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
10. I Don’t Want to Die Poor: Essays by Michael Arceneux
11. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
12. Southern Horrors and Other Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. Wells
13. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Makings of The American Working Class by David R. Roediger
14. White Women, Rape and the Power of Race in Virginia: 1900-1960 by Linda Lindqist Door
15. How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
16. Dear White Women, It’s Not You. It’s Me. I’m Breaking Up With You by Hannah Drake
17. Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith & Family by Gerrard Conley 
19. On the Other-side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
20. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
21. Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram Kendi
22. Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America by Victoria W. Wolcott

Read ONE books if you are feeling ready

Read FIVE books if you are feeling ready

Read TEN books if you are feeling ready

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540WMain will celebrate its 4 year anniversary with a party and extravaganza on Saturday June 18, 2020. In just four years the organization has become a pillar in the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood and a convener and curator of important and vital community conversations, classes, and programs. Your financial support helps us scale up this work in 2020 and beyond.