How To Be More Inclusive? Try Books.
In honor of Black History month, I’m sharing the books I’ve recently read from diverse authors. I’ve found that fiction in particular has been an important way for me to gain appreciation and understanding of the experience of people who are different than me.
First up is Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work by Ruchika Tulshyan. If you are a leader at work, you need this one. I’ve been using it inside my graduate school classrooms and it’s helping me have all sorts of new conversations with my students.
Next, three fiction novels.
Real Life by Brandon Taylor. Hold on tight for this one! You’ll be swept away by themes of race, sexuality, academia, and friendship. Wallace, the protagonist, has the keenest observations of the white people who surround him in his graduate program, which I found helpful for my own self-reflection.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. This epic saga follows several generations of a family as they explore their own definitions of home and love with a secret family recipe to bind them together. This one takes you from the Caribbean to London to California, with time spent in the vast oceans between.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. The characters in this one, particularly Tookie, will grab your heart and not let go. The setting, Minneapolis during 2020, is powerful. Book lovers will have fun with Tookie’s job at a local bookseller and enjoy all of her book recommendations.
If you also love to listen and watch amazing stories, here’s a podcast and documentary series keeping with the theme of Black History month. There’s SO MUCH I do not know about Black History in America and I am committed to learning more.
Podcast: Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
Docuseries on HBO: Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
If you are interested in other related posts from me, check out:
Uncovering White Privilege Through Books
Uncovering White Privilege Through Self Care
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