10 Books to Help You Educate Yourself About Anti-Racism

As Black Lives Matter protests continue across the country, and footage is proliferated online of peaceful demonstrations being repeatedly met with violent escalation from law enforcement, the message becomes increasingly clear to white allies that it isn't sufficient to simply say you are not a racist. You must be actively anti-racist. And that means doing the work to fill in the huge gaps in your knowledge and lived experience, and in many cases, unlearning your own inherent biases.

We spoke to activists, lecturers, and reporters and collected their recommendations for anti-racist reading materials. Below is a selection of books by prominent black academics, authors, journalists, poets, and fiction writers. Each book includes a link to buy at Elizabeth's Bookshop, a black-owned bookstore and literacy center that aims to amplify perspectives often left out of the academic and literary canon. A portion of profits from each sale goes to The Loveland Foundation, a resource offering mental health support to black women and girls.