Don’t have time to read ALL the books? Don’t worry- we got you covered! Each month we feature the books that Beloved Communities can use as they embark on the journey of advancing equity and re-imagining schools. This month’s featured book is Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race?
Quote to remember
“We have a real problem of racial inequity and injustice in our society, and we cannot wish it away. We have to tackle this problem with real action, and we will not know what needs to be done if we are not willing to talk about it.” p. 45
What resonates
The affirmation of the experiences as well as the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of people of color when it comes to discussing race while also naming and acknowledging the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of white folx. Oluo says the quiet part out loud and allows everyone to better engage each other.
Centering the notion of systemic racism, its causes, and its impacts in all conversations about race so that the impacts of systems of oppression become more visible and disruption of systems of oppression becomes more attainable.
Any social justice movement must be anchored in the notion of intersectionality (spaces where identity, privilege and oppression meet) in order to authentically disrupt systemic inequity.
Everyone who is brave enough to have conversations about race is going to f- it up…you should have these talks anyway. There are ways to lessen the number of disastrous conversations you will have AND there are ways to recover from the disastrous conversations you have stumbled into!
Ways this book can support your community
Chapters 1, 2, and 3 can help your school community define racism in concrete ways AND it makes a strong argument as to why school communities in particular must have ongoing conversations about race.
Chapter 3 perfectly frames the imperfections that will arise in having conversations about race and gives tips and tools for engaging these imperfections.
Chapter 12 defines microaggression- its impact on the psyches of people of color and ways of interrupting the microaggressions occurring in your school community
The discussion guide at the end of the book provides transparent norms for engaging in community discussions about race AND it also gives some great questions to anchor discussions about the book.
Have you read this book? What did you think? In what ways has it supported you or your school community in advancing equity? Leave comments below!
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