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Anti-Racist Reads

“It is not enough to be not racist, you must actively be anti-racist” - Angela Davis The resources below are intended to be a starting point for self-education, for gaining a deeper understanding of race and racism, and building blocks for conversations among friends, families, and communities.

58 items

  • Highway of Tears

    a True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

    McDiarmid, Jessica,
    For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern British Columbia. The corridor is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national…
    BookNew York : Atria Books, 2019. — True Crime
  • Being Chinese in Canada

    the Struggle for Identity, Redress and Belonging

    Dere, William Ging Wee, 1948-
    After the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885-construction of the western stretch was largely built by Chinese workers-the Canadian government imposed a punitive head tax to deter Chinese citizens from coming to Canada. The…
    eBookMadeira Park, BC : Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd., [2019]
  • Sigh, Gone

    a Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit in

    Tran, Phuc, 1974-
    In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age…
    BookNew York : Flatiron Books, 2022. — Biography Tran
  • A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this…
    BookSan Diego, California : Top Shelf Productions, [2020] — Graphic Novel
  • Walking in Good Relations is a new Sínulkhay & Ladders game from Squamish social-change designer Ta7talíya Nahanee. Created to support everyone in unlearning anti-Indigenous racism, the board and resources map scenarios as ladders up, in…
    Board GameBOARD GAME
  • "The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it -- and then dismantle it." Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America -- but even more…
    BookNew York : One World, [2019] — 305.800973 KEN
  • Accountable

    the True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

    Slater, Dashka,
    A young adult nonfiction book on how Albany High School handles a racist social media incident that incurs lasting and devastating consequence.
    BookNew York, NY : Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2023. — 371.829 SLA
  • Growing up in a tough neighborhood on the outskirts of Toronto, Omer Aziz struggled to find his place as a first-generation Pakistani Muslim boy. In Brown Boy, Aziz wrestles with the contradiction of feeling like an Other and his desire to…
    BookNew York : Scribner, 2023. — Biography Aziz
  • Bones of Belonging

    Finding Wholeness in a White World

    Dashtgard, Annahid,
    In a series of deft interlocking stories, Annahid Dashtgard shares her experiences searching for, and teaching about, belonging in our deeply divided world. a racialized immigrant writer and inclusion leader, Dashtgard writes with wisdom,…
    BookToronto, Ontario : Dundurn Press, [2023] — ON ORDER
  • The Intersectional Environmentalist

    How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet

    Thomas, Leah (Environmentalist),
    The Intersectional Environmentalist is a primer on the intersection between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and an acknowledgment of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people…
    BookNew York : Voracious/Little, Brown and Company, 2022. — 363.7052 THO
  • How do I raise an antiracist child?" Dr. Kendi had been pondering is question ever since he became a teacher--but this became more personal and urgent when he found out his partner, Sadiqa, was pregnant. Like many parents, he didn't know…
    BookNew York : One World, an imprint of Random House, [2022] — Parenting Child
  • Unbroken

    My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls

    Sterritt, Angela,
    Unbroken is an extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds.
    BookVancouver : Greystone Books, [2023] — 971.1004974128 STE
  • Almost Brown

    a Mixed-race Family Memoir

    Gill, Charlotte, 1971-
    Charlotte Gill's father is Indian. Her mother is English. This is an exploration of diasporic intermingling involving two deeply eccentric parents from worlds apart and their half-brown children as they experience the paradoxes and…
    Book[Toronto, Ontario] : Viking Canada, [2023] — Biography Gill
  • White Benevolence

    Racism and Colonial Violence in the Helping Professions

    The helping professions - education, social work, public health, and justice - are built on the colonial lie that Indigenous people need saving and helping. In White Benevolence, leading anti-racist scholars reveal the ways in which white…
    BookHalifax, Nova Scotia ; Winnipeg, Manitoba : Fernwood Publishing, [2022] — 305.8 GEB
  • The #1 New York Times bestseller that sparked international dialogue is now a book for young adults! Based on the adult bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi, and co-authored by bestselling author Nic Stone, How to be a (Young) Antiracist will…
    BookNew York, New York : Kokila, 2023. — 305.800973 KEN
  • Black & White

    An Intimate, Multicultural Perspective on "white Advantage" and the Paths to Change

    Dorsey, Stephen (Author of Black and white),
    The anticipated debut by a biracial community leader and citizen activist, exploring his lived experience of systemic racism in North America and the paths forward. "My race duality has given me a unique perspective on both the Black and…
    BookHalifax, Nova Scotia : Nimbus Publishing, 2022. — 305.800971 DOR
  • White Fragility

    Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

    DiAngelo, Robin J.,
    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.
    BookBoston : Beacon Press, 2018. — 305.8 DIA
  • Rez Rules

    My Indictment of Canada's and America's Systemic Racism Against Indigenous Peoples

    Louie, Clarence, Chief,
    In 1984, at the age of twenty-four, Clarence Louie was elected Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan Valley. Nineteen elections later, Chief Louie has led his community for nearly four decades. The story of how the Osoyoos…
    Book[Toronto, Ontario] : McClelland & Stewart, 2023. — Biography Louie
  • Wayi Wah!

    Indigenous Pedagogies : An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-racist Education

    Chrona, Jo,
    Extend your learning to explore how racism and bias are embedded in education systems, as well as our own perspectives--and how to create equitable education for all learners. How can Indigenous knowledge systems inform our teaching…
    BookWinnipeg, Manitoba : Portage & Main Press, 2022. — 370.115 CHR
  • The Skin We're in

    a Year of Black Resistance and Power

    Cole, Desmond, 1982-
    In the tradition of Ta-Nehisi Coates, a bracing, provocative and perspective-shifting book from one of Canada's most celebrated and uncompromising writers, Desmond Cole. The Skin We're In will spark a national conversation, influence…
    Book[Toronto, Ontario] : Doubleday Canada, [2020] — 305.896 COL BMK