Books

Each book was selected to help you accomplish at least one of three goals: 1) read about ideas that differ from your own; 2) strengthen your faith; and 3) learn about yourself and others. Think of each book as a starting point to the lifelong process of growth and learning.

History & Politics

1. America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis & Bryan Stevenson

2. Are We All Postracial Yet? (Debating Race) by David Theo Goldberg

3. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown and Hampton Sides

4. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

5. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael O. Emerson & Christian Smith

6. Poor Economics by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo 

7. Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South by Albert J. Raboteau 

8. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

9. The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

10. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

11. The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani

12. The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter

13. The Myth of the American Dream by D.L. Mayfield

14. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

15. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: and Other Writings by Max Weber

16. The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence

17. When Affirmative Action was White by Ira Katznelson

18. White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson

19. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics by Bell Hooks

Race & Identity

1. Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says about a Woman's Place in Church and Family by Gilbert Bilezikian

2. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity by Judith Butler

3. Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing Our Influence by Natalia Kohn Rivera, Noemi Vega Quiñones, & Kristy Garza Robinson

4. How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective Kindle Edition by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (Editor)

5. Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny by Amartya Sen

6. Intensional: Kingdom Ethnicity in a Divided World by D. A. Horton

7. Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America by John D'Emilio & Estelle B. Freedman

8. Lovable Racists, Magical Negroes, and White Messiahs by David Ikard

9. Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice

10. Shameless: A Sexual Reformation by Nadia Bolz-Weber

11. Stand Your Ground; Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Douglas Brown

12. Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson

13. The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing by Anneliese A. Singh

14. The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America by Tamara Winfrey Harris

15. The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World by Alan Downs

16. This Bridge Called My Back, Fourth Edition: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga & Gloria Anzaldúa

17. White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White by Daniel Hill & Brenda Salter McNeil

18. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin J. DiAngelo & Michael Eric Dyson