Books to Add to your Reading List this Black History Month
As you are likely aware, the month of February marks Black History Month. While young folks are learning about the important contributions of Black people throughout history in school, it can be a great deal harder to incorporate those lessons into our lives as adults. Here at The Aura House, we place a great deal of emphasis and importance on decolonization, active anti-racism work, and unlearning the biases that have been built into our society. While it is not up to aspiring allies to decide whether or not we are actively being allies, it is up to us to continuously do the work and try our best. In honour of Black History Month, we’d like to share a list of titles that we’ve added to our reading list this month— but remember, this work doesn’t only need to happen during the month of February. It is an ongoing process of learning and unlearning that is the responsibility of non-BIPOC folks every day of the year.
Michelle Cassandra Johnson wrote the first edition of Skill in Action in 2017 as a response to her own experience as a black-woman seeking healing and spiritual practice in an incredibly white-washed industry. The exploration that became Skill in Action sought to disrupt the way the yoga industry continues to operate in hopes of aligning with the true meaning of yoga and moving away from the exclusivity and monogamy of the Western yoga world.
Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance by Jessamyn Stanley
Jessamyn Stanley is an author, yoga teacher, entrepreneur, and advocate who first gained popularity online for speaking out about 21st-century yoga and intersectional identity. Yoke, a collection of autobiographical essays that touch on everything from imposter syndrome and self-love, to why Western yoga so often misses the mark and what it's like to exist in a space that is so overwhelmingly white
Many of us saw, heard, and felt the impact that the #MeToo movement had when it first materialized in 2017. What many of us don’t know is the story of the incredible woman behind what became one of the largest movements in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In Unbound, Tarana Burke shares her extensive work supporting and empowering Black and brown girls, recounts the strength and perseverance it took for her to find her path towards healing, and how finding her ability to say “me too” sparked the movement that touched the lives of so many.
The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole
When his 2015 Toronto Life cover story recounting the racist actions of the Toronto police force shook the country, Desmond Cole quickly rose to popularity and decided to use this newfound spotlight to share the ugly truth behind what life is like for many Black Canadians. Chronicling the events of one single year, The Skin We’re In pulls back the curtain that is the quintessential “nice Canadian” trope to reveal what is really happening behind the scenes across the country, and actively challenges White Canadian complacency and naivete.
Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit by Mary-Frances Winters
In Black Fatigue, Award-winning diversity and inclusion leader Mary-Frances Winters explains how physically, mentally, and emotionally draining it is for Black folks of all ages to continuously experience inequities and atrocities and how it has led to Black Fatigue—the intergenerational impact of systemic racism on the physical and psychological health of Black people. She uses the book to demonstrate how society needs to change in order to combat the effects of black fatigue, and how non-BIPOC folks can do their part.
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
Me and White Supremacy is an active exploration of white supremacy and racial injustice, and how to combat it in our daily lives. Through journal prompts, anecdotes, and historical and cultural context, Saad’s work provides the language and tools to address and dismantle your own biases. The workbook covers topics such as examining your own white privilege, what allyship really means, anti-blackness, racial stereotypes, and cultural appropriation, changing the way that you view and respond to race, and how to continue the work to create social change. There is also an available guided journal filled with prompts to help launch your journey towards anti-racism. You can find the Me and White Supremacy Guided Journal here.
All of the titles listed above with the exception of Skill in Action and Yoke can be found at Knowledge Bookstore—an independent, Black-owned bookstore located in Brampton that acts as a community space and source for parents, creators, and the Black community. We ask that if you are going to consider any of these titles, that you purchase them from Knowledge Bookstore rather than larger mainstream bookstores as a way to not only support small businesses and indie bookstores but also as a way to support Black business owners in our community. You can find their website at knowledgebookstore.com.
Blog Written by Maya Price-Baker
