BLM - Book reviews

Hmmph,!  I just spent two hours trying to make a book review video and my tongue tripped over so many words that I quit!  I quit!

Instead, I will review four books that address, however tangentially, the issues that Black Lives Matter protesters hope to change.

This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewel. Written for students, this book is a primer for understanding who the reader is and how they fit into the various circles of influence in society. When the reader figures that out, they are given tools for speaking out and taking a stand. Finally, Jewell offers ideas for finding allies, joining organizations and campaigns to make our society more fair for everyone.

We Are Power by Todd Hasak-Lowy. Hasak-Lowy covers six long-running nonviolent campaigns that suceeded.  Mahatma Gandhi's march to the sea earned India its independence. Alice Paul worked tirelessly and very publicly to gain the right to vote for women. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Project C campaign worked to end segregation in the south.  Cesar Chavez fought, non-violently, for better wages for the migrant farm workers of California and the Southwest and he won!  Vaclav Havel led the Velvet Revolution which turned Czechoslovakia into a democracy.
The last nonviolent protest is still ongoing, Greta Thunberg's protest to bring attention to our dire climate crisis continues to this day.
Nonviolent protest does NOT mean no one gets hurt. This book shows that we can change the way people think and act without inflicting violence on others.

Thurgood Marshall by Teri Kanefield. This book is part of The Making of America series of biographies by Kanefield. The biography is eminently readable and gives a lively overview of the

first Black Supreme Court Justice's life as well as an overview of Civil Rights in America in the late 20th century.

New Kid by Jerry Craft. Winner of the 2020 Newbery Award, this graphic novel follows Jordan, a aspiring cartoonist, as he starts at a new prestigious private school a train ride from his neighborhood school. Jordan is one of a handful of kids of color at this school. To deal with new-school-itis, Jordan draws these awesome comics that describe his trip to the new school every day, how he thinks his teachers see him and the other students and his feelings.  The interactions with the teachers are so realisitic that I wonder if this book is based on Jerry Craft's own experiences. It's awesome and eye-opening and hopeful.