Pre-Summer Reading List
BEAM aims to create an affirmatively anti-racist educational environment for our students and staff. To that end, we encourage staff to read one of the books below before you join us for the summer. We have a budget to purchase one book for each summer staffer every summer you work with us, in your choice of book, ebook, or audiobook format. (Below the reading list are details about how to make this happen!)
Reading List
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi
What’s the difference between being “not racist” and “antiracist”? When you act in an antiracist way, how must that interact and intersect with power, biology, ethnicity, the body, culture, behavior, color, class, space, gender, and sexuality? This captivating book alternates between Kendi’s personal life experiences - growing from “not racist” to “antiracist” - and an academic/historical account of the development of both racism and anti-racism, all viewed through an intersectional lens.
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
What does a 3-year-old in America understand about their racial identity? What about a child in middle school? At what age did you first understand your own racial identity? How does that experience vary for a White child or a Black child? This book looks at the field of sociology to understand those questions, and more. While the first three parts of the book largely stick to Black and White identity, the fourth part delves into racial identities beyond Black and White.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Pedagogy of the Oppressed was a revolutionary book in 1970 and continues to push thinking today. The book draws upon philosophy, pedagogy, sociology, and more to create a framework for reversing oppression through education. Freire espouses ending paternalism in education and moving toward a collaborative model of education where teacher and student are in dialogue. Readers may find this book to be the most challenging title on BEAM’s reading list as it is dense and academic, but even reading excerpts of it may be transformative to your practice, making the reading worth the effort. You might start with the second chapter.
This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell, illustrations by aurelia durand
“Who are you? What is your identity? How can you take action against racism?” This Book is Anti-Racist introduces readers to issues of identity, history, bias, racism, and action. It provides definitions for key terms, gives context through illustrations, history, and real-life examples, and includes activities that encourage readers to think, notice, question, and challenge. This book is great for both young adult and adult readers alike.
Notes and Next Steps
Ready to start reading? BEAM will order your book for you! Please start by submitting the form below. A BEAM staff person will review your response and work with you to order a physical book, ebook, or audiobook.
Already read these books? Contact us using the form below and we can recommend other titles our staff have collected, or you can propose a book you want to read and review for us.
Want to read more than one this year? First check which ones are offered by your local public library, and then ask BEAM to purchase one that isn’t! Or, you can talk to us about purchasing more than one if you’re able to find very low-priced used books (and you stay within the total cost limit).