There are certain things in my life I will never forget. Meeting my first best friend, the first time I got stitches, my highschool and college graduations. Completing my Masters Degree. And Feburary of 2012 the month a 17 year old African American man was killed in Sanford, Florida while walking home in a hoodie with skittles and a drink. I won't forget Mike Brown, Philando Castile, Freddie Grey, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, John Crawford lll, Tamir Rice, Jordan Evans....and the list goes on and on. Each case was different but each death left a lasting impression on me. For those of you that know my personally you know I studied Criminal Justice in college; and have a masters in Homeland security. I love politics and can and will debate the issues of the day with anyone at anytime. However, the deaths of so many African Americans (mainly men) at the hands of law enforcement (the man that shot Trayvon Martin was neighborhood watch) really shook me to my core and made me question some of the beliefs I had in the justice system.
Believe me when I say I have always been aware of the inequality that exists in the system. I'm aware and have seen what happens when communites of color do not trust law enforcement. I am also very much aware of why communities of color (especially the African American community) are leary of cops - I know the history and I've heard the tales. But never had I really felt scared. I laughed off the "talk" my grandparents gave me when I was old enough to drive my car by myself. I thought "yeah right...we don't live in the times you grew up in". Only I never realized that now the thing they inherently knew to be true would still be going on and in my generation would be all over the place and anyone would be able to see it.
So all of that brings me to this moment...this reading list. It is my goal to learn more about social justice as it pertains to the African American experience so that I can better serve my community and have a more intelligent conversation about how things effect us. The more I know the better ally, friend and advocate I can be. I would like to invite anyone who wants to to read along and discuss each book on the list with me. I'll be posting a blog post bi-weekly on what I'm learning as I read.
And without further adieu here is a list:
Hello, it's Belinda from Litsy (BellaBookNook). I have been so inspired to educated myself on these topics ever since I read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. You have to add it to your list. It's amazing. I realized how much I didn't know about our criminal justice system and feel compelled to help make changes. So this Social Justice Project is great. First, let me tell you I read slow and am a mood reader. I have a hard time with TBRs and haven't done any buddy reads because of it. But I would love to have someone to discuss all of my thoughts with when I read these types of books. I have a book blog (or link off of my website) and I will post my Social Justice Project Reading list there and explain what I plan on doing. I will definitely read some on your list and once I complete them, I will come on here as well as my site to discuss. I won't read your thoughts until I am finished so don't think I forgot. I also have to read some light reads in between to keep the sanity. I also like to process what I read and sit with it a while before I head onto another. So I won't be reading as many this summer but over the course of the year. That's more realistic for me. But I am thrilled you planted your idea in my mind so that I can get back at it. My blog is:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.belindascrafts.com/category/belindas-book-nook/
I will write my post today for the SJP. Look forward to our discussions. Have a great day!
Trust me I understand completely. I don't plan to just read all of these this summer. And sometimes I have to take a break and come back to the subject matter. Some of this stuff is so complex and so deep that for my sanity I need a break. My plan is to read as many of these as I can this summer. I choose eight books because that's my usually amount read during a 3 month period. I'll check out your site; thanks for the link!
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