“If Barack Obama came to embody America’s history of racial progress, then Donald Trump should come to embody America’s history of racist progress. And racist progress has consistently followed racial progress.” — Ibram X. Kendi

The following should go without saying but I’ll say it anyway: reading big books about racism does not automatically make you anti-racist. It does not make you woke or superior. It does not inoculate you from the constant, horrific headlines about innocent Black people murdered by cops. But in a time where participating in protests is not always possible, and donating money to Showing Up for Racial Justice, Black lives Matter, and the Equal Justice Initiative (and many, many others) simply doesn’t feel like enough, reading about the Black experience in America feels like a proactive (albeit small) thing to do during this challenging time.