Celebrate Black History Month

You are your best thing : vulnerability, shame resilience, and the black experience

Edited by Tarana Burke
and Brené Brown

Burke and Brown are the perfect pair to usher in this stark, potent collection of essays on Black shame and healing. Along with the anthology contributors, they create a space to recognize and process the trauma of white supremacy, a space to be vulnerable and affirm the fullness of Black love and Black life.

My grandmother’s hands : racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies

By Resmaa Menakem

“The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of body-centered psychology. My Grandmother’s Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.”–Amazon.com.

Yoke : my yoga of self-acceptance

By Jessamyn Stanley

“Remember Jessamyn Stanley? She’s the proudly fat, Black, queer yoga teacher and charismatic author of Every Body Yoga. In Yoke, Jessamyn writes about what she calls the yoga of the everyday-a yoga that is not just about poses but about applying the hard lessons we learn on the mat to the even harder daily project of living. In a series of deeply honest, funny, gritty, thoughtful, and largely autobiographical essays, Yoke explores issues of self-love, body-positivity, race, sex and sexuality, cannabis, and more, all through the lens of an authentic yoga practice.”–

Me (Moth)

By Amber McBride

Moth, who lost her family in an accident, and Sani, who is battling ongoing depression, take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors, which helps them move forward in surprising, powerful and unforgettable ways.

Stamped : racism, antiracism,
and you

By Jason Reynolds;

adapted from Stamped from the beginning by and with an introduction from Ibram X. Kendi

“The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. Racist ideas are woven into the fabric of this country, and the first step to building an antiracist America is acknowledging America’s racist past and present. This book takes you on that journey, showing how racist ideas started and were spread, and how they can be discredited”–Dust jacket flap. 

The Gilded Ones

By Namina Forna

“Remember Jessamyn Stanley? She’s the proudly fat, Black, queer yoga teacher and charismatic author of Every Body Yoga. In Yoke, Jessamyn writes about what she calls the yoga of the everyday-a yoga that is not just about poses but about applying the hard lessons we learn on the mat to the even harder daily project of living. In a series of deeply honest, funny, gritty, thoughtful, and largely autobiographical essays, Yoke explores issues of self-love, body-positivity, race, sex and sexuality, cannabis, and more, all through the lens of an authentic yoga practice.”–