Reading as Resistance

I’d already been contemplating a post offering my reading recommendations to honor Black History Month, and then our president displayed his vile racism on social media last week. His post of a meme with Barak and Michelle Obama’s faces superimposed on ape bodies is indefensible. The outrage was immediate and bipartisan, and rightly so. As an alternative to outrage, let me offer an alternative: reading as resistance.

The meme was shocking, even for a president whose racism has earned its own Wikipedia page. Senator Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator and a supporter of the president, called it the “most racist thing he’s seen out of this White House.” More egregious and insidious, however, is this administration’s systematic removal of black history from our public museums and our education curriculum. President Trump finds references to slavery “too divisive” and inconsistent with his promotion of “American greatness.” In a statement that may have been more candid than he intended, he admitted that he “loves the poorly educated.”

We resist, then, by educating ourselves on black history, because black history is OUR history. One of my most life-changing college courses was Black American Literature taught by Dr. Henry Morgan. As a young white man, Dr. Morgan was active in the Civil Rights movement, and his passion for the subject made for riveting lectures. If you’ve followed my annual Great Reads posts for long, you know that I feature black history or black literature almost every year. Thank you, Dr. Morgan.

Wondering where to start? Let me offer a few suggestions. The books below are a sampling of my personal reading, and I consider them all 5-star reads. But my list barely scratches the surface. This is a rich vein of literary gold! Some of these books are quite lengthy, but I often choose the audio version for the longer reads. This lets me make good use of time when I’m walking the dog or cleaning house.

I know people sometimes avoid these books because the content is painful. Yes, not gonna lie, these are hard reads. But I gravitate to them because they invariably leave me in awe at the human spirit and the sustaining power of hope. Ultimately, these hard stories inspire faith, hope and love.

Biography & Autobiography

And There Was Light by Jon Meacham (audio). Abraham Lincoln captured my imagination in fifth grade, when I read Across Five Aprils, and I’ve found him irresistible ever since. Meacham exquisitely captures Lincoln’s complexity and vulnerability. He presents him not as a larger-than-life hero, but as a deeply flawed human being who met his moment in history, inexorably guided by a spiritual internal compass. A man of his time, his views on slavery evolved. He led our nation through its most fraught chapter with a shrewd combination of pragmatic compromise and unyielding determination. This book moved me to tears more than once.

Frederick Douglass by David W. Blight (audio). A great pairing with Jon Meacham’s Lincoln biography, Frederick Douglass’ biography examines that era from a black man’s perspective. As a formerly enslaved man, Douglass made the question of slavery personal and urgent.

History is complicated. We get the Cliff Notes version in school, heavily focused on key events that seem to fall into place as if scripted. But the reality on the ground was so much messier. Both Lincoln and Douglass evolved, not only in their views on slavery but in their approach to addressing it. Both men struggled mightily at key points in their lives, and they didn’t always make the right decision the first time. They learned, failed, and kept trying. Their greatness arises in no small part from their sheer determination and tenacity.

We rightly study Lincoln and Douglass as examples of powerful oratory. Certainly, they had natural giftedness, but more than that, they were steeped in the Bible and great literature. They met their moment in history with powerful, persuasive rhetoric because they drew from such deep wells. Might a lack of scholarship be a root cause of our impoverished political discourse today? For those currently rewriting Black American history curriculum, maybe start by reading Frederick Douglass.

The Life of Olaudah Equiano, written by himself. In one of the earliest slave narratives, published in 1789, Olaudah Equiano recounts his life story. Abducted in Africa at age 10 and forced into labor on slave ships, he later earned his freedom, was educated, and became a powerful voice for the abolitionist movement. This was one of the most impactful books on my Black American Literature syllabus.

Memoir

How Far to the Promised Land by Esau McCaulley (audio). To call Esau McCaulley’s family complicated is a vast understatement. When McCaulley gets a phone call and learns that his father has died, it takes him on a journey of self-discovery as he prepares his father’s eulogy. What will he say about the man whose abandonment shaped their lives in terrible ways? As he pieces his family narrative together, he looks with fresh eyes at each family member, recognizing how the family unit was impacted by both personal decisions and cultural systems. McCaulley faces the hard truths of what it means to grow up Black in America with honesty and compassion. Ultimately, his is a tender story of grace and hope.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Is there anyone more inspiring and gracious than Maya Angelou? In this deeply moving memoir, we discover her journey from trauma to poet, her life a testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

Black History

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois. In this classic, Du Bois draws largely from his own experience to draw the reader into the experience of being black in America. This book’s important insights into history and sociology are no less relevant today than when it was published in 1903.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. It took me awhile to find time for this 500+ page book, but I’m so glad I did. What came to be known as The Great Migration started as a trickle in 1915 as black families started leaving the South to escape Jim Crow oppression and find better opportunities in the North and West. Seventy years later, nearly six million people had taken the gamble, forever shifting American demography. Wilkerson chronicles the migration of three families, from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, who uprooted their lives for the chance at better opportunities in New York, Chicago and California. This book will deepen your understanding of the challenges faced by Black Americans.

Black History & Faith

The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. I highlighted the heck out of this book. Jemar Tisby truly delivers on the subtitle of the book: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. It’s an uncomfortable read for a white Christian, but oh, so important. With the care of a historian scholar, Tisby walks through the history of racism and complicity in the American church, and makes a compelling case for a better way forward. His writing is clear, and you can read his heart on every page. I’ve lived much of the history he recounts, and it rings entirely true to me. Tisby has been vilified in some evangelical circles, for obvious reasons. People don’t want to hear this message. All the more reason to read it for yourself.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone. I came to this book by way of a tweet. Fleming Rutledge, renowned Episcopal priest, wrote one of the seminal texts on the crucifixion of Christ. On Twitter one day, I happened to see a post where she lamented the fact that she had discovered this book by James Cone after she wrote her book on the crucifixion. She found Cone’s parallels between the cross and the lynching tree so compelling, that she was rewriting the foreword to her book to incorporate Cone’s perspective. Wow!

So, of course, I had to read it. I’m not exaggerating to say this is one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read. It is a gut-punch, but I needed to enter into the pain of the black experience in order to truly see my black brothers and sisters. No one wants to read a book about lynching, but please, read this book. You will not be the same afterwards.

Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley. In this era of deep racial division and mistrust, I wanted to deepen my understanding of the Black experience. McCaulley walks through Biblical texts that address six defining cultural challenges facing African Americans. This is the kind of scholarly work you expect from a Ph.D., well researched and documented. Remarkably, however, McCaulley makes it very accessible to lay readers like me. In fact, I nearly used up an entire highlighter pen underlining passages that resonated with me. I will be recommending this book to complete strangers in the produce aisle at Wal-Mart.

Novels

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Quite simply, the best novel ever written. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read it. The movie starring Gregory Peck is a masterpiece.

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. Just finished this one. When a black man gets unjustly convicted of a murder, his aunt enlists the reluctant help of a local school teacher to prepare him to die as a dignified man. Every page of this novel rings true.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. A Southern love story celebrating the strong black woman who will not be kept down by sorrow and fear, but instead finds her voice and pursues her dreams against all odds.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. In this rich story of family ties, Milkman Dead, born into the richest black family in a rust-belt town, discovers his family heritage. Morrison introduces us to four generations of colorful personalities, each with their own struggle and longing.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Pecola Breedlove is an 11-year-old black girl who prays that God would give her blue eyes and blond hair like the beautiful girls so beloved in America. A story of childhood loneliness and yearning, told in exquisite prose that stays with you long after the final page.

On My Reading List

Because there are always more books than time, I have these books on deck for a future read. While I can’t personally endorse them yet, they have won the hearts of many readers before me. So if nothing in the list above grabbed your interest, consider one of these.

• Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stow
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Reading Alternatives

No time to read? How about a movie? Here are some of my favorites:

• The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). Cicely Tyson shines in this classic.
• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). There will never be an Atticus Finch like Gregory Peck.
• 12 Years a Slave (2013). My first introduction to the incredible Lupita Nyong’o.
• The Black Church documentary (2021). Henry Louis Gates Jr. narrates this beautiful and thoughtful film.
• The Color Purple (1985). One of Steven Spielberg’s finest, featuring the incomparable Oprah Winfrey and Whoopie Goldberg.

There’s so little we can do in the face of all that is wrong in our country right now, but we can refuse to normalize racism. We can practice reading as resistance, leaning into Black History Month as a way to stick it to the man. Let’s do this!

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