A Note on Antiracism
One of the very last events we hosted before quarantine was for Stamped, the collaboration between National Book Award winner Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Newbery winner and #1 NYT bestseller Jason Reynolds. The book is described as a 'remix,' and if you're not familiar with it yet, it's just incredible--Jason took Dr. Kendi's ground-breaking and award-winning book Stamped from the Beginning, and translated it for younger readers, bringing American history, and the history of racism (which are, of course, one and the same) to vibrant life for a whole different generation. The crowd was rapt, and engaged, and it was the last time I hugged anyone outside of my family.
As a white woman born in 1980, I grew up thinking that colorblindness was the goal, but of course, pretending difference doesn't exist or matter is insidious. Fellow white Americans, I’m talking to you. We all start where we start--the important thing is not to end there, too. Talking about race can be uncomfortable for those of us who have had the privilege not to do much of it, but that discomfort obviously pales in comparison to the reality of abuse, bodily harm, and outright murder that Black people disproportionally experience in this country, as we have seen over and over again, this year and every year. To contribute to the solution instead of the problem, it's absolutely necessary for us to grab a mirror before we grab a megaphone. The luckiest thing about owning a bookstore is having so many resources available, and this year I read Stamped, and White Fragility, and The New Jim Crow, and there are so many others on my stack. The core of antiracism, as I understand it, is activity instead of passivity, which is especially important for those of us who have benefited so immensely from white privilege. As with all long and important journeys, reading a book is a great start.
And so, in order to help a) get these eye-opening books in people's hands and b) put our money where our mouths are, we've put together an antiracist reading list for adults and this one for kids, and for the whole summer, we will donate 20% of the proceeds of book sales from that list to Dr. Kendi's Antiracism Research and Policy Center. The group's mission is to "figure out novel and practical ways to understand, explain, and solve seemingly intractable problems of racial inequity and injustice." Most recently, they have formed the COVID Racial Data Tracker which collects, publishes, and analyzes racial data on the pandemic within the United States. Their work is vital, and we want to support their efforts as much as possible, so please, go nuts and order the whole reading list. I'll be reading along with you.
Yours, with love, magic, and solidarity for a better future,
Emma
