Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour, and now the Library Team will be offering related reading lists based on the topic of Sunday service. Here is their list for the upcoming service.
VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:
1. How to Have Antiracist Conversations: Embracing Our Full Humanity to Challenge White Supremacy, by Roxy Manning, 2023, 305.8 [Recommended or referenced by Kiersten Moore. From LibraryThing: “Utilizing Dr. Martin Luther King’s Beloved Community framework, activists will be empowered to create change and equity through fierce yet compassionate dialogue against racism and systematic white supremacy. Although committed to antiracism, many people struggle with confronting racist behavior. Difficult conversations are avoided or end in negativity, aggression, and even violence. How to Have Antiracist Conversations gives the tools to approach hard conversations with compassion and authenticity by embracing the 6 principles of Kingian Nonviolence: 1. Nonviolence is the way of life for courageous people; 2. The Beloved Community framework is the future; 3. Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil; 4. Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause; 5. Avoid internal violence of spirit as well as external physical violence; 6. The universe is on the side of justice. Combined with an understanding of racist theory, readers can approach sensitive topics and address discriminatory behavior while minimizing harm. Drawing on her experience as a clinical psychologist and an Afro-Caribbean immigrant, Manning provides a model of dialogue, demonstrated with practical applications, which can be applied to a variety of situations where difference in power and privilege exist”].
2. The Antiracist Heart: A Self-Compassion and Activism Handbook, by Roxy Manning and Sarah Peyton, 2023, 305 MAN [From LibraryThing: “The Antiracist Heart delivers a unique path to antiracist activism and introspection by applying neuroscience exercises, questionnaires, and journaling prompts based on the book How to Have Antiracist Conversations. Implicit biases begin forming before we have language and are deeply rooted in the subconscious. By combining neuroscience, introspection, and self-compassion, one can disrupt unconscious patterns. Each chapter of The Antiracist Heart introduces the reader to a concept connected with antiracism such as: Privilege and White Fragility; Disgust and Coded Language; Microaggressions. Manning, a clinical psychologist and antiracist activist and Peyton, a neuroscience expert and educator, explain the neuroscience behind each concept and provide specific exercises and skill sets designed to rewire the brain, in order to unravel implicit bias. Building on the work of How to Have Antiracist Conversations, this workbook provides a road map to guide readers on their journey toward neutralizing subconscious bias, fighting racism from within, and becoming a changemaker in the world”].
3. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, by Martin Luther King Jr., 2010, 323.119 KIN [From LibraryThing: “… In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement, rented a house in Jamaica with no telephone, and labored over his final manuscript. In this significantly prophetic work, which has been unavailable for more than ten years, we find King’s acute analysis of American race relations and the state of the movement after a decade of civil rights efforts. Here he lays out his thoughts, plans, and dreams for America’s future, including the need for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing, and quality education. With a universal message of hope that continues to resonate, King demanded an end to global suffering, powerfully asserting that humankind – for the first time – has the resources and technology to eradicate poverty”].
4. Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference, by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu, 2011, 170 TUT [From LibraryThing: “Archbishop Desmond Tutu has witnessed some of the world’s darkest moments, for decades fighting the racist government policy of apartheid and since then being an ambassador of peace amidst political, diplomatic, and natural disasters. Yet people continue to find him one of the most joyful and hopeful people they have encountered. In Made for Goodness, Tutu shares his source of strength and optimism. Written with his daughter, Mpho, who is also an ordained Anglican minister, Tutu argues that God has made us for goodness, and when we simply start walking in the direction of this calling, God is there to meet us, encourage us, embrace us. God has made the world as a grand theater for us to work out this call to goodness; it is up to us to live up to this calling, but God is there to help us every step of the way. So tackling our worst problems takes on new meaning and is bolstered with hope and the expectation that that is exactly where God will show up. Father and daughter offer an inspiring message of hope that will transform readers into activists for change and blessing”].
5. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism, by Robin J. DiAngelo, 2018, 305.8 DIA [From Beacon Press. Signed by the author. From LibraryThing: “… In this “vital, necessary, and beautiful book” (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’ (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively”].
6. How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi, 2023, 305 KEN [From LibraryThing: “”The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it — and then dismantle it.” Ibram X. Kendi’s concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America — but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. In this book, Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism. How to Be an Antiracist is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society”].
7. Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue, by Sam Harris, 2015, 297 HAR [From LibraryThing: “In this short book, Sam Harris and Maajid Nawaz invite you to join an urgently needed conversation: Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem drawn to extremism? What do words like Islamism, jihadism, and fundamentalism mean in today’s world? Remarkable for the breadth and depth of its analysis, this dialogue between a famous atheist and a former radical is all the more startling for its decorum. Harris and Nawaz have produced something genuinely new: they engage one of the most polarizing issues of our time — fearlessly and fully — and actually make progress. Islam and the Future of Tolerance has been published with the explicit goal of inspiring a wider public discussion by way of example. In a world riven by misunderstanding and violence, Harris and Nawaz demonstrate how two people with very different views can find common ground”].
8. Beyond Civilization: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure, by Daniel Quinn, 2000, 901 QUI [Gift of Shelagh Lindsey. From LibraryThing: “… We all know there’s no one right way to build a bicycle, no one right way to design an automobile, no one right way to make a pair of shoes, but we’re convinced that there must be only one right way to live — and the one we have is it, no matter what. Beyond Civilization makes practical sense of the vision of Daniel Quinn’s best-selling novel Ishmael. Examining ancient civilizations such as the Maya and the Olmec, as well as modern-day microcosms of alternative living like circus societies, Quinn guides us on a quest for a new model for society, one that is forward-thinking and encourages diversity instead of suppressing it. Beyond Civilization is not about a “New World Order” but a “New Personal World Order” that would allow people to assert control over their own destiny and grant them the freedom to create their own way of life right now — not in some distant utopian future”].
9. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris, 2005, 200 HAR [From LibraryThing: “A startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today’s world, this historical tour of mankind’s willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify atrocities, asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, we can not expect to survive our religious differences indefinitely. Most controversially, argues that moderate lip service to religion only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism. Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need, and invokes that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world”].