Keren Threlfall

collections of thoughts

10 Books on Race That Every American Should Read

Racism is a loaded term, a buzzword that often creates an immediate barrier if one perceives it is in any way being negatively connected with them. As such, reading a list called “10 books on racism” might make you want to run, because the mere suggestion of such a list might make you feel that someone is accusing you of being racist. Or, it might make you want to run toward it, because perhaps like many of us, you’ve realized your initial understanding of race and racism in our world was missing important pieces, at best. The reality is that each of our prejudices, fears, and acceptance of people different than us – on both a personal and societal level– has been shaped by a number of things, and none of us can avoid this entirely. We would all do well to examine this issue from viewpoints outside of our own. Without further commentary, these are 10 of the books that shaped my understanding of race and racism in America: 1. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Bryan Stevenson) 2. Black Like Me (John Howard Griffin) 3. Twelve Years a Slave: The Autobiography of Solomon Northup (Solomon Northup, Sue Eakin) 4. Sundown Towns:  A Hidden Dimension of American Racism by James W. Loewen (Loewen, James W.) (My review on this, from 2012) 5. Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II 6. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 7. Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America 8. Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates) 9. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., (Clayborne Carson) 10. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (Isabel Wilkerson) Bonus Resources: 16 Books About Race That Every White Person Should Read 70+ Race Resources for White People 50 Books That Every African American Should Read  

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Reading 2013: Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave is the autobiography of Solomon Northup, a free-born African American husband and father who was kidnapped, drugged and beaten, and sold into slavery in Louisiana. There, he bore the hardships of slavery for twelve years before he was able to be freed. I am thankful for the recent interest in this book (not to mention, it’s about to be released as  a major motion picture). Because we are still historically close to the era of slavery and segregation (which extended far beyond official Emancipation), Americans often react defensively upon hearing indictments on our cruel history. And yet, it is our history, and this is not merely a random anomaly that occurred within an otherwise “good system.” (As Douglas Blackmon wrote in Slavery by Another Name, “When white Americans frankly peel back the layers of our commingled pasts, we are all marked by it. Whether a company or an individual, we are marred either by our connections to the specific crimes and injuries of our fathers and their fathers. Or we are tainted by the failures of our fathers to fulfill our national credos when their courage was most needed. We are formed in molds twisted by the gifts we received at the expense of others. It is not our “fault.” But it is undeniably our inheritance.”) Gradually, as we distance ourselves from history, it does become easier to accept the past and even strive to make amends. Thanks to the life-long work of Dr. Sue Eakin, we now have this once bestselling, subsequently overlooked book available. In recounting her own discovery of the book, I found Dr. Eakin’s story rather telling: “I searched for years for a copy of the old book for my own, but one was nowhere to be found. Then, when I entered Louisiana State University in 1936, I searched at Otto Claitor’s Bookstore, with its storehouse of old books spilling out of his gallery. Suddenly I spied Twelve Years a Slave and asked the price with trepidation. “What do you want that for?” asked Mr. Claitor, known as an authority on rare old books. “There ain’t nothing to that old book. Pure fiction. You can have it for 25 cents.” And that began my life with Solomon Northup.” At times, this book was a very difficult read. Over the past three years, I have read a good number of books on slavery and the horrible treatment…

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Reading 2012: Start Something That Matters

When Blake Mycoskie vacationed in Argentina during 2006, he didn’t foresee the trip being a catalyst to starting a world-renowned business.What he did see was a common Argentinian shoe called alpargatas, while at the same time observing a vast number of children who, without shoes, were highly susceptible to injury and soil-borne diseases. It was a problem so widespread that he felt compelled to help in some way, any way. And an idea was born. Blake was no stranger to being an entrepreneur and to wanting to help others, and it was on that trip that his passion for both merged into a brilliant idea: TOMS Shoes. In Start Something That Matters, Mycoskie shares how his vision became what is now TOMS Shoes–his for-profit company that operates on a One for One basis, donating a pair of shoes to needy children for each pair purchased through his company. Table of Contents: one: the TOMS story two: find your story three: face your fears four: be resourceful without resources five: keep it simple six: build trust seven: giving is good business eight: the final step This book is more than just a history of TOMS: Start Something That Matters is in the genre of inspirational business, encouraging entrepreneurs to do something more than just build a successful business. Reading this book, I caught similar themes as those found in Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness and Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Work Week, business books that Mycoskie refers to specifically and that I’ve also read in the past year. This book was more in keeping with the theme of Delivering Happiness, but I felt it delved deeper into the concept of philanthropic business than did the latter. (Of course, the two businesses, Zappos.com and TOMS, are quite different in many ways.) Even if business and entrepreneurism aren’t a reader’s typical fare, I believe many would find this book inspirational for Mycoskie’s story alone; and who knows, perhaps start something that matters, too. Random things that made this book particularly fascinating: Blake and his sister were contestants on The Amazing Race in 2002. Blake’s mom was also an entrepreneur in her own way. After TOMS began to grow, Blake realized he was living with too much stuff, and too extravagantly; he sold and gave away most of it and now lives on a sailboat. The colors of TOMS shoes that Blake thought would flop have repeatedly been the bestselling colors. In the…

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Reading 2012: Decision Points

Unlike most presidential memoirs, President George W. Bush’s biographical account of his White House years doesn’t follow a chronological timeline. Instead, he centers Decision Points around key decisions that he had to make in his personal life and during his presidency. He makes clear that in retrospect, he doesn’t believe all his decisions were the best, but were what he believed to be the best at the time. He focuses his writing on 14 main decisions (though there are many additional decisions discussed under these main decision divisions), each given a chapter: 1. Quitting 2. Running 3. Personnel 4. Stem Cells 5. Day of Fire 6. War Footing 7. Afghanistan 8. Iraq 9. Leading 10. Katrina 11. Lazarus Effect 12. Surge 13. Freedom Agenda 14. Financial Crisis As long as the reader can keep in mind that this is not a chronological account, each chapter does a good job filling out the aspects surrounding each “decision point.” (Though, at some points following the chronology can be confusing.) It is clear that President Bush was passionate about the decisions that he  chose to outline in this book. For some of his decisions, his detailed explanations helped me better understand (though, perhaps still not agree with) his positions and decisions (e.g., occupation in Afghanistan), while others actually made me have more concern over why he made such decision (e.g., some of his implementation into the education system). President Bush also offered the helpful reminder that we do not yet have the perspective of history that allows us to more objectively look at what was accomplished during a presidency. While he was concerned that readers and citizens take this into consideration while forming opinions on his performance as president, he also asked that the world make the same considerations when making observations about other recent presidencies. Reading the book was a helpful reminder that the man occupying the White House is a person, both capable of making mistakes and also capable of feeling the hurt and weight of the harsh criticisms often hurled from all directions. And even then, not every government action or decision is not a direct result of the President’s thinking or opinion. America’s government is not run as a tyrannical monarchy, however easy and enjoyable it may be to create memes that depict such. I enjoyed hearing about Bush’s seemingly “normal” years growing up, as well as his strong family relationships.…

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