So… the piles of books waiting to be talked about is getting taller and taller, so this week I’ll go through all of them and then I’ll feel better and all caught up. It might be just one thing ticked off my HUGE list but I have to start somewhere, right? You know that feeling of too many balls in the air? or spiralling out of control? Yeah, that.
Anyway, first up:
‘Why I’m no longer talking to white people about rate’ by Reni Eddo-Lodge.
Let me start with one thing: this book should be compulsory for everyone.
In 2014 Reni published this blog post. (do read it, please). It sparked a huge conversation that needed to be had and the book expanded from this.
It’s humbling, it’s a bit of a slap in the face and a huge eye opener. We, white people need to realise that racism doesn’t exist, that conversations must be had and that it’s not always about ‘us’. We can’t keep seeing/filtering our thinking and our world through our white filter, as only ‘we’ are the norm, the measuring device.
This book will also open your eyes to the structural racism in this country. Yes it’s there. About our biases and our white priviledge. It’s not always a comfortable read, but let’s face it, why should it be?
White privilege is an absence of the consequences of racism. An absence of structural discrimination, an absence of your race being viewed as a problem first and foremost.”
One to gift to everyone you know.
while you're ahead... 