A restorative reading list for these trying times.

Written by: Cree Myles

When done correctly, reading is resistance. It is a practice in empathy, it is self enlightenment.  While existing in these unique times I have taken this opportunity to go back to my source — to Toni and Alice, to Octavia and Assata — to remind myself of how powerful I am; of the privilege and honor it is to come to this planet as a Black woman. As the conscious, as the culture, as God. 

Nothing makes sense. I am two hours post protest as I write this. Had anyone recovered from the shock of Ahmaud Aubrey in time for George Floyd? I hadn’t, and I’m still grieving Eric, still grieving Trayvon.   

An introductory college literature course would likely have a bunch of Faulkner and Thoreau on the syllabus. The list I’m about to share is the real American Lit curriculum. Nobody has their finger on the pulse of American consciousness like the Black woman. Nobody has had to obsess over the hypocrisy of what this country says it is and what it does — merely for the sake of survival — like the Black woman.  Nobody has simultaneously been so carefully ignored and imitated at every level of American culture, like the Black woman. We are America. We fed your children, entertained you, loved and bandaged our men while enduring yours, wrote your songs, choreographed your dances and wrote your books. Here are some of the greatest, to help feed you during this time:

As a Black person, there is no correct way to navigate this moment.  We carry all of the joy and pain of Blackness with us wherever we go. These books are both a balm for the wounds and a spark for hope.  Enjoy.