Finishing One Reading List On Racism

This spring I found a book list on Sojo.net which was focused on racism through the lens of classic novels by African-American Authors. At this point, you have to be a subscriber to read the article but I have slowly worked through the list. It has been both interesting and challenging to complete this list* but it did force me to read a wide selection of books many written by authors I had not gotten to experience before.

*Well I got to 8 out of 9 on the list. I could not finish the last one.

Here is the list, with a short summary

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is the story of two sisters--one a missionary to Africa and the other a child wife living in the South--who remain loyal to one another across time, distance, and silence.

I know I read this once before in high school but I did not remember much of it and found a lot of depth of meaning I am sure I missed when I was younger.

The Wedding by Dorothy West

Set on bucolic Martha's Vineyard in the 1950s, The Wedding tells the story of life in the Oval, a proud, insular community made up of the best and brightest of the East Coast's black bourgeoisie.

An interesting tale exploring issues of class and race and gender the complexities of the intersections of all of those things.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

The first science fiction written by a black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Her new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

This is a hard story which while powerful is still emotionally challenging to read.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose.

Overall I enjoyed this story of a woman learning about herself and love. One personal challenge was reading the large parts of the story which were written in dialect. The dialect means you need to take more time to understand what you are reading.

The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes

Hughes wrote The Ways of White Folks while living in Carmel, California. In it, he shares acrid and poignant stories of blacks colliding--sometimes humorously, but often tragically--with whites throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

This was a collection of very timely stories. It is sad how little the situation has changed in the past almost 100 years. While the details have changed in many cases the general attitudes have not changed at all. I think this is an important collection for people to think about.

Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes

I have been challenging myself to read more classics written by Black authors and this was the most enjoyable to read so far. While the story does deal with racism etc is does so in a gentler way. It is more a slice of life story than a story which is doing the much needed but very heavy work of processing the collective PTSD which resulted from slavery and institutional racism.

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

I don't know how I feel about this story. While I have some knowledge of the African American church community and currently go to a predominately African American congragation I felt I was missing something. Like I was missing the decoder ring which would turn the story from semi-trippy into something meaningful and powerful. So while I could feel why this is considered a classic I can't say I really understood it (Other than men are jerks who can't keep their pants up and some really messed up people cause a lot of trouble using the name of religion)

Native Son by Richard Wright

This is the one book on the list I could not finish. I found it too heavy and the main character struggled so much with anger and pain and hurt that it was anxiety-producing for me. I decided that it made sense for me to declare defeat. (And I understand that individuals who live with racism live in this anxiety-producing state for large parts of their lives, I know it is my privilege that allows me to go this is too intense I'm skipping it) 

I already have two more sets of books I am working through: The August Wilson Cycle of 10 plays and https://remezcla.com/lists/culture/latin-american-books-literary-canon/