The best books to ease you out of your comfort zone

I love Malcolm’s story because it captures the complexity of humanity. It is not just a story about his time in prison or how he became a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement; it’s about how one person can do everything. A single trait or action defines no one. We are all products of an ever-changing tapestry of experiences. 

Malcolm’s story is about a life filled with challenges, mistakes, redemption, passion, and purpose, and he never holds back in its retelling. Admittedly, I grew up with a false, dichotomous understanding of Malcolm X as the violent counterpart to Martin Luther King’s nonviolent protests. But reading through this autobiography, I realized this was a profound (and likely intentional) mischaracterization by the powers that were. Malcolm was just the opposite. He was a man who loved people, and his family, and God. His autobiography is a call to look beyond the surface.

This is required reading for anyone interested in racial justice movements. I also highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Laurence Fishburne. It's next-level narration.

Smith offers an up-close-and-personal tour of how the history of slavery has been preserved in various corners of the Earth. From Monticello Plantation in Virginia to the House of Slaves in Gorée Island (Senegal), I was taken on an eye-opening, albeit sometimes cringeworthy, journey through modern-day perceptions of a haunted past.

For me, this retelling of history is most fascinating. It forces the reader to reckon with the idea that truth isn’t just in the eye of the beholder but in the mouth of the teller. How can we find truth in history if it is being told in so many ways? I weirdly enjoyed wrestling with it as I ventured through the places Smith visited as if his storytelling was escorting me.

This was an instant New York Times Bestseller, something that took even people within the abolitionist movement aback. While reformist practices and progressive prosecutors were already mainstream when the book came out, abolition was not a concept that was as easy to swallow.

I think that’s where Kaba shines: Through transcribed interviews and her essays, she makes abolition understandable and seemingly attainable. Her rationality is hard to argue with, and she presents the concepts in a way that anyone can access. 

First released in 2010, Alexander’s seminal book on racial justice still impacts new generations of social activists. Her startling revelations—like the fact that there are more Black men and women under correctional control (either in jail or prison or under supervision by parole or probation departments) than were enslaved in the 1800s—are difficult to reckon with but important to consider.

The book was written after the election of America’s first Black president, Barack Obama when the idea of “colorblindness” was gaining popularity. However, as Alexander points out, the elevation of a single individual did not wipe out the extreme racial disparities that continue to exist in our society. It is a fascinating and gut-wrenching read that is as relevant today as it was 10 years ago.

Rothstein mercilessly cuts through the political rhetoric of the past century of American politics and gets down to the nitty-gritty: Racial disparities in housing and economics were established and exacerbated by our own elected officials.

Rothstein exposes direct lines between government action and racial inequality, furthering the idea that the system isn’t broken. Rather, it works as it was designed to by allowing access to the few while neglecting the many.