As a duo, we’re a mix of things. For Akwasi, I’m a changemaker, professor, and academic. My work examines the intersections of race, crime, and criminal justice, and my current research spans criminal justice institutions and various aspects of drug legalization in Canada and beyond. For Tahira, my career has been less than linear, with experiences spanning the investment, cannabis, and consumer sectors as an investor and entrepreneur. I realized my forte lies in sitting in the middle, streamlining complexity, and remaining dedicated to the people who need help most. Together, we’re committed to shaping the future of business and policy by integrating diverse perspectives and lived experiences.
We wrote...
Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization and the Fight for Racial Justice
This book illuminates the stories of those on the front lines of the War on Drugs—the individuals and communities disproportionately harmed; the official and social forces ranged against them; and the victims, activists, and entrepreneurs who are fighting back. As attitudes toward cannabis shift, now is the time to expunge cannabis convictions and make a place in the legal market for Black and other underrepresented groups who have borne the brunt of harsh and unjust laws.
A powerful indictment of one of the worst social and political failures in the nation’s history, the book offers an equally powerful vision of the possibility of redemption. Communities can be rebuilt, and racist policies must be overturned to give way to a new era of justice.
This book should be required reading and not just for healthcare professionals.
For us, it was a necessary awakening. Until we had to become advocates for our health, we didn’t realize how fragmented the American healthcare system truly is, especially if you are Black or a minority. Even though we know racism permeates every nook and cranny of the world, it didn’t click with us how far it went until this book.
Linda Villarosa is a brilliant journalist who digs into so much that it makes our heads spin. It made our hearts ache and inspired us to want to do more.
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF 2022 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES
The first book to tell the full story of race and health in America today, showing the toll racism takes on individuals and the health of the nation.
In the US, Black people have poorer health outcomes than white people at every stage of their lives: Black babies are more than twice as likely as white babies to die at birth or in the first year of life; Blacks in every age-group under sixty-five have significantly higher death rates than whites. Racial disparities in healthcare are…
Michelle Alexander doesn’t need another recommendation for her book, but we’ll do it anyway because it’s that good!
We love books that amp us up and make us feel smarter after we’ve read the last page. Like the wool has been uncovered from our eyes, we would argue it may be one of the best books about civil rights, but since we haven’t read them all yet, we’ll lean on how well-written, alarming, and inspiring it is.
Even though we thought we knew a little about a lot of things, this book showed us how much more there is to learn and share.
Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists motivated by Michelle Alexander's unforgettable argument that 'we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.'
We’re drawn to books that tell real stories to help personify topics, and Dan’s book does just that. We thought it was gripping and intense, with great lines that we returned to highlight.
Although it was written in the 90s, the message still resonates, as well as the realization that the fights are long and hard but worth it.
For sheer government absurdity, the War on Drugs is hard to beat. After three decades of increasingly punitive policies, illicit drugs are more easily available, drug potencies are greater, drug killings are more common, and drug barons are richer than ever. The War on Drugs costs Washington more than the Commerce, Interior, and State departments combined - and it's the one budget item whose growth is never questioned. A strangled court system, exploding prisons, and wasted lives push the cost beyond measure. What began as a flourish of campaign rhetoric in 1968 has grown into a monster. And while nobody…
We read Michael Pollan’s essay in the New Yorker and jumped to this book shortly after. We loved it, not because of the novelty of “drug” talk, but because of the charm, naivety, and lack of agenda with which he handles the subject.
We found ourselves rereading passages so we could really absorb the words because we wanted to go on and tell everyone who would listen to us about it!
"Pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured." -New York Times
A #1 New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018, and New York Times Notable Book
A brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such…
It’s hard to find nonfiction books that feel a lot like fiction, and we sprinted through this book for that reason.
The author weaves personal narrative and public policy into a web that depicts the very tragic impact of unjust laws and racism.
We read the book after seeing the movie (which is also incredible), and we can say that we were just as impacted and enamored as we were during the film. Maybe even more!
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN, JAMIE FOXX, AND BRIE LARSON.
A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, BOSTON GLOBE, ESQUIRE, AND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR.
A #1 New York Times bestseller, this is a powerful, true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix America's broken justice system, as seen in the HBO documentary True Justice.
The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. One in every 15 people born there today is expected to go
to prison. For black men this figure rises to one…
As a trauma therapist and dedicated researcher, I love uncovering valuable insights within lesser-known books. There are hidden gems, free from the pressure of commercial success, crafted by authors deeply committed to research, understanding, and the art of writing itself. Their dedication resonates with me, as I believe in the profound value of information and the power of critical thinking. Through my own book, Traumatization and Its Aftermath, I aim to emphasize that psychological concepts often lose their depth in translation and my mission is spreading awareness and fostering a deeper understanding of trauma and its intricate facets. With that idea in mind, I chose these five titles.
A fresh take on the difference between trauma and hardship in order to help accurately spot the difference and avoid over-generalizations.
The book integrates the latest findings in brain science, child development, psycho-social context, theory, and clinical experiences to make the case that trauma is much more than a cluster of symptoms to be tamed, but instead best understood as development gone off course, away from growth and towards (only) survival.
This book prompts a profound shift in perception, inviting to view trauma as an intricate and diverse experience, a point of view that ultimately leads to sharper treatment and, hopefully, more healing. It encourages a transition from asking, "What happened to you?" to the deeper question, "What is your relationship with what happened to you?"
Traumatization and Its Aftermath: A Systemic Approach to Understanding and Treating Trauma Disorders
The book is comprehensive, bold, and practical-a much-needed resource for the assessment and treatment of trauma. Instead of the traditional focus on the overall importance of healing, Traumatization and its Aftermath decodes why some people don't heal as easily as others, analyzes the various failures of diagnosis, and explains how to make therapeutic interventions truly effective.
This book offers a systemic deep dive into traumatization that clarifies myths and misinformation about the entire spectrum of trauma and provides both clinicians and non-clinicians with the right level of validation, preventive measures, conceptualization methodology, assessment tools, and healing facts that have not…
