Virtual Book Club Event Image
What We’re Reading: The Virtual Book Club Edition
by Christine White
June 17, 2020  •  4 minute read
Virtual Book Club Event Image

UT Libraries remains committed to inclusivity and diversity. Through our partnership with the Center for Student Engagement we invite all students to join June’s Virtual Book Club. Within this virtual space, we hope to explore crucial issues surrounding race and identity and to hold honest and respectful conversations during group discussions that will begin soon.

Vol is a verb, and joining the Virtual Book Club is one way to gain new perspectives, examine our biases, and work together to create an antiracist world.

UT Libraries offers an extensive collection of e-books regarding diversity and inclusion that are available to current students, faculty, and staff. Below are a few of our recommendations that would be a great place to start your journey through the Virtual Book Club, or simply through your own personal reading.


TitleAuthorSummaryE-Book Link
How to be an AntiracistIbram X. KendiThe author uses a combination of ethics, history, law, science, and his own personal experiences to discuss racismtiny.utk.edu/antiracist
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban AmericaKhalil Gibran MuhammadBy chronicling the emergence of deeply embedded notions of Black people as a dangerous race of criminals, the author reveals the influence that such ideas have had on urban developmenttiny.utk.edu/modernurban
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About RaceBeverly Daniel Tatum Tatum argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic dividestiny.utk.edu/cafeteria
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American CityMatthew DesmondA transformative book about poverty and economic eploitationtiny.utk.edu/evicted
Sister Outsider: Essays and SpeechesAudre LordeIn a charged collection, the author takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class while propounding social difference as a vehicle for changetiny.utk.edu/sisteroutsider
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great MigrationIsabel WilkersonThis book chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of Black citizens who fled the south in search of a better lifetiny.utk.edu/othersuns
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of EmpowermentPatricia Hill CollinsThis book explores the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals as well as African American women outside academetiny.utk.edu/feministthought
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of ColorblindnessMichelle AlexanderIn this incisive critique, the author provocatively argues that we have not ended the racial caste in America; we have simply redesigned it.tiny.utk.edu/newjimcrow
White Fragility: Why It’s So hard for White People to Talk About RacismRobin DiAngelo and Michael Eric DysonThis book explores the counterproductive reactions White people have when their assumptions about race are challengedtiny.utk.edu/whitefragility
The Autobiography of Malcom X: As Told to Alex HaleyMalcom X, Alex Haley, and Attallah ShabazzIn this classic autobiography, Malcolm X tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movementtiny.utk.edu/malcolmx