Robin DeAngilo, a white, middle-class woman, writes about her experience consulting, educating, and facilitating discussions on race and social justice. As an expert that visits various workplaces and organizations, her role is to enter a group, discover the racial problem in its midst, and deescalate the experience into one of understanding and growth for every…
Why Slavery’s Reach is the Book I Needed Most*
Let’s check the receipts. Following slaveholder money and power in Minnesota, Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State by Christopher P. Lehman generates an image of pro-slavery Minnesota before and during the Civil War. Businesses ran by slaveholders and unfree workers went up and down the Mississippi river, granting freedom to slaves that…
Mighty Be Our Powers by Lehmah Gbowee (2011)*
Following the rise of violence and war in Liberia during the early years of the First Liberian Civil War, Lehmah Gbowee flees to escape her hometown. Juggling children, abusive partners, patriarchal politicians, and short bouts of alcohol abuse, Gbowee shows us that power comes from within. She leads organizations in peaceful protest against the corrupt…
March Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (2013-2016)
“I was thinking of you. I was thinking of you and Martin. I was thinking about the years of work, the bloodshed… the people who didn’t live to see this day.” Ted Kennedy to John Lewis In one of the last lines of this comic book trilogy, it reads, “I was thinking about the years…
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
“This book is over 100 years old, why are you writing a review on this?” When times become tough, this is the work I always come back to reread. Some people have the Bible, The Harry Potter series, or The Office, but I always reread Alice in Wonderland. A classic story that stood the test…
Stonewall by David Carter (2005)
In this nearly definitive work on the Stonewall Riots of 1969, David Carter combines interviews, newspapers, radio shows, pamphlets, and various other media to generate as clear a picture around the riots as possible. Greenwich Village in 1969 was already changing, but when riots started outside the Mafia-operated Stonewall Inn, the queer community started a…
Lake Street Riots v Stonewall Riots
After just finishing one (1) book on the Stonewall riots, I cannot help but relate the events from June 1969 to what is happening now in Minneapolis. I cannot claim any sort of expertise on the subject, but here are two comparisons I discovered. The Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back Police brutality isn’t new….
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 (2005) Still 100%
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an…
Stardew Valley (2016)
Farmville and Animal Crossing meet the graphics of early Pokemon games in Stardew Valley. Harvest your produce, catch the best fish, mine the expensive gems, explore the village, becomes friends with the locals, and fall in love all in this short but expansive game. Your character receives a farm in your grandfather’s will, his old…
Ben Platt Live from Radio City Music Hall is a Must See
Between dance breaks and jokes, Ben Platt comes out strong in this live recording at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Recorded on September 29th, 2019 and released as a Netflix Special on May 20th, 2020, this work comes at a time when it’s needed most. With somber triumphs and explosive bouts of…
Rewriting 