I probably don’t have to tell you that it has been a wild week in the news. Police violence against Black people would be horrible even if it was a one-off incident, and it’s not: it’s a centuries-long pattern, under-acknowledged and under-addressed (by white folks, anyway). Here’s a webpage where you can learn more about this injustice and how you can help.
One way to combat racism in yourself – not only for your own edification but also so that you can more effectively combat it in others – is to broaden the perspectives you absorb through the media you consume. To that end, here are 10 books by writers of color that I think you’d like.
Content note: discussions of racism, abuse, trauma, transphobia, and race play.
Mollena Williams – The Toybag Guide to Playing with Taboo
I’ll open with a sex/kink book, since this is ostensibly a sex/kink newsletter… Mollena, a brilliant and accomplished Black sex educator (among other remarkable jobs she’s had), is a fascinating figure vis-à-vis sex and race. She’s talked about being ostracized from certain kink communities both for being vocal about racism and for vocally enjoying race play, an edgy genre of kink where racial issues are confronted and explored through roleplay and power exchange. While opinions differ on the ethics of race play, I think this book is the best one to read if you’re interested in learning about it. Mollena also explains numerous other “taboo” kinks like vomit play, incest roleplay, and scat, in a way that feels accessible and never stigmatizing. She is a treasure.
Jeremy O. Harris – Slave Play
I went to see this play on Broadway a while back and it was quite an experience. It uses the aforementioned race-play kink to talk about deeper and older racial issues, including residual trauma from the legacy of slavery. The writer, Jeremy O. Harris, is a gay Black man who has always pushed boundaries in his work. Next I want to read his earlier play, Daddy.
Kevin Patterson – Love’s Not Color Blind
Poly Role Models creator Kevin Patterson is so passionate about race and representation in polyamorous communities that he literally wrote the book on it. Considering that even I, as a white person, have sometimes found it intimidating to “break into” non-monogamous communities that seemed tight-knit and insular to me, I know this problem is exponentially worse for folks of color, who (as Kevin has recounted in panels and talks I’ve seen him give) understandably might not feel comfortable returning to a group/meetup of other polyam folks if they show up and they’re the only POC present. This book offers an honest look at the current state of racism in polyamorous communities, as well as some solutions white folks in those communities can start implementing to fix that problem.
Carmen Maria Machado – In the Dream House
I kept seeing rave reviews of this memoir everywhere I looked when it first came out, so I had to read it. It’s a harrowing tale of an abusive same-sex relationship the author lived through, told in a structurally inventive way that gives the story an eerie, fairy tale-esque vibe. We so rarely hear about abuse in relationships between two women, even though it’s a very real phenomenon, and I’m so glad Carmen was able and willing to put her story out there – and to escape her abuser all those years ago.
Carmen Maria Machado – Her Body and Other Parties
I loved In the Dream House so much that I immediately picked up Carmen’s previous book. It’s a collection of short fiction stories that fellow WOC writer Roxane Gay has said “vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange” – I really can’t put it better than that. In these trying times, I’ve been thinking a lot about one particular story in this book that starts out as a diary of the protagonist’s sexploits and then slowly morphs into a creepy-as-fuck apocalypse tale when a mysterious pandemic spreads across the planet… Prescient and terrifying.
Ling Ma – Severance
Speaking of pandemics… This novel follows an Asian-American woman before, during, and after the spread of a weird disease that decimates humanity and destroys civilization. I found myself crying many times while reading it at the sheer bravery of the protagonist, as she stands up to her (white) oppressors and enemies, and tries to rebuild some semblance of a good life in the wake of all this destruction.
Brandon Taylor – Real Life
I read this debut novel earlier this year and was blown away by how well it uses a quiet, matter-of-fact voice to comment on racism, trauma, homophobia, and grief. The protagonist is the only Black person in his friend group at a prestigious university, which complicates his friendships as well as a budding romance with a white, closeted male friend of his. I love how this novel shows some of the smaller, more insidious manifestations of racism in everyday life – i.e. microaggressions – to demonstrate that racism is no less potent for being less overt.
Jessica Pan – Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come
Steadfast introvert Jessica Pan decided to live one year of her life as an extrovert – traveling alone, talking to strangers, taking an improv class, and more. I found this book both inspiring and instructive as someone who’d really like to break out of my introverted shell from time to time.
Vivek Shraya – I’m Afraid of Men
Vivek Shraya is a Canadian trans woman of color. This is her memoir about compulsory masculinity, transphobic violence, trauma recovery, and the joys of femininity. It’s a short read, but packed with emotion and truth. She’s also a groundbreaking musician – need some tunes to listen to today?
Eternity Martis – They Said This Would Be Fun
I haven’t actually read this yet – it’s sitting on my shelf, waiting for me. I met Eternity at journalism school – she was a grad student while I was an undergrad – and later worked with her on a number of pieces for Daily Xtra, where she’s now an editor. At one point she wrote an astute article for the Ryerson Review of Journalism about why “Black” should be capitalized; the following year, the Toronto Star announced it would be capitalizing Black and Indigenous moving forward. Amazing. Eternity’s debut book is a memoir about her experiences of (among other things) navigating racism on university campuses, and I’m looking forward to reading it.
What authors of color are your faves right now? Feel free to reply to this email and let me know.