Jake:
Jailbreak,
Thin Lizzy
Delilah:
Jailbreak,
Thin Lizzy
Scott:
What’s Going On?,
Marvin Gaye
Mimi Li
senior editor
Katie Edwards
designer
Go to Katies’s pick
In June 2014, the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates addressed the issue of reparations for slavery in a prescient article for The Atlantic. He revisited the topic in a New Yorker interview five years later, when reparations had become a topic among Democratic presidential candidates. The country as a whole needs to have this discussion, and his 2014 article is a good place to start.
Allan Gold
senior adviser
Go to Allan’s pick
Alyssa Abkowitz
VP, content
Go to Alyssa’s pick
My pick is for James Baldwin and people who are trying to live up to him. I realize this is a wide category, and the way I've framed it probably reveals my love of Jimmy Baldwin more than anything else. The man could turn a phrase and make you feel smarter and more connected to yourself and dialed in to a rare mind.
The Fire Next Time and Go Tell It on the Mountain are both classics, but I got into Baldwin via Giovanni's Room, which covers an American expat's tortured love story with Giovanni. It’s also about class and money and power and the north–south divide in Europe that persists to this day, but I’ll stop there.
A more contemporary perspective that shares Baldwin’s matter-of-fact righteousness is Why Didn’t We Riot? by Isaac J. Bailey. And one that’s on my reading docket is Mychal Denzel Smith's Stakes Is High.
If you have kids—and, really, even if you don’t—the book Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea is a gem. Written by Kamala Harris's niece, Meena Harris, the story follows Kamala and her sister Maya's efforts as children to get a playground installed in their apartment building complex, despite being told it couldn't be done multiple times. It's a wonderful story of perseverance and reminds readers of all ages that there's always a way if you don't give up.
In 1984, bell hooks attempted to explain the complex issue of intersectional feminism in her book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, including what it is, how we get there, and the current obstacles that are in our way. This book cemented her importance as a radical feminist, and even though it’s almost 40 years old, it’s still as fresh and relevant as ever. Hooks goes beyond just theory: one of my favorite chapters is centered on what true feminist parenting and parenting communities could look like. This book is a necessary read for all, especially white people who are having a tough time understanding intersectionality—the idea that all of our social and political identities combine to create different levels of discrimination and privilege.
Albums we miss listening to in the Leff office:
Annie:
Songs in the Key
of Life,
Stevie Wonder
In honor of Black History Month, we’re sharing some of our favorite books and articles by and about Black men and women. Our picks are inspiring, enlightening, and just plain entertaining. Enjoy.
Go to Mimi’s pick