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Diversity And Inclusion Podcasters

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20 Best Diversity And Inclusion Podcasts You Must Follow in 2023

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Best Diversity And Inclusion Podcast for D&I Practitioner. Podcasts explore everything related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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What are a couple easy things I can do as a starting point to address this implicit bias in my own art classroom?

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What are a couple easy things I can do as a starting point to address this implicit bias in my own art classroom?

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Taste the Nation is breezy in tone, but it exposes the betrayals at the heart of "American" cuisine.

Food, at its essence, is sustenance; that much is simple. Where things get complicated is in all the manifold ways it sustains us. Consider the burrito. In the first episode of Padma Lakshmi's new Hulu show, Taste the Nation, the food writer and longtime Top Chef host travels to El Paso, Texas, where she attempts to isolate all the different ingredients in one of America's favorite dishes. At the Jalisco Cafe, a chef griddling oozy eggs with beans on a stovetop tells her that the perfect burrito comes down to an attention to detail. The dish, another interviewee tells Lakshmi, is pure practical convenience: It's quick to assemble and eat on the way to work. It can also signify a mother's love, a whole meal swaddled in a pillowy tortilla and tucked into a child's pocket before the day begins. And, in a city where the hum of helicopters surveying the border adds ambient foreboding to every interaction, burritos also represent the essence of American food: cuisine from one culture cloaked in the imposed ingredients of another (in this case, wheat flour). "A burrito," Lakshmi observes, "is tradition wrapped in colonization."

Lakshmi has been a graceful, gamine presence on American TV screens for almost 15 years now, so familiar from her Top Chef duties that the significance of Taste the Nation feels almost underplayed. On camera, she's engagingly ribald, describing a razor clam as "phallic, elephantine" and good-naturedly scarfing down stadium food in a triptych of shots that radiate an absurd sensuality. Lakshmi's flirtatious manner, her unquenchable glamour, allow her to Trojan-horse Taste the Nation 's true intentions for viewers who might be expecting a vaguely patriotic travelogue through America's most iconic meals. What she's offering instead is one of the most fascinating food series to emerge in recent years: a ruthless indictment of how a nation's cultural heritage has been constructed out of the people and traditions that it has consistently and brutally rejected.
Read: Uncovering the roots of Caribbean cooking
Initially, Taste the Nation wasn't even supposed to be about food. After the 2016 election, she told , Lakshmi was working with the American Civil Liberties Union and had decided to research a project on immigration, as an immigrant who was offended by the rhetoric coming out of the White House. She landed on food as a way to become more intimately acquainted with some of the communities she wanted to investigate. But what becomes clear through the series's 10 episodes is how distinctly American cuisine encapsulates a paradox, in which dishes made by immigrants are quickly appropriated as national staples while the people who make them are rejected over generations. Perhaps because a country founded on the violent displacement of Native Americans will always expect violence from successive new arrivals, wave after wave of immigrants has tried to use food as a pacifying, neutralizing force. "It's all 'Don't be scared of us,'" is how the comedian Ali Wong characterizes Americanized Chinese food to Lakshmi as the pair eat their way through San Francisco's Chinatown. At the end of the El Paso episode, Lakshmi idly mulls why shared tastes can't bring people together in a more substantial way. "Who," she ponders, "doesn't love a taco?"

This knife-edge dance between adoption and rejection comes to define Taste the Nation, as Lakshmi considers what a particular dish or place reveals about immigration, assimilation, and the hunger for home. In Milwaukee, she examines how the seemingly effortless absorption of hot dogs and lager as American staples belies an uneasy history of German immigration to the United States. In an episode dedicated to chop suey, a dish almost totally removed from authentic Chinese cooking, she explores its enthusiastic U.S. adoption in the 19th century even as Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred immigrants from China for decades. "How do you convey who you really are in a place where nobody understands you?" Lakshmi asks in one episode. Taste the Nation also conveys how often authenticity and uniqueness have to be sacrificed in the quest to be accepted.
Read: The history behind one of America's most beloved desserts
At home, in New York, Lakshmi shares her mother's story of coming to this country in search of a better life, and cooks coriander chicken with a pioneer in the mainstreaming of Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey. Lakshmi is particularly attuned to the women she interviews, and to their understanding of food as a totem of love, security, and prosperity. "Your mom was like me," a Peruvian immigrant named Aida tells Lakshmi in one scene, raising a toast to the bravery of another woman who made a leap into the unknown. Saipin Chutima, who has become the doyenne of high-end Thai cuisine in Las Vegas, explains that when American diners initially rejected her cooking because they were used to greasy, inexpensive Thai fare, "I was not afraid, because I have 10 fingers; I can do anything."

In the series's most striking episodes, Lakshmi looks at communities whose traditions and history tend not to be included in kitschy celebrations of culinary Americana. One features the Gullah Geechee people of the southern coast, described by Lakshmi as among "the most beautiful cultures you may have never heard of," whose ancestors were enslaved and transported to America to turn swampland into rice fields. With the culinary historian Michael Twitty, Lakshmi makes red rice, a meal whose varying components traditionally came from whatever happened to be available. At this point in history, the dish has been so broadly incorporated into southern cooking that even Martha Stewart has a recipe for it. But as Lakshmi and Twitty prepare it, the context they provide adds fraught symbolism: the wealth of the early American economy built on the blood and forced labor of enslaved people. It's this quality, the particular "dichotomy of the splendor and the suffering," Lakshmi argues, that truly defines American cuisine as a whole.
Read: F oodie culture as we know it is over
Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives the show isn't. Still, for all the comparisons it has garnered to adventuristic travelogues like Parts Unknown, Taste the Nation kept reminding me of Guy Fieri's long-running Food Network series, an unabashedly populist celebration of "real" American food. Fieri, with his cherry-red hot rods and his unique bowling-shirt chic, is the antithesis of a food snob, as enamored of a deep fryer as he is of a farm-to-table joint. His conception of American cuisine has always been an inclusive one. Bosnian refugees, Jamaican matriarchs, British purveyors of pub fare-all are welcome in Flavortown. But while Fieri makes acceptance seem easy, Lakshmi exposes the overlooked battles that have defined the making of the American melting pot. She documents how Indigenous food traditions were lost when Native Americans were forcibly removed from their land and given government-supplied commodity foods that made them sick. She considers questions of food sovereignty, colonization, and trauma. She does all this with a kind of educated breeziness, and speech peppered with colloquial "dudes" and "mans" that resists heaviness, but respects viewers' ability to figure things out for themselves.

At the end of the El Paso episode, Lakshmi interviews Maynard Haddad, a second-generation Syrian American entrepreneur who owns the H&H Car Wash and Coffee Shop, a Tex-Mex restaurant. Haddad employs a number of Mexican cooks who cross the border every day to get to work. He also voted for Donald Trump in 2016, and expresses no reservations about doing so, although he's irked by how much harder his chefs' commutes have become. Lakshmi doesn't press him on the disconnect. She wanted, she told Eater, to document his point of view, not try to manipulate it. She's been criticized for this unwillingness to hold to account someone with views that directly threaten his staff's lives and livelihoods, and for her faintly platitudinous conclusion that food might be able to unite people divided by much more than physical borders. But the episode has already exposed the conflict at the heart of American cooking, the inequity of a culture that gets to selectively take and absorb whatever it wants without having to offer anything significant in return. Haddad can profit from Mexican food and the labor of migrant workers while directly betraying those same employees because that's exactly what American cuisine has always done.

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kitschy celebrations of culinary americana

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Padma Lakshmi's New Food Show Is a Trojan Horse

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Taste the Nation is breezy in tone, but it exposes the betrayals at the heart of "American" cuisine. Food, at its essence, is sustenance; that much is simple. Where things get complicated is in all the manifold ways it sustains us. Consider the burrito.

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I recently started using the screen time function on my iPhone, which gives me a breakdown of how much time I spend on my phone and where that time is spent. From this, I learned that a lot of my time is spent on Instagram.

For many, this realization might come as a reality check, forcing us to evaluate why we spend so much time on the platform. And, yes, many of us might turn to an Instagram "detox" in this moment. But instead of cutting myself off from the platform altogether, and missing out on what I actually enjoy (keeping up with friends and connecting with others in my industry), I've tried to use Instagram-and the rest of social media-in a healthier way. By using the platform as a tool for compassion, empathy, and education, my time spent with the app becomes less about procrastination and mindless scrolling, and more about intentional time well spent.

There are a number of wonderful educators, activists, and scholars who use Instagram and Twitter as platforms for communicating not only with their followers, but also with anyone who is interested in learning more about a particular topic. Instagram can be an excellent resource for expanding world views, learning about topics as they relate to intersectionality, wellness, accessibility, chronic illness, body positivity, and so much more.

If you're interested in changing up your Instagram feed and want to use the platform as a tool for education, consider following the accounts below.

Read on for quotes from each person about their attitude and approach to social media.

Alok (they/them) is a gender non-conforming writer and public speaker who dedicates a lot of their feed to educating followers on topics tied to the LGBTQ+ community. Tune in to their live sessions, during which they provide more in-depth talks on specific topics tied to gender and the trans experience.

Alok's perspective on social media and how it can be used for good:

"I try my best to be unflinchingly honest on social media-about my pain and my power, my triumph and my tragedy, and all of the states in between and outside. Social media-hell, this world-can feel so isolating, and I feel like honesty, bearing witness to the enormity of everyone and everything makes it a little bit more manageable."

Alice (she/her) is a disability rights activist, an advisory board member for Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California, and a Presidential appointee to the National Council on Disability. Alice created @DisVisibility, a Twitter account dedicated to amplifying disability media and culture, by sharing opportunities, news, and more from the community.

Some of Alice's thoughts on social media:

"Social media is the main way I share information to people in the disability community. Using Twitter, Facebook, podcasting, and blogging, I try to tell my story, amplify the work of others, and encourage conversation since many of us are looking for one another. I also learn so much from the people that I follow online. I am grateful to be connected with disabled people all over the world doing amazing things. Without social media, I wouldn't be the activist I am today."

Mia (she/her) is an educator, writer, activist and community organizer for disability justice and transformative justice. Mia's Instagram and blog are both dedicated to raising awareness and creating visibility for different issues as they relate to disability and intersectionality.

Mia's mission with Instagram and social media:

"The only social media I consistently use is Instagram. It feels more intimate than other social media platforms, and I try to use my posts to educate and inspire, as well as expand and shape conversations. I am often posting things about disability, ableism and access; or accountability and community responses to violence, harm and abuse.

In general, I have never really had much of an affection for social media, but I have been surprised at how much I have actually enjoyed Instagram. I have met and connected with so many people from all over the world, which I never expected and have also learned a lot from other accounts.

One example of expanding and shaping conversations is the plastic straw bans that are popping up in cities across the country. ( For people with mobility issues, plastic straws are often necessary in order to drink, as NPR reports.)

Many folks have shared that their thinking has been changed from my posts about it. Social media was a great way to share information about the bans in accessible ways to help shift the conversation and break through the overwhelming ableism that surrounded it."

Sonalee (she/they) is a social worker, sex therapist, public speaker, and community organizer. Their work as a sexual violence crisis counselor involves helping anyone who has experienced sexual trauma, issues with body image, racial and immigrant identity issues.

Sonalee's positive attitude towards social media:

"Social media doesn't have to be a toxic place. We have the ability to curate our feeds to be places that nourish our growth and imagination of a better future."

Ericka (she/they) is a sex educator, a writer, and activist for racial, social, and gender justice. They regularly teach workshops and classes about sex, gender, and race at academic institutions both locally and around the country.

Ericka and their partner Ebony (he/him) also host a podcast called Hoodrat to Headwrap, which takes a deeper dive into some of the topics they cover on Ericka's Instagram.

Ericka's dualistic perspective on social media:

" Social media is my escape from the world and where I can be plugged in. It's where I can take up space and also be seen through similar views and imagery. It's where I can teach and also learn from someone else."

Zoë's (she/her) Instagram is an honest portrayal of her life as a sex educator and owner of the online sex-positive toy store called Spectrum Boutique. Her stories feature Q&As from time to time, where she addresses every kind of question as it has to do with sex, relationships, and self-love.

How social media has helped Zoë:

"Social media has allowed me to connect with people over vulnerable subjects, which makes me feel not so alone in the world. I talk about everything from my anxiety and mental health issues to herpes, and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Yes, there are trolls, but after years of posting online I have found a way to only absorb the love people express when we connect over our mutual experiences."

Ilya (he/they) is a non-binary personal trainer who specializes in medical exercise, writer, and a physical therapist assistant. They run a business called Decolonizing Fitness, which works to make fitness accessible through education and support, for all types of bodies. Their Instagram showcases words of encouragement and inspiration as they relate to fitness, and celebrates the successes of those who are part of the Decolonizing Fitness community.

How Ilya uses social media as a platform for sharing positive and educational content:

"I've always said that Queer and Trans People of Color (especially those of us who carry multiple marginalized identities) are revolutionary because our survival in this world depends on it. We are often thrust in activism roles as we are simply sharing our day-to-day experience on social media...naming all the ways we literally have to fight for our humanity. Our creative content is a byproduct of our struggle. We get a platform to share our jewels with the world, and you get to become more consciously aware."

Afrosexology is the brainchild of Daylchia and Rafaella, whose mission is to educate, explore, and reclaim black sexuality. Through the development of curriculums, speaking engagements, and workshops, the two have been able to cultivate a community both online thanks to the help of social media and in real life.

Some of the organizations they've worked with include Planned Parenthood, Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Partnership, and aasect (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists).

Dalychia and Rafaella's realistic and honest approach to social media:

"When it comes to openly talking about pleasurable sex, too many of us don't have a community that we can lean on for affirming, insightful, and challenging conversations.

Online and in real life we work to create spaces where we don't position ourselves as the experts trying to tell you how to live a sexually liberated life. Instead we pose questions, activities, and information that foster conversations and leaves room for all of us to be teachers and learners as we share vulnerable experiences, relevant information, and support one another on our sexual liberation journey."

Myisha (she/her) is a feminist sex and dating coach, who works to help people have more fulfilling and exciting sex lives. She is also the host of a sex positive podcast called Down for Whatever, which tells stories about real people and their sexual experiences. Her Instagram often provides small snippets of the work that she does on a day to day.

How Myisha uses social media to help spread sex positivity:

"I see social media as a way to infiltrate people's days with a jolt of sex positivity! I hope that my message that 'We're all OK' reaches people and allows them to accept themselves more fully as sexual beings."

Walela (they/them) is a community organizer who is based in Los Angeles. Walela is part of a team of activists involved with a radical grassroots organization called Spit Justice, which works to advocate for social justice, education, and artistic expression.

Walela is also currently undergoing treatment for Leukemia, and uses social media to provide transparency about their journey with the illness and what it means to be healthy both physically, and mentally.

Walela's intentional and thoughtful approach to social media:

"One of the things I try to do with social media is be intentional about the circles and communities I create on my accounts.

It is not about numbers but about WHO is following me: working class colonized peoples. I don't aspire to have a blue check, or be sponsored by brands, or be put on, or have a ton of white followers nor do I center them and I think that's really informed how my platform has developed and has become not only a resource for popular education but also a community in itself because it's real.

The biggest thing I try to do with social media is spark the desire to take action and that action being rooted in both study and praxis. Hence, why I always center reading, history, elders, movements past, and tie them to current movements today and organizing.

It's one thing to talk about these systems vaguely, it's another to offer real avenues in which people can get involved on a grassroots level."

Read next: How Social Media Can Boost Your Confidence

Get Inspired By the Past

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Listen to a meditation voiced by activist Rachel Cargle to hone and celebrate the power of radical listening.

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How to Make Your Social Media Feed a More Educational, Intersectional Place

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I recently started using the screen time function on my iPhone, which gives me a breakdown of how much time I spend on my phone and where that time is spent. From this, I learned that a lot of my time is spent on Instagram.

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Blog - Posted on Tuesday, Sep 29

The re-energized efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 shone a light on many corners of Black culture. For lots of readers, this moment provided fresh inspiration to seek out new Black authors and to explore the rich variety of Black literature, whose stories span both borders and generations, illuminating a huge variety of experiences.

From 20th century classics that crystallized pivotal moments in the fight for civil rights, to hilarious novels, gripping fantasy, and 2020 bestsellers that continue to navigate complex social tensions - we've gathered together seventy of the best books by Black authors that belong on your 'TBR'.

Our hand-picked list includes several famous black authors you might recognize - Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin - as well as some of the most promising up-and-coming names. Within our 'Fiction' section, you'll find Black voices represented in a huge range of genres; and we've devoted additional sections to nonfiction, poetry, and Young Adult fiction (we know how important it is for young people to be represented in the books they read). So let's dive in!

Fiction

YA

Poetry

Nonfiction

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Looking to diversify your bookshelf even more? Or simply want to read authors on the forefront of literary development? Check out our list of 20 Latinx authors with books that belong on your TBR list.

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70 Must-Read Books by Black Authors in 2023

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With the re-energized efforts of the BLM movement inspiring us to shine a light on Black voices, here are 70 books by Black authors that you need on your TBR, from 20th century classics to 2020 bestsellers.

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Each month, we feature three books-one each for young, middle grade, and young adult readers-that explore a topic related to diversity and inclusion. Check out the calendar below to see what's in store!

Books of the month:

Middle Grade
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids

Books of the month:

by Xelena González

Finding circles everywhere, a mestizo grandfather and his granddaughter contemplate the cycles of life and nature. (Also available in Spanish as Por todo nuestro alrededor).

Middle Grade

Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids

by Cynthia Leitich Smith

An intertribal powwow connects the short stories of 16 Indigenous authors that explore Native culture, ethnic identity, and ancestry.

by Darcie Little Badger

Lipan Apache asexual teenager Ellie, who has the ability to raise the ghosts of animals, hopes to one day work as a paranormal investigator. But when her cousin Trevor is killed and his ghost appears to her, Ellie steps up to seek justice and protect his family.

Keep learning wherever you are.

Sign up to receive EdPractice, our monthly email packed full of advice, tips, and resources to help you be the best educator possible for your students.

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Each month, we feature three books-one each for young, middle grade, and young adult readers-that explore a topic related to diversity and inclusion. Check out the calendar below to see what's in store!

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12 Entertaining, Eye-Opening Podcasts About Race in America

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From Code Switch to Seeing White, the best podcasts that tackle race in America and discuss Black, Latinx, and Asian experiences-and whiteness.

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Transhood - Documentary about Transgender Kids

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Transhood - Documentary about Transgender Kids

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Set in Kansas City, this sleek film follows four trans kids over five years, avoiding the usual pitfalls to focus on their humanity.

A year and a half after Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to grace the cover of Time Magazine, National Geographic followed suit with its own explosive issue. For its 2016 cover story, The Gender Revolution, National Geographic's Robin Hammond photographed 80 nine-year-olds in eight countries. Poised gracefully on the cover was nine-year-old Avery Jackson, staring serenely into the camera, her bright pink hair and outfit striking a vivid complement to the magazine's iconic yellow border. Jackson is one of four transgender kids profiled in " Transhood," a tender-hearted documentary that humanizes trans kids while avoiding many of the usual gawking pitfalls. Following a timeline when trans rights have been consistently under attack, "Transhood" is a vital record of what it's like to grow up trans in the Trump era.

Filmed in Kansas City, Missouri over the course of five years, "Transhood" shrewdly focuses its lens on families and kids in America's so-called "heartland." While the kids are all white or white-passing (without assuming anyone's racial identity), the families range from working- to middle-class. The film addresses ostracization from religious family members, parental fatigue, and the financial burdens of trans-affirming healthcare, which isn't covered under many insurance plans. For the most part, the parents in "Transhood" are normal, everyday people doing their best to love and support their children. Their dedication to their kids' happiness, and the deepening relationships they form with them, make for some pretty heart-tugging scenes.

The oldest among the bunch is Leena, a redheaded teenager with dreams of becoming a Victoria's Secret model. Her ruddy-faced dad, who wouldn't look out of place in a beer commercial, emerges as one of the film's MVPs. While swimsuit shopping, he makes the typical dad jokes, jokingly suggesting a full coverage rash guard and steering her away from the g-strings. Leena's grandmother is similarly endearing, taking her to manicures and inquiring coarsely, as only a grandma could, about her bottom surgery. "Are they gonna give you the playpen?," she asks, using what is either a priceless regional euphemism or her own unique invention. "The fun place? So you can have sex?"

HBO

Many trans films focus on trans-feminine identities, which is why Jay and his mom Bryce are another excellent addition to the story. Aside from being an adorable and sweet kid, Jay's relationship with his mom is unbelievably touching. When she starts tearing up at one of his doctor's appointments, he reaches over to touch her arm and tell her "it's OK" through his own tears. "These appointments are really hard for me," she admits. "It's just hard seeing your name on that wristband." Another scene where he is forced to out himself to his girlfriend feels painfully intimate, but necessarily revealing. "It's just really hard being trans," he says, articulating himself very maturely through an impossible situation.

Their story takes an even sweeter turn when Bryce falls in love with Laney, a long-haired butch who plays in a women's football league. Though Jay takes some time to warm up to Laney, their arc gets a lovely button with his tearful speech at their small outdoor wedding ceremony. The reason for the rushed wedding? Because Laney's health insurance covers trans healthcare.

The other two subjects are a bit more complicated, and filmmaker Sharon Liese deserves credit for artfully navigating the nuances. After becoming a public face of the trans-rights movement at such a young age, Avery begins acting out. When the National Geographic photographer shows up to her house, she is already showing signs of fatigue. Though her parents feel obligated to continue their activism, Avery is tired of framing her life around struggle and hardship, and who can blame her?

The youngest subject in the film, Phoenix, is just four years old when filming began. While their parents are supportive at first, once Phoenix de-transitions and begins identifying as a boy, their mother does a complete 180, calling transgender identity "a mental disorder." Though she's clearly going through her own personal transformation following a divorce, she says: "I'm glad I changed, I like this me a lot more."

For all of its positives, "Transhood" spends a lot of time on the minutiae of medical transition, a narrative many trans people would like to move on from - yesterday. The first hormone shot or surgical consultation have by now become ubiquitous scenes in trans documentaries, and "Transhood" is full of them. The film feels definitively geared toward a cisgender audience; specifically parents who may be confused by the whole trans thing.

Still, the documentary works because of its expansive timeline and creative casting choices. While Liese herself is not trans, and it shows, she approaches her subjects with utmost respect and sensitivity, placing the kids firmly in charge of their own stories.

Grade: B
"Transhood" premieres Thursday, November 12 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.

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'Transhood' Review: Tender Documentary About Trans Kids Tugs the Heartstrings

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Set in Kansas City, this sleek film follows four trans kids over five years, avoiding the usual pitfalls to focus on their humanity. A year and a half after Laverne Cox became the first transgender person to grace the cover of Time Magazine, National Geographic followed suit with its own explosive issue.

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Google, Twitter and Instagram are free, which means there is no excuse to stay silent, uneducated, and uninformed in 2020. Diversifying your feed, and point of view, is as easy as tapping a button. To highlight profiles that are doing good work, Variety consulted with media and industry experts Akilah Hughes, Ashley Reese, Peyton Dix, Yassir Lester, and Zoe Samudzi to come up with a list of accounts that are creating and sharing anti-racist content.

Bree Newsome
Bree Newsome is a Black female artist who made headlines in 2015 when she lowered the Confederate flag outside the South Carolina capitol building. Her tweets about structural racism and white power structures are educational, wise, accessible and resourceful.

Everybody who didn't know is seeing America as it truly is right now. Can't provide resources for the pandemic but has all the resources at the ready to murder civilians in the street and teargas anyone who objects.

- Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) May 29, 2020

Check Your Privilege
Check Your Privilege, founded by Myisha T. Hill, is a guided journey that deepens your awareness to how your actions affect the mental health of Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color, or BBIPoC. Right now, the account is offering a Summer "Saturday Skool" series. Each day, participants will be led by a guide, coach or educator in the anti racism space.

Ebony Janice
Ebony Janice is a womanist scholar, author and activist who does community-organizing work, most specifically around black women's body ownership as a justice issue. She is also the founder of Black Girl Mixtape, a multi-platform safe think-space that centers Black women in the form of a lecture series, a podcast, and an online learning institute. Her feed is an amalgamation of resources, wisdom, memes, skin care tips and must-read book recommendations. Check out her podcast here.

Ethel's Club
Ethel's Club is an online social and wellness club dedicated to celebrating people of color. In June, the organization is hosting free virtual group healing and grieving sessions for Black people around the world. The events will be led by licensed Black therapists.

Equality Labs
Equality Labs is a South Asian technology organization dedicated to ending caste apartheid, gender-based violence, Islamophobia, white supremacy and religious intolerance. The group sits at the intersections of organizing, community-based research, socially engaged arts and digital security for South Asian religious and cultural minorities. The group's Instagram account shares posts about workshop offerings, surveillance information, and ways to help grassroots groups. Follow them on Twitter here.

Kelly Hayes
Kelly M. Hayes is a queer Native author, organizer and educator. Her work focuses on transformative justice, and she has led direct action workshops for young people, social justice groups and other intergenerational audiences. Her Twitter account shares crucial information for organizers and protestors as well as historical and educational resources.

No White Saviors
No White Saviors is a Ugandan advocacy campaign dedicated to disrupting traditional power structures between the Western world and the African continent. It will tell you why that service trip you might be taking this summer is "trash" and educate you on neocolonialism while using its platform to amplify Black voices and share resources.

That 10 day mission or service trip you are taking this summer to #Uganda #Honduras #Nepal #Cambodia or #Haiti is trash and we are going to give you 8 reasons why:

1) You aren't qualified. You have no relevant or useful training, experience or specialization.

- No White Saviors (@nowhitesaviors) June 29, 2019

Rachel Cargle
Rachel Cargle is a public academic, writer and lecturer who explores the intersection of race and womanhood, guides conversations, encourages critical thinking and nurtures meaningful engagement with people all over the world. In 2018, she established The Loveland Foundation after raising over $250,000 for therapy for Black women. Recently, she went live with InStyle's Peyton Dix for a conversation on racism and active and consistent allyship. Watch it here.

R29 Unbothered
Refinery29's Unbothered vertical is made by and for Black millennial women. Its Instagram posts are both celebratory and educational and champion Black voices, Black art and Black women.

Strong Black Lead
A group of Black executives at Netflix created Strong Black Lead, a vertical whose social channels on Instagram and Twitter are dedicated to publicizing and promoting Black talent and creators. They also produce Scottie Beam and Sylvia Obell's bi-weekly podcast " Okay, Now Listen," which covers everything from what they're binging to what's blowing up their timelines.

Survived and Punished
Survived and Punished is a national volunteer project aiming to end the criminalization of survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The coalition organizes to de-criminalize efforts to survive domestic and sexual violence, support and free criminalized survivors and abolish gender violence, policing, prisons, and deportations. The group tweets out information and analysis as well as offer critiques and interrogations of current power structures.

This is rich coming from the gov of a state with one of the world's largest prison systems, who collaborates w ICE to ramp up deportations and detention & ignores clemency requests from survivors of domestic and sexual violence. We are outraged at YOU & your anti-Black policies. https://t.co/Lx6gEHLNQo

- #SurvivedAndPunished (@survivepunish) May 30, 2020

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11 Anti-Racist Accounts That Are Worth Following

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Google, Twitter and Instagram are free, which means there is no excuse to stay silent, uneducated, and uninformed in 2020. Diversifying your feed, and point of view, is as easy as tapping a button.

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When my son was having some communication issues, I turned to books. There were several diagnoses on the table, including ASD. I knew about ASD from my psychology background, but that just told me the diagnostic criteria and what the "acceptable" treatments were. As a parent, I wanted a guidebook, a map, answers. While there was no guidebook, books did provide stories and lived experiences. So I read everything I could about neurodiversity-novels, nonfiction, parenting books, psychology books, middle-grade or children's books, YA, etc.

What is neurodiversity? According to the National Symposium on Neurodiversity at Syracuse, it is "a concept where neurological differences are to be recognized and respected as any other human variation." This can include ASD, dyslexia, ADHD, dyscalculia, Tourette syndrome, dyspraxia, and others. This is reflected in my book selection.

This list includes a variety of books about neurodiversity: fiction, nonfiction, memoir, parenting, and more. It contains books for adults, teens, and children. I've noted with (#ownvoices) when the author is neurodivergent.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this, and overall, I really liked the non-pathologizing of kids with different needs. Having a child with neurodifferences can be challenging, and this is a good guide to how to reframe your expectations and parenting skills to help facilitate their growth and happiness.

"Autism therapy typically focuses on ridding individuals of "autistic" symptoms such as difficulties interacting socially, problems in communicating, sensory challenges, and repetitive behavior patterns. Now Dr. Barry M. Prizant offers a new and compelling paradigm: the most successful approaches to autism don't aim at fixing a person by eliminating symptoms, but rather seeking to understand the individual's experience and what underlies the behavior." This was one of the first books I read when I suspected my son was neurodivergent, and I really appreciated the idea of NOT changing my son's behaviors.

"Delve into poetry, essays, short fiction, photography, paintings, and drawings in the first-ever anthology entirely by autistic people of color, featuring 61 writers and artists from seven countries. The work here represents the lives, politics, and artistic expressions of Black, Brown, Latinx, Indigenous, Mixed-Race, and other racialized and people of color from many autistic communities, often speaking out sharply on issues of marginality, intersectionality, and liberation."

"In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world."

"Through vivid stories and case histories of patients-both adults and children-Hallowell and Ratey explore the varied forms ADHD takes, from hyperactivity to daydreaming. They dispel common myths, offer helpful coping tools, and give a thorough accounting of all treatment options as well as tips for dealing with a diagnosed child, partner, or family member. But most importantly, they focus on the positives that can come with this "disorder"-including high energy, intuitiveness, creativity, and enthusiasm."

"Ever since he was young, John Robison longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits-an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother, Augusten Burroughs, in them)-had earned him the label "social deviant." It was not until he was forty that he was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger's syndrome. That understanding transformed the way he saw himself-and the world. A born storyteller, Robison has written a moving, darkly funny memoir about a life that has taken him from developing exploding guitars for KISS to building a family of his own. It's a strange, sly, indelible account-sometimes alien yet always deeply human."

"This is the real-life story of Owen Suskind, the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind and his wife, Cornelia. An autistic boy who couldn't speak for years, Owen memorized dozens of Disney movies, turned them into a language to express love and loss, kinship, brotherhood.The family was forced to become animated characters, communicating with him in Disney dialogue and song; until they all emerge, together, revealing how, in darkness, we all literally need stories to survive."

This is a great picture book for kids, whether they're neurotypical or neurodivergent. Julia has autism, and the book explains what autism is in a way that's easily understood by young children. Highly recommend this one.

This book was recommended to me by the psychologist who diagnosed my son, and I love it. It's one of the best books for parents that I've read. It doesn't emphasize changing stereotypical behaviors, but encourages parents to build on the strengths of the child and help them understand things like functional play, connecting with others, and activities of daily living. No pathologizing, shaming, or changing.

"Using an alphabet grid to painstakingly construct words, sentences, and thoughts that he is unable to speak out loud, Naoki answers even the most delicate questions that people want to know. Questions such as: "Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?" "Why do you line up your toy cars and blocks?" "Why don't you make eye contact when you're talking?" and "What's the reason you jump?" With disarming honesty and a generous heart, Naoki shares his unique point of view on not only autism but life itself."

"Martin is an American teen on the autism spectrum living in France with his mom and sister for the summer. He falls for a French girl who he thinks is a real-life incarnation of a character in his favorite book. Over time Martin comes to realize she is a real person and not a character in a novel while at the same time learning that love is not out of his reach just because he is autistic."

"[This book] outlines an attachment-based approach to help your child succeed based in the latest research. This research indicates that a secure attachment relationship between you and your child actually optimizes their learning ability by enhancing motivation, regulating anxiety, and triggering neuroplasticity. In this book, you'll discover why it's so important to accurately assess your child, find new perspectives on LBLDs based on the most current studies, and discover tips and strategies for navigating school, home life, and your child's future. Most importantly, you'll learn how your own special bond with your child can help spark their interest in reading, writing, and math. Every child is unique-and every child learns in his or her own way. With this groundbreaking guide, you'll be able to help your child thrive, in school and life."

"After years of military service, Evan Miller wants a quiet life. The small town of Ravenswood seems perfect-until he stumbles upon a vicious web of lies with his new neighbour at its centre. Ruth Kabbah is rude, awkward, and-according to everyone in town-bad news. Thing is, no-one will tell Evan Does she perform ritual sacrifices? Howl at the moon? Pour the milk before the tea? He has no clue. But he desperately wants to find out. Because Ruth doesn't seem evil to him; she seems lonely. And funny, and clumsy, and secretly quite sweet, and really f*%king beautiful...The more Evan's isolated, eccentric neighbour pushes him away, the more he wants her. Her-and all her secrets."

"This is a must-have handbook written by an Aspergirl for Aspergirls, young and old. Rudy Simone guides you through every aspect of both personal and professional life, from early recollections of blame, guilt, and savant skills, to friendships, romance and marriage. Employment, career, rituals and routines are also covered, along with depression, meltdowns and being misunderstood. Including the reflections of over thirty-five women diagnosed as on the spectrum, as well as some partners and parents, Rudy identifies recurring struggles and areas where Aspergirls need validation, information and advice. As they recount their stories, anecdotes, and wisdom, she highlights how differences between males and females on the spectrum are mostly a matter of perception, rejecting negative views of Aspergirls and empowering them to lead happy and fulfilled lives."

"Thirteen-year-old Mia Winchell is far from ordinary: she suffers from a rare condition called synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. When trouble in the school finally convinces Mia to reveal her secret, she feels like a freak; and as she embarks on an intense journey of self-discovery, her family and friends have trouble relating to her. By the time she realizes she has isolated herself from all the people who care about her, it is almost too late. Mia has to lose something very special in order to understand and appreciate her special gift in this coming-of-age novel."

"Successful PR executive Chelsea Grant is one assignment away from making partner at her firm and nothing will stand in her way. Her big break? Turn a reclusive computer genius into a media darling in time for his new product launch. He may have been dubbed the 'sexiest geek alive' but he has no patience for the press-and it shows. Piece of cake, right? Only problem is...his company doesn't want him to know they hired her. After a disastrous product launch two years ago, tech CEO Adam Bennett knows the success of his new device depends on the media's support. When a twist of fate brings the beautiful PR specialist to his door, Adam hires Chelsea to help turn his image around. Their attraction is undeniable and the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep things professional."

I recently read this and it was a breath of fresh air. Parents of children with a variety of neurological and physical disabilities and different abilities write with disarming honesty, dark humor, smart-assery, and love about the very real struggles, challenges, and beauty of everyday parenting.

"...Brodey introduces us to a community of intrepid moms and dads who eloquently share the extraordinary highs and heartbreaking lows of parenting a child with ADD/ADHD, sensory disorders, childhood depression, autism, and physical and learning disabilities, as well as kids who fall between diagnoses. Hailing from Florida to Alaska, with kids ages three to thirty-three, the parents in this collection address everything from deciding to medicate a child to how they've learned to take care of themselves, offering readers comfort, kinship, and much- needed perspective."

"With a touching and searing honesty, Laura challenges everything we think we know about what it means to be autistic. Married with four children and a successful journalist, Laura examines the ways in which autism has shaped her career, her approach to motherhood, and her closest relationships. Laura's upbeat, witty writing offers new insight into the day-to-day struggles of living with autism, as her extreme attention to sensory detail-a common aspect of her autism-is fascinating to observe through her eyes."

"'Sometimes I feel like everyone else was handed a copy of the rules for life and mine got lost.' Grace is autistic and has her own way of looking at the world. She's got a horse and a best friend who understand her, and that's pretty much all she needs. But when Grace kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, the world doesn't make much sense to her any more. Suddenly everything threatens to fall apart, and it's up to Grace to fix it on her own."

"Five years after he married Kristen, the love of his life, they learn that he has Asperger syndrome. The diagnosis explains David's ever-growing list of quirks and compulsions, but it doesn't make him any easier to live with. Determined to change, David sets out to understand Asperger syndrome and learn to be a better husband with an endearing yet hilarious zeal."

"Marcelo Sandoval hears music that nobody else can hear-part of an autism-like condition that no doctor has been able to identify. But his father has never fully believed in the music or Marcelo's differences, and he challenges Marcelo to work in the mailroom of his law firm for the summer...to join "the real world." There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it's a picture he finds in a file a picture of a girl with half a face that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight."

This was a hard, hard book to read, especially considering the current fascist leanings of the government. It was ultimately worth pushing through and finishing, and there are a lot of lessons to be learned in this one.

"[This book] is a uniquely personal story about the causes and costs of outsized parental expectations. What we want for our children-popularity, normalcy, achievement, genius-and what they truly need-grit, empathy, character-are explored by National Journal's Ron Fournier, who weaves his extraordinary journey to acceptance around the latest research on childhood development and stories of other loving-but-struggling parents."

This was the first book recommended to me by my son's OT, and has a wealth of information about sensory issues, developmental issues, and how to work with your child and his/her needs. Highly recommend.

"With powerful words and pictures Florida Frenz chronicles her journey figuring out how to read facial expressions, how to make friends, how to juggle all the social cues that make school feel like a complicated maze. Diagnosed with autism as a two-year-old, Florida is now an articulate 15-year-old whose explorations into how kids make friends, what popularity means, how to handle peer pressure will resonate with any pre-teen. For those wondering what it's like inside an autistic child's head, Florida's book provides amazing insight and understanding. Reading how she learns how to be human makes us all feel a little less alien."

Rules by Cynthia Lord

"Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules from 'a peach is not a funny-looking apple' to 'keep your pants on in public'-in order to head off David's embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?"

"Johnny is different. He is never exactly on time, he can't seem to stick to a routine and he often speaks in cryptic idioms. Johnny is neurotypical, but that's OK. A picture book with a difference, [the book] turns the tables on common depictions of neurological difference by drolly revealing how people who are not on the autistic spectrum are perceived by those who are. The autistic narrator's bafflement at his neurotypical friend's quirks shows that 'normal' is simply a matter of perspective."

"ADHD. dyslexia. autism. the number of illness categories listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the last fifty years. With so many people affected, it is time to revisit our perceptions on this 'culture of disabilities.'...Thomas Armstrong illuminates a new understanding of neuropsychological disorders. He argues that if they are a part of the natural diversity of the human brain, they cannot simply be defined as illnesses. Armstrong explores the evolutionary advantages, special skills, and other positive dimensions of these conditions."

"A collection of essays written by and for Autistic people. Spanning from the dawn of the Neurodiversity movement to the blog posts of today, Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking catalogues the experiences and ethos of the Autistic community and preserves both diverse personal experiences and the community's foundational documents together side by side."

"Melanie Yergeau defines neurodivergence as an identity-neuroqueerness-rather than an impairment. Using a queer theory framework, Yergeau notes the stereotypes that deny autistic people their humanity and the chance to define themselves while also challenging cognitive studies scholarship and its reification of the neurological passivity of autistics. She also critiques early intensive behavioral interventions-which have much in common with gay conversion therapy-and questions the ableist privileging of intentionality and diplomacy in rhetorical traditions. Using storying as her method, she presents an alternative view of autistic rhetoricity by foregrounding the cunning rhetorical abilities of autistics and by framing autism as a narrative condition wherein autistics are the best-equipped people to define their experience...."

"When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he's got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn't easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can't complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian-the foster brother he hasn't seen in five years..."

"Charlie likes to stand out. She's a vlogger and actress promoting her first movie at SupaCon, and this is her chance to show fans she's over her public breakup with co-star Reese Ryan. When internet-famous cool-girl actress Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie's long-time crush on her isn't as one-sided as she thought. Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there's one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with her best guy friend Jamie-no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about a fan contest for her favorite fandom, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe."

"Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there's a lot more to her-and to everyone-than a label, and that great minds don't always think alike."

Hal Friedman's son, Cory, has OCD, as well as Tourette Syndrome, depression, anxiety, and alcohol addiction. This is his story.

"Ali's got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there's a dude looking for trouble-and, somehow, it's always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy's gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it's all small potatoes; it's not like anyone's getting hurt. And then there's Needles. Needles is Noodles's brother. He's got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It's cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn't mean anything by it. Yeah, it's cool...until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be...somewhere they never should've been-where the people aren't so friendly, and even less forgiving."

"Samantha Abeel couldn't tell time, remember her locker combination, or count out change at a checkout counter-and she was in seventh grade. For a straight-A student like Samantha, problems like these made no sense. She dreaded school, and began having anxiety attacks. In her thirteenth winter, she found the courage to confront her problems-and was diagnosed with a learning disability. Slowly, Samantha's life began to change again. She discovered that she was stronger than she'd ever thought possible-and that sometimes, when things look bleakest, hope is closer than you think."

"Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years."

"Who better to help us understand autistic children and their needs, than the people who have actually been autistic children? Listening to the insights and experiences shared by autistic bloggers has helped Michelle Sutton to help her two autistic children to thrive...Michelle has collected writings from a dozen autistic authors, containing "insider" wisdom on autism that has been invaluable to her family. The result is an extraordinary resource for families with autistic children, and also for educators, therapists, and other professionals."

"Cynthia Kim explores all the quirkyness of living with Asperger Syndrome (ASD) in this accessible, witty and honest guide looking from an insider perspective at some of the most challenging and intractable aspects of being autistic. Her own life presents many rich examples. From being labelled nerdy and shy as an undiagnosed child to redefining herself when diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as an adult, she describes how her perspective shifted to understanding a previously confusing world and combines this with the results of extensive research to explore the 'why' of ASD traits. She explains how they impact on everything from self-care to holding down a job and offers typically practical and creative strategies to help manage them, including a section on the vestibular, sensory and social benefits of martial arts for people with autism."

"We all know what it feels like to be irritated by loud music, accosted by lights that are too bright, or overwhelmed by a world that moves too quickly. But millions of people suffer from Sensory Defensive Disorder (SD), a common affliction in which people react to harmless stimuli not just as a distracting hindrance, but a potentially dangerous threat. Sharon Heller, PhD is not only a trained psychologist, she is sensory defensive herself. Bringing both personal and professional perspectives, Dr. Heller is the ideal person to tell the world about this problem that will only increase as technology and processed environments take over our lives."

"The children whose essays are featured here range from four to eighteen and are the siblings of youngsters with a variety of special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, ADD, hydrocephalus, visual and hearing impairments, Down and Tourette syndromes. Their personal tales introduce young siblings to others like them, perhaps for the first time, and allow them to compare experiences. A glossary of disabilities provides easy-to-understand definitions of many of the conditions mentioned."

"Rachel Simon's sister Beth is a spirited woman who lives intensely and often joyfully. Beth, who has an intellectual disability, spends her days riding the buses in her unnamed Pennsylvania city. The drivers, a lively group, are her mentors; her fellow passengers are her community. One day, Beth asks Rachel to accompany her on the buses for an entire year. This wise, funny, deeply affecting true story is the chronicle of that remarkable time."

"Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon was killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure-and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be so black and white after all."

"Jason Blake is an autistic 12-year-old living in a neurotypical world. Most days it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong. But Jason finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does. Jason can be himself when he writes and he thinks that PhoenixBird-her name is Rebecca-could be his first real friend. But as desperate as Jason is to meet her, he's terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca will only see his autism and not who Jason really is."

"Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different-not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father. When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search."

"Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk-to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made."

"[This book] opens a window into non-verbal autism through dozens of short, autobiographical essays each offering new insights into autism symptoms, effective and ineffective treatments and the inner emotional life of a severely autistic boy. In his pithy essays, author Ido Kedar, a brilliant sixteen year old with autism, challenges what he believes are misconceptions in many theories that dominate autism treatment today while he simultaneously chronicles his personal growth in his struggles to overcome his limitations.

"Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases-a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice-with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan-from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel."

"The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who's decided it's time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers. Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is "quite intelligent for a barmaid"). But Don is intrigued by Rosie's own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie-and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don't find love, it finds you."
What books about neurodiversity do you recommend?
Looking for more on books about neurodiversity? Check out Think Differently: A Neurodiversity Little Free Library.

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When my son was having some communication issues, I turned to books. There were several diagnoses on the table, including ASD. I knew about ASD from my psychology background, but that just told me the diagnostic criteria and what the "acceptable" treatments were. As a parent, I wanted a guidebook, a map, answers.

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100 Children's Books on Diversity & Inclusion

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100 Children's Books on Diversity & Inclusion

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As art teachers, we can make meaningful connections with students and create safe spaces for important conversations. Of course, we teach our students how to be great artists, but we also need to teach them how to be amazing humans.

Part of practicing how to be a good human is to learn about all types of people and their experiences. This list of 100 children's books is only a start. There are thousands of resources available for teaching an empathetic and inclusive classroom and inclusivity for all learners in the art room. Having open conversations, sharing stories, and creating diverse art projects will allow students to have more meaningful connections with art, their individual experiences, and their world.

Take the time to have a conversation with your students before and after reading a book together.

Begin the conversation by asking questions such as:

What qualities make you unique? What qualities make other people unique?

What can we learn from stories different than our own?

What will you do to spread love and acceptance?

What do your actions say about what kind of person you are?

What did you do when you saw someone being hurt?

100 Children's Books about Diversity and Inclusion

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
A Boy Like You by Frank Murphy
A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
A Chair For My Mother by Vera B Williams
A Paintbrush for Paco by Tracey Kyle
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
All Because You Matter by Tami Charles
All Equal: A Ballad of Lemon Grove by Christy Hale
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
Be The Difference by Jayneen Sanders
Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
Brick by Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield
Chocolate Me by Taye Diggs
by Miguel Tanco
Different: A Story About Loving Your Neighbor by Chris Singleton
Don't Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller
Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon by KellyStarling Lyons and Laura Freeman
Except When They Don't by Laura Gehl
Families, Families, Families by Suzanne Lang
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard
Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke
by Matthew A. Cherry
Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
I Am Human: A Book fo Empathy by Peter H. Reynolds
by Grace Byers
I Am Perfectly Designed by Karamo Brown
I Can Do Hard Things by Gabi Garcia
I Love My Hair! by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
I Will Be Fierce by Bea Birdsong
Intersection Allies by Chelsea Johnson
Island Born by Junot Díaz
It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity by Theresa Thorn
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Kindness Rocks by Sonica Ellis
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
Let The Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
Let's Celebrate Diwali by Anjali Joshi
Let's Talk About Race by Julius Lester
Like the Moon Loves the Sky by Hena Khan
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Loretta's Gift by Pat Zietlow
Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child by Tiffany Rose
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art by J.H. Shapiro
Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat
Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood by F. Isabel Campoy
Melanin Poppin': Mommy, Why is My Skin Tone Different Than Yours? by CJ Johnson
Mommy's Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Most People by Michael Leannah
My Hand's Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden's Childhood Journey by Jeanne Walker
My Nana and Me by Irene Smalls
My New Mom & Me by Renata Galindo
Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker
No!: My First Book of Protest by Julie Merberg
Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
'Ohana Means Family by Ilima Loomis
by Cedella Marley
Our Class Is A Family by Shannon Olsen
Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment by Parker Curry
Pies from Nowhere by Dee Romito
Pink Is For Boys by Robb Pearlman
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise
Say Something by Peter H. Reynolds
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama by Hester Bass
Simone Visits the Museum by Dr. Kelsi Bracmort
Skin Like Mine by LaTashia M. Perry
by Miranda Paul
by Lupita Nyong'o
Thank You, Omu by Oge Mora
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
The Colors of Us by Karen Katz
The Girl with a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague by Julia Finley Mosca
The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes
The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard
The Piñata That the Farm Maiden Hung by Samantha R. Vamos
The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad
The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
The World Needs More Purple People by Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart
Two Problems for Sophia by Jim Averbeck
Under My Hijab by Hena Khan
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
Welcome to the Party by Gabrielle Union
We're Different, We're the Same by Bobbi Kates
What Is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack
When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff
When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller
Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez
by Mahogany L. Browne
by Christian Robinson
Download the whole list.
Books are powerful tools to use with students of all ages. Often, they provide the perfect jumping-off point for meaningful conversations. As art teachers, it is our job to share these tools to help students grow and stretch-not only as artists but as human beings, too.
Why are books such powerful conversation starters? What other books would you include on this list? Why is it important to share stories of hardships and growth and also stories of positive experiences?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

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100 Children's Books About Diversity and Inclusion

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As art teachers, we can make meaningful connections with students and create safe spaces for important conversations. Of course, we teach our students how to be great artists, but we also need to teach them how to be amazing humans. Part of practicing how to be a good human is to learn about all types of people and their experiences.

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Best 35 Neurodiversity Podcasts You Must Follow in 2022

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Missouri, US The Neurodiversity Podcast talks with leaders in the fields of psychology, education, and beyond, about positively impacting neurodivergent people. Our goal is to reframe differences that were once considered disabilities or disorders, promote awareness of this unique population, and improve the lives of neurodivergent and high-ability people.

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Watch Queen Sugar: Season 6 - Full Episodes & Cast | OWN

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Stream new episodes from Season 6 of Queen Sugar on The Oprah Winfrey Network. Stay up-to-date on all the latest episodes, clips & more online or through the OWN app!

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Diversity & Inclusion

It's little wonder that LGBTQIA+ workers experience high rates of discrimination when looking for work and on the job. In fact, 25% of LGBTQIA+ people reported discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity-half of whom said it negatively impacted their work environment, according to the 2018 MAP report -and 27% of transgender workers reported being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion in 2016 to 2017.

LGBTQIA+ voices are still underrepresented in the workplace and in the media. Last year, Fast Company partnered with Lesbians Who Tech & Allies to compile the Queer 50-the first-ever list of LGBTQ women and non-binary innovators-recognizing the need now more than ever to highlight queer trailblazers and advocates across the tech, finance, venture capital, media, and entertainment industries. For their inaugural Pride issue, The Hollywood Reporter honored 50 of the most powerful LGBTQ people in the industry who are making global culture more inclusive.

It's as Billy Porter so poignantly put, "We as a nation are at our tipping point, the tipping point. One that has been heating towards boiling over for hundreds of years."

So, we're using our platform to celebrate and amplify powerful LGBTQIA+ leaders, innovators, and change-makers to support and follow today and every day. This list is ongoing and we plan to continue updating it with more voices who inspire us with their story and their mission.

In her book, Worth It, Barron shares her story of growing up in an Evangelical megachurch in the '90s where she eventually became a pastor at 26. She eventually met Sami, left the church, came out, and got married. Since then, she has pursued her passion while encouraging others to turn their fears into courage and live a fuller, more vibrant life. As she writes on her website, "choosing freedom is always worth it no matter the cost." With 10+ years of experience in diversity and inclusion work, Barron recently created a 65-page digital guide Understanding Racism 101 to start educating yourself and for those around you who are asking where to start.

It was during her first year as a practicing doula that Erica Chidi had an epiphany and the seeds were planted for what would later become an inclusive wellness space, LOOM. "I looked at the pregnancy, parenting and reproductive health education industry and looked around and realized there was inertia," she told us in her CC100 2018 interview. "There had been very little innovation and didn't reflect what myself or other people like me would want. It still felt hyper-feminine, dogmatic, essentialist, and polarizing. There wasn't a fresh, moderate, evidenced-based, and inclusive brand that brought together a lot more untraditional modalities and yet worked side-by-side with the medical community to give people better overall outcomes in their pregnancy, their parenting, their reproductive health experience." Now her vision is a reality. With a focus on sexual and reproductive health, LOOM provides health education to empower everyone. "When people have body literacy and can advocate for themselves, they have better health outcomes. That's what women and people of color need," she told Kinfolk.

We're often told that religion and politics (and money or consent) are strictly off the table and not open for discussion, but anti-bias anti-racist educator-in-progress Liz Kleinrock strongly believes that we should be discussing these topics often and from an early age. As she explained on the TED stage, "deliberate avoidance of these conversations speaks volumes to our students because kids notice when their teachers-when their textbooks-leave out the voices and experiences of people like women or people of color. Silence speaks volumes." The key is to break it down into a format that is accessible for young learners.

And if you think kids are too young to learn about issues of equity then hear it from them, in their own words: "We're big enough to know about these things because these problems are happening where we live. And we have the right to talk about them because it will be our life in the future." Hear, hear.

Through her initiative, Black Trans Circles (BTC). Willis is developing the leadership of Black trans women in the South and Midwest through the creation of healing justice spaces to help heal oppression-based trauma and incubate community organizing efforts to address anti-trans murder and violence. In an excerpt for the NY Times she wrote: "As a writer and a media creator, I want to liberate others and help elevate voices that are often the target of ridicule and erasure. So many of my Black trans sisters have been denied the chance to share their stories and it is my duty to them to help expand that master narrative while also expanding the narrative of queer and trans folks in general." Here's to more progress and narrative shifting.

If you aren't familiar with Ashley C. Ford's work, then we suggest you read this powerful profile she wrote on Serena Williams, or this one with Anne Hathaway, and start following her on Twitter, ASAP. Her work, which has been featured in almost every publication both physical and digital from The Guardian to ELLE and The New York Times, doesn't shy away from traditionally taboo topics in her work from race to sexuality, and body image. She is also the host of the Brooklyn-based news and culture TV show (and podcast!) 112BK and is in the process of writing her memoir, Somebody's Daughter.

"As a black woman, as a black queer woman, specificity is incredibly important, because diverse experiences are rarely seen in literature," she tells The Guardian. It's racial honesty like this that has positioned Roxane Gay firmly on our must-read list ever since she landed on the literary scene with her The New York Times best-seller,Bad Feminist-a collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism. She has written several best-sellers since then including Difficult Women, Hunger, and Not That Bad, among more. And while some of her books about her experiences are hard to read, Gay encourages us to read the stories of other lives, of difficult lives, of different lives to engender empathy and understanding. "I read everything. The No 1 thing I tell my students is read diversely," she explains. "And I'm not talking about demographics, though that's part of it. Aesthetic diversity, genre diversity. It matters because it just makes us better informed, and it protects us from our worst instincts."

As a writer, director, author, and advocate Mock has brought the stories of other trans and gender-nonconforming people to life, including her own. In her memoirs, New York Times best-seller, Redefining Realnessand Surpassing Certainty, Mock shares her struggles with identity, recognition, and purpose and in a world without a roadmap to guide her forward. Now she is bringing the power of representation from the pages of her books to our screens with the hit FX series, Pose. "The fact that I get to go on set and supervise production, write scripts, direct ... it's astounding," Mock tells NPR. "I watch the monitors sometimes ... with tears in my eyes, realizing that these were the sort of stories that I was craving as a young person. There's no over-explaining of our experiences. ... It's just: 'Welcome to our world.'"

He is renowned for his showstopping red-carpet outfits (who could ever forget this Met Gala moment) but Billy Porter's influence reaches much further than his fashion style. The singer, writer, director, and actor (he stars on the FX series, Pose) is a passionate advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. In a recent video on his Instagram page, Porter shared his message for America, calling for action and advocacy for Black non-gender conforming and trans people. "As Black people, we risk our lives every time we leave our homes. As queer people of color that risk is doubled," Porter said. "We move about our days sucking it up, hiding our pain and terror from the world, trying to make ourselves small, so white people and straight people feel comfortable. Our parents try to prepare us for the realities of this world: the fact that the playing field is not leveled, the laws that protect white people do not do the same for us, and that we have to be at least 10 times better at anything we choose to do in life to simply get in the rooms where things happen."

Exploring themes such as intersectionality, identity and play, Shantelle Martin is a cultural facilitator. Her work has garnered the attention of major brands that resulted in collaborations with Nike, Vitra, Max Mara, Tiffany & Co., and in 2018, Puma launched a global capsule collection featuring her drawings. Her live art performances are visually arresting and take you into her signature stream-of-consciousness and meditative process-watch this monologue and you'll see why. Her work is a powerful exploration of intention, purpose, and exploration of humanity.

She explained this process in her CC100 2019 interview: "Intention is a very powerful aspect of existence. Essentially, and I think many people whether "artists" or not, can relate to being fueled by a purpose or the search for purpose. This purpose is like the internal line which for me becomes something external with the lines of my art. I have a purpose which is very much tied to exploring the essence of humanity and the world... it comes from a place of pure curiosity and empathy and I feel that intention to connect with the deepest part of myself and YOU is a universal feeling."

Ingrid Nilsen came onto the scene with her first video in 2009, now the California native has over three million subscribers on YouTube and is basically a household name when it comes to beauty and wellness advice. But in June 2015, Nilsen released a coming-out video that went viral (it now has over 17 million views) and she has been a vocal advocate online for the LGBTQIA+ community ever since with videos that cover the best LGBTQIA+ places in New York to the 3 LGBTQ people who inspire me. She has also helped call attention to efforts to repeal the tampon tax and voting, and she's the host of @onesteppodcast.

Angelica Ross made her debut as Candy Ferocity on Pose, but she's been a leading figure in the movement for trans and racial equality. When you consider the statistics- 72% of trans homicide victims between 2010 and 2016 were black trans women and femmes-it's easy to see why Ross wants to ensure that these women aren't reduced to a statistic. "In a situation where black trans women are being killed, who am I to think that I'm so special, that I would make it out alive?" she told ELLE. "It's usually the dark-skinned, black, trans women that are being murdered, and out of that group, that would be me. That would be Candy."

As the founder of TransTech Social Enterprises, Ross is working to empower trans and gender-nonconforming people through on-the-job training in leadership and workplace skills. As a powerful speaker, she tours nationally to share her mission with business leaders, educators, and the President of the United States.

Ever since she co-captained the U.S. Women's National Soccer team to win their fourth World Cup title, the outspoken Megan Rapinoe has emerged as a new kind of activist athlete who's unapologetic approach has inspired millions of fans around the world. In addition to gender equality, Rapinoe has spoken out on social injustice (she took a knee to protest racial inequality and spoke openly against mass incarceration), and along with her team, took the U.S. Soccer Federation to court over pay equity. Now, that's someone who uses their social influence for good.

Twenty-one-year-old singer, songwriter, and producer, Mikaela Straus aka King Princess is bringing a young queer perspective to pop. Her song 1950 has clearly struck a chord with fans with 124 million plays on Spotify. As Rolling Stone describes King Princess as "a young woman supremely confident of both her sexual identity and singing ability" and the self-assuredness isn't an act. "I want to get to a place where the story is less about me and my face and more about what the fuck's going on in this world. How I can be an active voice for gay people but also the music industry," she tells Rolling Stone. "This is the art we need right now. This is what we need right now. We're in a renaissance, and we need people to rebel, come forth, and bring messages into art."

We all know Jonathan Van Ness (JVN) as the grooming expert on the hit Netflix series, Queer Eye but it's his positive outlook and ability to help people see the beauty in themselves that made us all fall in love with him. And that bright outlook and larger than life personality still shine when the camera's turned off. In real life, JVN is even more wonderful but beyond that, it's his acceptance of people for who they are and a yearning to know more about the world and his place in it that has amassed millions of fans from around the world. Now he shares those stories on his Getting Curious podcast including his own in the best-selling memoir, Over the Top which details his HIV-positive status and history of addiction.

"In the last three years, there has been a steady rise in hate crimes every single year and we have an administration that is targeting asylum seekers, immigrants, LGBTQ people, HIV-positive people, women, and families," he told Allure. "I think your approach to beauty can be political protest all the time... I think that knowledge is power and knowing the importance of the decisions you make with the money that you spend is literally a political protest. Everything, really, can be when you think about it."

We all know and love Laverne Cox as Sophia Burset in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series, Orange is The New Black, but what you might not know is how groundbreaking her casting was, not just for the show but for trans women in Hollywood as the first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show. Since then, Laverne has continued her work and advocacy with her empowering message of "moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically." And she continues her string of "firsts" from being featured on the cover of TIME Magazine to an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series to a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Here are some startling stats: Only 12% of venture capital funds are invested in companies with at least one female founder, according to All Raise. Additionally, of the $425 billion raised in VC funding since 2009, a mere 0.32% went to Latinx female founders and .0006% to startups led by Black women. Arlan Hamilton, the founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Backstage Capital, is on a mission to tip these statistics in the right direction. Since launching in 2015, Backstage Capital has invested over $7M in 130 companies led by underrepresented founders, according to the company's website. It's no wonder we included her on our 2018 Create & Cultivate 100 list.

In 2012, Leanne Pittsford organized a series of happy hour networking events for lesbians in technology. Fast-forward to 2020 and what started as a small gathering of just 30 people has grown into Lesbians Who Tech & Allies, a veritable tech community of 40,000 members with chapters in 40 cities. Since then, the 2019 Create & Cultivate 100 honoree has founded two more companies to help underrepresented people in tech land their dream jobs: Include.io, a mentoring and recruiting platform, and Tech Jobs Tour, a series of networking events across the country to bridge the gap between tech companies and prospective job candidates.

In an industry where diversity and inclusion are seriously lacking, Lena Waithe is paving a way for Black and queer women on and off-screen. She started her career as a production assistant for Ava DuVernay's I Will Follow, went on to be a writer for Fox's Bones, and was a producer on Justin Simien's 2014 film Dear White People. She's gone on to found her own production company, Hillman Grad Productions, and produce films such as The Forty-Year Old Version and Queen & Slim as well as television shows The Chi and Boomerang. And notably, in 2017, she became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for best writing for a comedy series for her work on the Netflix series Master of None, which returns May 23 and will follow Lena Waithe's character Denise and her partner Alicia, who is played by Naomi Ackie.

We will be continually updating this list of powerful LGBTQIA+ leaders to continue supporting and amplifying the voices of the LGBTQIA+ community. Please share your suggestions with us in the comments below!

This story was originally published on June 10, 2020, and has since been updated.

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion

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22 Powerful LGBTQIA+ Leaders, Educators, and Advocates to Follow and Support Now and Always - Create & Cultivate

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Until last year, federal law in the U.S. did not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity-that means just over half (52%) of LGBTQIA+ people in the U.S. lived in states where they could be fired, refused a promotion or training, and harassed at their jobs based on their gender identity [...]

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Indian authors have contributed numerous priceless gems in the treasure chest of excellent fictional literature from around the world. A lot of them have won numerous awards for their efforts as well. Here are a few works of fiction by Indian authors that definitely need to be in your Must-Read list. How many of these have you read?

1. The Guide - R.K Narayan

Adapted into a Bollywood film starring Dev Anand, The Guide is a 1958 novel written by R. K. Narayan. The novel describes the transformation of the protagonist, Raju, from a tour guide to a spiritual guide and then one of the greatest holy men of India.

2. Autobiography Of An Unknown Indian - Nirad C. Chaudhuri

The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian is the 1951 autobiography of Nirad C. Chaudhuri. Written when he was around 50, the book relates his mental and intellectual development, his life and growth in Calcutta as he witnessed the exit of the British from India.

3. Untouchable - Mulk Raj Anand

Untouchable is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand published in 1935. The plot of the book, Anand's first, revolves around the argument for eradicating the caste system. It depicts a day in the life of Bakha, a young "untouchable."

4. Train To Pakistan - Khushwant Singh

Train To Pakistan is a historical novel by Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. Instead of depicting the Partition in terms of only the political events surrounding it, Singh provides a human dimension which brings to the event a sense of reality, horror, and believability. It was adapted into a movie of the same name in 1998.

5. Heat & Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Heat and Dust is a novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala which won the Booker Prize in 1975. It is about a young British woman and her efforts to uncover the truth about her step grand-mother's life during the British Raj in India.

6. Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai

Fasting, Feasting is a novel by Anita Desai. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for fiction in 1999. It is the tale of plain and lumpish Uma and the cherished, late-born Arun, daughter and son of strict and conventional parents and their lives.

7. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

Midnight's Children is a 1980 book by Salman Rushdie that deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British India. The story is told by its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai, and is set in the context of actual historical events as with historical fiction.

8. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

The second novel by Rohinton Mistry, "A Fine Balance" is set in Bombay, India between 1975 and 1984 during the turmoil of The Emergency; a period of expanded government power and crackdowns on civil liberties. The book concerns four characters from varied backgrounds who come together and develop a bond.

9. The Night Train At Deoli - Ruskin Bond

In this short story, Ruskin Bond narrates his experience during one of his train journeys to Dehradun as an eighteen-year-old. It revolves around a small lonely station called Deoli.

10. English, August - Upamanyu Chatterjee

English, August is a novel by Upamanyu Chatterjee, first published in 1988. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1994. The book chronicles one year in the life of a trainee civil servant, Agastya Sen, on his first posting-cum-training session to Madna, a 'tiny dot' in the vast Indian hinterland.

11. Shadow Lines - Amitav Ghosh

The Shadow Lines is a Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel by Amitav Ghosh. The novel is set against the backdrop of historical events like Swadeshi movement, Second World War, Partition of India and Communal riots of 1963-64 in Dhaka and Calcutta. It boasts of a narrative built out of an intricate, constantly crisscrossing web of memories of many people and it never pretends to tell a story.

12. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

A Suitable Boy is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. A Suitable Boy is set in post-independence, post-partition India. The novel follows the story of four families over a period of 18 months as a mother searches for a suitable boy to marry her daughter.

13. The Great Indian Novel - Shashi Tharoor

The Great Indian Novel is a satirical novel by Shashi Tharoor. It is a fictional work that takes the story of the Mahabharata, the epic of Hindu mythology, and recasts and resets it in the context of the Indian Independence Movement and the first three decades post-independence.

14. The God Of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things is the debut novel of Arundhati Roy. The book is a description of how the small things in life affect people's behaviour and their lives.

15. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake is the first novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. Moving between events in Calcutta, Boston, and New York City, the novel examines the nuances involved with being caught between two conflicting cultures with highly distinct religious, social, and ideological differences. It was adapted into a movie starring Irrfan khan in 2006.

16. Cuckold - Kiran Nagarkar

Cuckold is a 1997 book by Kiran Nagarkar. It is a historical novel set in the Rajput kingdom of Mewar, India during the 17th century that follows the life of Maharaj Kumar, a fictional character based upon the real life ruler Thakur Bhojraj.

17. Palace of Illusions - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The Palace of Illusions is a 2008 novel by award-winning novelist and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The novel is a rendition of the Hindu epic Mahabharata told from Draupadi's viewpoint. It tells the Mahabharata from the perspective of a woman living in a patriarchal world.

18. The Inheritance Of Loss - Kiran Desai

The Inheritance of Loss is the second novel by Kiran Desai. It was first published in 2006. It won a number of awards, including the Man Booker Prize for that year. Among its main themes are migration, living between two worlds, and between past and present.

19. White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger is Aravind Adiga's debut novel that took the world by storm when it was first published in 2008 and won the 40th Man Booker Prize in the same year. The novel provides a darkly humorous perspective of India's class struggle in a globalized world as told through a retrospective narration from Balram Halwai, a village boy.

20. The Illicit Happiness Of Other People - Manu Joseph

The Illicit Happiness Of Other People is Manu Joseph's second novel. The semi-autobiographical novel was described by The Wall Street Journal as a work that "injects dark, rueful laughter into an immensely touching story of loss."

21. Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil

Narcopolis is the debut novel of author Jeet Thayil, previously known for his poetry. It is a novel about opium and its effect, set in 1970s Old Bombay.

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21 Works Of Fiction By Indian Authors That Everyone Should Read

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Indian authors have contributed numerous priceless gems in the treasure chest of excellent fictional literature from around the world. A lot of them have won numerous awards for their efforts as well. Here are a few works of fiction by Indian authors that definitely need to be in your Must-Read list.

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Long and diverse list of LGBTQ Children’s books. Awesome books to add to any home or school library. Great LGBT books for young children.

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12 LGBTQ Podcasts You Should Be Listening To

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Welcome to The Golden Age of podcasts. These are required listening.

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The new series "Never Have I Ever" is a comedy about a first-generation Indian-American teenage girl much like Kaling, updated to a 2020 setting.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays the lead role in "Never Have I Ever," Devi, an overachieving high school sophomore with a short fuse that gets her into difficult situations. Credit... Lara Solanki/Netflix

Mindy Kaling isn't trying to tell everyone's story - she's had to break a lot of boundaries just to tell her own.

Her new Netflix series, " Never Have I Ever," which debuted Monday, looks to break another, offering a story virtually absent from American screens until now: a coming-of-age comedy about the complicated life of a modern-day first-generation Indian-American teenage girl.

"For all of us in the writers' room, particularly those of us who were the children of immigrants, which comprised most of my staff, it was about sharing those stories of feeling 'other,'" said Kaling, who is also a first-generation Indian-American. "One of the best parts about being in that room was realizing that they felt so many of the same things I did, and it was such a relief. It made me feel like, 'OK, I'm, like, normal.'"

For Kaling, 40, who has spent most of her career writing characters she can also play, the series is something of a new frontier. A longtime comedy writer, she got her break in her mid-20s as a writer for the American version of "The Office," in which she also starred as the sassy, fearless Kelly Kapoor. After about eight seasons, she parlayed that success into the "The Mindy Project," which she created, wrote and again starred in; the show's lead character was loosely inspired by her mother. (Kaling has also written two humorous autobiographical books.)

More recently, she cocreated a 10-part adaptation of the 1994 feature "Four Weddings and a Funeral" for Hulu, updated with a more diverse cast. Not all of her screen projects have been romantic comedies, but most have at least contained strong rom-com elements. So when Netflix approached her about doing something totally different, she jumped at the chance.

"They had read my books and really loved the parts where I talk about being an adolescent and a teenager," said Kaling, who created and wrote the series with Lang Fisher, a "Mindy Project" alum. "Because there isn't a show like this," she said, "they thought it would be a great fit for them."

In casting the series, Kaling said, she grew tired early on of seeing the same "28-year-old, gorgeous Bollywood stars" audition for parts - particularly for the lead role of Devi, an overachieving high school sophomore, partly based on Kaling, with a short fuse that gets her into difficult situations. She decided to try a different approach.

"It would be such a lie to have one of them play me," Kaling said of the actresses who first auditioned. "It just felt like the audience would think: 'This is crazy. This is nothing like what Mindy looked like when she was a teenager.'"

For the three main female roles in the series, Mindy Kaling posted an open call on social media. From left, Ramakrishnan, Richa Shukla and Poorna Jagannathan, as seen in a scene from the series. Credit... Lara Solanki/Netflix

She posted an open call on social media, in search of three "Desi ladies" to play Devi and Devi's mother and cousin. (Desi is a word that the South Asian diaspora uses to refer to the region.) Nearly 15,000 people applied, including the newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who was cast as Devi.

In a recent phone interview, Kaling talked about that casting process, about venturing beyond the romantic-comedy genre, and about what it was like to try to adapt some of her own experiences into a show about teens today. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
How much of the show is autobiographical? And how did you update it for Indian-American teenage girls today?
Netflix was open to us doing it as something set in the '80s or the '90s, but I'd seen that done so well with shows like "Fresh Off the Boat" and "Everybody Hates Chris." I really wanted to speak to kids now. I also thought it would be a really great way to hire a lot of young Indian-American writers who can remember their teenage years more recently than me and fill our staff with them.

I was also really greedy with the young actresses on the show. Maitreyi was a resource in herself. When she would do table reads, we would change the vernacular so it made sense for someone her age.
What stood out about Maitreyi among the thousands of applicants to your open casting call?
With Maitreyi, there was something about her. She later said that she was very intimidated to fly to L.A. to come audition, but when she spoke to us, she had natural confidence. I really loved that she was Tamil, which I am also. Also, I think about colorism a lot, and I liked that she wasn't like this red-haired, green-eyed, pale-skinned Indian girl. I liked that she looked a little bit more like someone that would be in my family. She also was just naturally funny.

Kaling on the set of "Never Have I Ever." Netflix had been open to a show set in the 1980s or '90s, she said, but "I really wanted to speak to kids now." Credit... Lara Solanki/Netflix

It seems like you were usually in a rom-com space with your earlier work. Did you feel pigeonholed?
I'll always love romantic comedies, and I don't see a world where I don't revisit that genre again. More even than writing about teenagers, writing about the Indian-American experience growing up was really fascinating to me. But it was also painful, too. If you're someone who has a sense of humor in your 20s and 30s, it most likely means that you had a very painful adolescence, right?
You've been at the forefront of South Asian representation for a long time, but there's been some criticism that some of your early roles were stereotypical. What was that like for you? Do you feel you've grown from it?
Denzel Washington once said something that always stuck with me. Someone asked him why he doesn't play villains more often, and he said something like: There's just so few of us, and I mean so much to my community that I feel like I can't do that in this lifetime.

That really resonated with me, because I thought that was really smart of him in a way that I have not been smart. I come from comedy, where the funniest characters are the flawed ones, like Michael Scott [Steve Carell's character on "The Office"], and my training was for writing those characters. The problem is, they're all white. So when you try to play that character and you're Indian, and you're the only Indian character people have, it's within their right to say: "How dare you do that to us? We have no representation."

The character has bad priorities, is saying off-color things, is selfish and all these things that I'm not personally, but I find really fun to play. That's something that I have struggled with, because I just want to have the most enjoyable artistic experience. But that doesn't necessarily always fall in place with my role as a role model.

Do you still face that kind of criticism?
I remember when the teaser trailer came out and Devi's praying, and she says, "Hey, gods, it's me Devi Vishwakumar" and there was a comment on Twitter saying, "Oh, great that is totally not how Hindu girls talk." And I remember being incensed because when my mom used to make us pray before we took the SATs, or before we got on a plane, and I didn't know all the different names of the gods because no one had taught me, I was just like: "Hey, gods. Please let me do well on my SAT. I've been working really hard and it means a lot to my parents."

What I realized is that because we don't have a lot of different shows depicting Hindu teenagers praying [laughs], it offends people when it's not exactly the way that it was for them. I'm still trying to figure out a way to accept that criticism. Those people who watch the show, particularly young Indian-American women, are the people that I want to like it the most. And they're the ones that are going to be the toughest on me. So it's one of the biggest things I care about now as an artist.

With Maitreyi, there was something about her," Kaling said about casting Ramakrishnan, left. "When she spoke to us, she had natural confidence." Credit... Lara Solanki/Netflix

So how do you deal with that pressure of telling a story you want to tell while not feeling that needs to be every South Asian person's story?
I'm just telling a story that resonates with me, of a very specific character. And I think it's just me acknowledging that over and over. Also, I'd like to have a nice, long life so that I can tell enough stories with enough different kinds characters - Indian, Pakistani, Muslim, etc. - to show that there's lots of different kinds of ways to be Desi. I think that's the only way to do it.

I also look at someone like Ava DuVernay. "Cherish the Day" is so different than "A Wrinkle in Time," but both of them tell stories about young African-American women. I'd love to have that relationship with South Asians in America.

For you as a creator then, what is the next frontier for South Asian representation?
From watching several hundred of the auditions, I saw the hunger that I kind of hoped that was there. If this show does well, hopefully, and it just feels more normal to see Indian people on things, then there will hopefully be more shows greenlit.

To me it would be great if there is a more L.G.B.T.Q. content for Indian people. I feel like that is almost never talked about. In some Indian communities there's still a stigma attached to coming out. I'd love to tell a story about a young queer woman. And if I don't see it, maybe I have to create something.
I'm curious about the title. What was the thinking behind "Never Have I Ever"?
[Laughs.] I'm so bad at naming things, which is why my show was called "The Mindy Project." This is actually something Lang, my co-creator, came up with. This is a character whose ego is so caught up in the things she hasn't done yet, hasn't been exposed to yet. And that felt really kind of natural to her personality.

Maybe it's a bad name. I have no idea, it probably sucks.

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Mindy Kaling's Netflix Show Tells a New Kind of Story: One Like Hers (Published 2020)

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The new series "Never Have I Ever" is a comedy about a first-generation Indian-American teenage girl much like Kaling, updated to a 2020 setting. Mindy Kaling isn't trying to tell everyone's story - she's had to break a lot of boundaries just to tell her own.

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Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai

"I found this book during middle school and was stunned by the first line, spoken by a Sapphic snake goddess: 'In the beginning there was just me.' She then creates the entire world. Before this book, I didn't know it was possible for my loneliness to fuel invention and innovation. It showed me that my desires were divine, that storytelling could be wild and unbridled, full of beauty and crudity. This book became one of my creation myths, a map to my past and future, a tether to the women who made me."

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115 Queer Authors Share the Books that Changed Their Lives

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Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai "I found this book during middle school and was stunned by the first line, spoken by a Sapphic snake goddess: 'In the beginning there was just me.' She then creates the entire world. Before this book, I didn't know it was possible for my loneliness to fuel invention and innovation.

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Children's Books About People with Disabilities

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Children's Books About People with Disabilities

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If you are anything like me, you eagerly await the summer months to finally make a sizable dent in that pile of books adorning your nightstand. My summer reading list typically includes a mix of young adult novels, professional books, and a healthy handful of books for fun.

I really love to read, but as an Educator and a parent, reading more than one or two books a month throughout the school year is a challenge. Since I typically begin to put books aside for summer throughout the late Winter & Spring, I find myself drawn to articles splayed across the internet that proclaim, "Best Summer Reading Books for Your Middle Schooler" or "Ten Must Read Books in 2016" or even "Perfect Summer Reading Lists for All Ages." And while I do typically find some wonderful gems this way, I have also realized that something is missing. The lists I love lack an important category: "Books That Teach Kids and Teens about Disabilities".
As a Jewish Educator who cares deeply about disability inclusion, I am continuously drawn to well-written books that frame disability in a positive, readable and easy-to-understand way.

Here are some of my favorites:

by Sharon Draper: This should, in my opinion, go to the top of every reading list. I have read it more than once and I recommend it often to teachers, parents and teens. I've even led a faculty book discussion around this gem:Out of My Mind "Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom-the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it...somehow." Out of My Mind is a powerful story that will tug at your emotions and help you to rethink the way in which you interact with individuals who lack the ability to speak in traditional ways.

by Lynda Mullaly Hunt: Named around one of my favorite quotes, "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid," this book sheds light on dyslexia, a reading disability that is too frequently overlooked and misdiagnosed. by R J Palacio: This is an outstanding novel not only for gaining perspective and insight, but for teaching kindness. I also highly recommend the short vignettes on each of the characters, particularly The Fish in a Tree "Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there's a lot more to her-and to everyone-than a label, and that great minds don't always think alike." Every child needs a "Mr. Daniels" and this book is a great way to inspire teaching and relationships that celebrate diversity.
Julian Chapter. "I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid-but his new classmates can't get past Auggie's extraordinary face. WONDER begins from Auggie's point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community's struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance."

Bonus: We Are All Wonders for young children. Delightful!
All three of these novels are perfect for parents and children to read together. It is also interesting to note that two of the three protagonists are female, despite the fact that their disabilities are more commonly diagnosed and/or associated with males.

Worth noting: The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida. My review is here. Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with autism, writes this one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Using an alphabet grid to painstakingly construct words, sentences, and thoughts that he is unable to speak out loud, Naoki answers even the most delicate questions that people want to know. Questions such as: "Why do people with autism talk so loudly and weirdly?" "Why do you line up your toy cars and blocks?" "Why don't you make eye contact when you're talking?" and "What's the reason you jump?" (Naoki's answer: "When I'm jumping, it's as if my feelings are going upward to the sky.") With disarming honesty and a generous heart, Naoki shares his unique point of view on not only autism but life itself.
Here are some of the books on my summer reading list:

by Jonathan Mooney and David Cole: by Cynthia Lord: by Cece Bell: Learning Outside the Lines "Every day, your school, your teachers, and even your peers draw lines to measure and standardize intelligence. They decide what criteria make one person smart and another person stupid. They decide who will succeed and who will just get by. Perhaps you find yourself outside the norm, because you learn differently-but, unlike your classmates, you have no system in place that consistently supports your ability and desire to learn. Simply put, you are considered lazy and stupid. You are expected to fail. Learning Outside the Lines is written by two such "academic failures"-that is, two academic failures who graduated from Brown University at the top of their class. Jonathan Mooney and David Cole teach you how to take control of your education and find true success-and they offer all the reasons why you should persevere. Witty, bold, and disarmingly honest, Learning Outside the Lines takes you on a journey toward personal empowerment and profound educational change, proving once again that rules sometimes need to be broken."
Rules "Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"- in order to head off David's embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, its her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?"
El Deafo "Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful-and very awkward-hearing aid. The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear-sometimes things she shouldn't-but also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is."

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Books That Teach Kids and Teens about Disabilities

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If you are anything like me, you eagerly await the summer months to finally make a sizable dent in that pile of books adorning your nightstand. My summer reading list typically includes a mix of young adult novels, professional books, and a healthy handful of books for fun.

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We Are Lady Parts-All Female Punk Muslim Band PEACOCK

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We Are Lady Parts-All Female Punk Muslim Band PEACOCK

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Anarchy in the U.K. takes on a whole new meaning with the arrival of "We Are Lady Parts," Peacock's punk rock comedy about an all-female Muslim band that bangs out songs like "Ain't No One Gonna Honor Kill My Sister But Me" and "Voldemort Under My Headscarf." They have the chops and attitude - now all they need is a lead guitarist, a fan or two, and a gig that's not in the back of an uncle's halal butcher shop.

"Almost Famous"? Not even close, and that's what makes this hilarious, six-part British series, written, directed and produced by Nida Manzoor ( "Doctor Who"), so deliciously subversive. The underdog tale, which premieres June 3, is a hilarious hybrid of pummeling punk rockisms, immigrant insider humor and 21st century feminism. It's everything you never expected to see in a show about Muslims ... or in a series about a struggling garage band. Fans of Netflix's "Never Have I Ever," which returns in July, will find inspiration and deep humor in this new bunch of female misfits as they mix hardcore with hijabs. So haram yet so right.

Rock 'n' roll tropes are fresh again when viewed through the lens of total outsiders - brown and Black Muslim girls raised on the outskirts of London. They are pitied by white liberals, resented by white nationalists and entirely absent in conversations about the next great white hope for rock. But when united by their love of music and their need to rage, they defy expectations and odds, forging their own path atop a mountain of almighty noise.

"We Are Lady Parts" focuses on Amina Hussein (Anjana Vasan), a nerdy, modest microbiology Ph.D. student and self-taught guitarist whose goal is finding a husband. But while teaching songs to underprivileged youth, the guitar virtuoso is discovered by the fledgling group Lady Parts. Amina is reluctantly recruited into the band despite her square tendency to wear muted pastels and puke from stage fright. How will she maintain a modest Muslim girl's life and rip it up in a punk band? The fun is watching her try.

The girls in the band all have their own trials, none of which, refreshingly, has to do with strict Muslim parents or religious edicts. Lead singer Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey) growls like a banshee into the mike and violently chops meat during her day job as a butcher. She fears nothing, it seems, until her boyfriend proposes a long-term, committed relationship. Drummer Ayesha (Juliet Motamed) has a short fuse, which doesn't help in her job as an Uber driver. Allah forbid the fool who pisses her off. Bassist Bisma (Faith Omole) is an earth mother fueled by furious, riot girl feminism. She authors the cartoon strip "Period (Apocalypse Vag)." And she's raising her daughter and husband at the same time. Manager Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse) curses like Sid Vicious and vapes like Post Malone, but from behind her niqab face cover. If only she could book Lady Parts that golden, breakthrough gig.

Breaking boundaries without alienating viewers is the challenge, and "We Are Lady Parts" succeeds with the volume cranked to 11. The irreverent comedy started out as a short, part of a Channel 4 initiative in Britain to introduce new talent - Michaela Coel's "Chewing Gum," the precursor to HBO's "I May Destroy You," was another show that arose out of the enterprise. The longer "Lady Parts" series has already received praise in the U.K., but is America ready for a British Muslim invasion? (Cue the Fox News chyrons.)

The Muslim characters of "We Are Lady Parts" come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, which sounds basic but is a seismic shift given the slanted depictions of veiled women that have proliferated on television since "I Dream of Jeannie." Hollywood's version of the Muslim woman is a grieving victim of war, wailing in a pile of rubble while her jihadi husband casually uses their children as human shields. Bisma, Saira, Ayesha and every other character in the new British series offer an alternative point of view. For example, Amina's mother is not forcing her to marry. Mum is a laid-back type who wants her uptight daughter to go out and experience life, to loosen up before tying the knot.

The women of Lady Parts may wail, but it's into a mike, shouting lyrics that weaponize tabloidy notions about women and Islam: "I'm gonna kill my sister/ This ain't about you / It's between her and me / She stole my eyeliner / What a bitch! ... It's an honor killing. It's an honor killing." Taboos be damned in this comedy created by and starring Muslim, South Asian, Black and Arab women. They've been the butt of smear campaigns and bigoted jokes for so long, they've earned the right to satirize that ignorance in their music. The Linda Lindas, L.A.'s all-girl Asian American and Latinx punk band, know the drill. Their song "Racist, Sexist Boy" recently went viral.

(Isabella B. Vosmikova / Netflix)

A love for music is palpable throughout "Lady Parts." The soundtrack was written by Manzoor, her siblings Shez and Sanya Manzoor and Benjamin Fregin. They came up with gems such as "Bashir With the Good Beard," presumably inspired by Beyoncé's "Becky with the good hair." When the band's not jamming to original material, the show retains its keen pop culture sensibility when the group covers Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" with ferocity, headbangs in the car to System of a Down and cringes at the idea of Amina worshipping an ancient god: Don McLean.

Like "Never Have I Ever," the series is a major leap for television. Both shows feature South Asian nerds as their leads, moving them from the punchline to the main story and giving them the freedom to have messy emotions. They're angry, goofy, horny and grieving. The return of Netflix's surprise hit and the anticipation surrounding the arrival of "We Are Lady Parts" marks a milestone summer for underrepresented women of various cultures and faiths.

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Why 'We Are Lady Parts' is summer's most subversive show

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Anarchy in the U.K. takes on a whole new meaning with the arrival of "We Are Lady Parts," Peacock's punk rock comedy about an all-female Muslim band that bangs out songs like "Ain't No One Gonna Honor Kill My Sister But Me" and "Voldemort Under My Headscarf."

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Perspective Changing Books About Poverty

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Perspective Changing Books About Poverty

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18 books that will change your perspective about poverty

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Here are some of our favorite fiction and non-fiction books that illustrate the injustice of poverty and remind us why it’s so important to fight to help people overcome the odds.

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It might seem trite to say that in times of despair, we can look to the written word for solace. The shootings in Atlanta on March 16, in which a white gunman killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women, has sent waves of grief through the Asian American community and through global East and South East Asian communities. How can the written word even start to convey the pain caused by decades of racism and discrimination, a pain that has felt more acute as attacks targeting Asian people increased over the past year?

The merits, pitfalls and purposes of the " anti-racist reading list"-and whom such lists are written by and for-have been hotly debated. As author Lisa Ko tweeted on March 19, "white supremacy is not going to be dismantled through diverse reading lists." The last year, particularly following the summer's widespread Black Lives Matter protests, prompted a rush to compile lists of books written by Black authors and authors of color, intended to service white audiences in the name of antiracism. Such efforts can take away the inherent pleasure of reading and enjoying literature, the author Yaa Gyasi argued in a March 20 piece for The Guardian: "So many of the writers of colour that I know have had white people treat their work as though it were a kind of medicine. Something they have to swallow in order to improve their condition, but they don't really want it, they don't really enjoy it, and if they're being totally honest, they don't actually even take the medicine half the time. They just buy it and leave it on the shelf. What pleasure, what deepening, could there be in "reading" like that? To enter the world of fiction with such a tainted mission is to doom the novel or short story to fail you on its most essential levels."

In putting together our own reading list at TIME, we asked ourselves what audience we really wanted to serve-and the answer was clear: each other. In the curation below, Asian staffers in TIME's newsroom share the books that have brought them hope, comfort and joy. (For readers looking to purchase them, check out audiobook service Libro.fm's list of AAPI-owned bookstores.) This list is not intended to educate, but to celebrate. To celebrate the richness, the diversity and the joy of stories by our community, for our community, and curated by our community. The books below resonated with each of us-and we hope they might make you feel, in some way, seen as well.

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir, Thi Bui

The Best We Could Do is a true story of a family forced to leave their home to find a new life. In this graphic novel, author Thi Bui tells her personal and familial story set before, during and after the Vietnam war. She illustrates how her family escaped the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s and the challenges they faced living in America. In sharing the stories of her parents, grandparents and herself, Bui opens up the history of Vietnam. And through illustrations she elegantly portrays the struggles of assimilation and the heartbreak her family endured when they were forced to leave behind everything they knew. The memoir is a detailed family history and an accurate representation of Vietnamese people during the Vietnam war and the realities of finding a better life and a new land. - Karena Phan

Days of Distraction, Alexandra Chang

"It is difficult to parse which parts of me come from my family, from being Chinese, from being Asian American, from being American, from being a woman, from being of a certain generation, and from, simply, being," thinks the 24-year-old narrator of Days of Distraction. She's a writer at a prestigious tech magazine in Silicon Valley, who follows her longtime boyfriend, J, to a quiet town in upstate New York. Along the way, she starts to question what it means to be in an interracial relationship, delving into the history of Asian Americans and her own family history. I loved Alexandra Chang's debut novel, which came out in March 2020. In funny, tender and thought-provoking vignettes and fragments, Chang articulates many aspects of office politics, racism, misogyny, love and identity in an insightful way. As an Asian journalist who has been in many similar environments to ones in the novel, her words deeply resonated with me. - Naina Bajekal

Wild Swans, Jung Chang

"It is my conscious decision to write about characters and people whose private personal lives are intimately connected with the politics and history of the country," historian and writer Jung Chang told TIME in 2019, speaking about her book Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China. This approach to the history of China started with Chang's epic autobiography Wild Swans, published in 1991 to international acclaim. Weaving together family history, including the experiences of her grandmother, her mother and her own story against the backdrop of 20th century China, Chang portrayed the experiences of women's lives in a nuanced, deeply personal, yet accessible way. "I did not appreciate that information about China was not easily available, or was largely misunderstood, in the West," writes Chang, reflecting on her time as a young woman in the early 1970s. Reading Wild Swans and Chang's subsequent work goes a long way toward changing that. - Suyin Haynes

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, Alexander Chee

In this powerful collection of essays, Alexander Chee charts many of his formative life experiences, from his father's death to the 2016 presidential election to his activism during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Through 16 pieces, Chee examines his multiple identities as a Korean American, gay man, lover and writer, posing urgent questions along the way about the space between life and art. In these pieces, he weaves the threads of his personal history and his coming of age as a writer. I remember reading this before taking a creative writing workshop and feeling more energized than ever by reading the advice that Chee recalls a professor giving to him. "Yes, everything's been written, but also, the thing you want to write, before you wrote it, was impossible to write. Otherwise it would already exist. Your writing makes it possible." - Naina Bajekal

We Are Not Free, Traci Chee

We Are Not Free follows a group of 14 second-generation Japanese American teens in 1942, whose lives are upended after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Forced to leave their homes in San Francisco and live in incarceration camps, each teen experiences a range of challenges, from dislocation to discrimination. Author Traci Chee gives each character a distinct voice and uses different formats to share their stories and perspectives, including verse, letters and first-person narratives. Chee crafts a transformative story about teens facing incredible adversity during a tragic point in American history. - Karena Phan

Eat a Bowl of Tea, Louis Chu

Arguably the first Chinese American novel to receive widespread publication, Louis Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea takes an unflinching dive into Manhattan's Chinatown in the 1940s, where the rigid societal structures of the old world clashed with 20th century dreams and desires. Chu has no qualms in grappling with the community's misogyny, violence and shame, while painting vivid scenes of communal joy and support. The book's honesty and brutality made it shocking to many readers when it was published in 1961; it is now central to Asian American history and studies. - Andrew R. Chow

All You Can Ever Know, Nicole Chung

As she prepares to become a mother herself, author Nicole Chung searches for answers about her biological parents in her debut memoir. Growing up in Oregon, Chung's mother, who was white, always told her a comforting tale about her adoption: "Your birth parents had just moved here from Korea. They thought they wouldn't be able to give you the life you deserved."

I was deeply moved by Chung's stories of growing up in a mostly white, "colorblind" society. "To be a hero, I thought, you had to be beautiful and adored. To be beautiful and adored, you had to be white," she writes. While I'm not an adoptee and will never know the experience of not being seen fully by your own family, this memoir is such an urgent meditation on race, motherhood and the search for identity that I have gone back to it countless times for comfort. - Naina Bajekal

The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai

When I was 13 years old, I read Kiran Desai's extraordinary novel, The Inheritance of Loss. Every time I've read it since, I find more to love in the prose, which is gorgeous from the very first sentence: "The colors had been those of dusk, mist moving like a water creature across the great flanks of mountains." The novel follows Sai, an orphaned teenager living with her Anglophile grandfather in a crumbling house on the Indian side of the Himalayas; in a parallel narrative, we see Biju, the son of Sai's grandfather's cook, who drifts from one New York restaurant to another, trying to make a life for himself but ground down by the reality of being an "illegal" immigrant, "a dirty little rodent secret" that only other Indians living abroad could understand.

"Certain moves made long ago had produced all of them," Desai writes, deftly weaving together India's colonial history with the 21st-century issues of globalization, terrorism and inequality. As the daughter of Indian immigrants who moved to Britain full of optimism, as the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of men and women who marched for India's independence and went to prison for the cause, I have always found this extraordinary novel to be one of the best at capturing the ways in which modern multiculturalism has fallen short of its promises. - Naina Bajekal

Minor Feelings, Cathy Park Hong

Cathy Park Hong's Minor Feelings is the most honest and apt exploration of Asian American identity I've ever read. This prescient collection of essays, published in early 2020 just before a year of unprecedented anti-Asian violence due to the pandemic, finds its immeasurable strength in the subtleties, struggles and occasional triumphs of a community living at the margins of a society, largely unacknowledged and left out of a national dialogue about race. Running the gamut from unpacking the shame she felt growing up as the daughter of Korean immigrants to deconstructing her identification with the uncomfortable, caustic comedy of Richard Pryor, Hong's essays are at once candid, complex and gutting. They demand to be seen in the full range of her humanity as an Asian American woman and writer. - Cady Lang

Good Talk, Mira Jacob

In Mira Jacob's graphic memoir Good Talk, tough questions are the catalysts for necessary discussions. Framed through the innocent yet poignant queries of her 6-year-old half-Jewish, half-Indian son ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Jacob seeks to find thoughtful but truthful answers to questions like, "Are white people afraid of brown people?" by revisiting her lived experiences. Using both humor and grace, Jacob considers the dialogues in her life that have shaped how she views the world-and the America we live in- from coming of age as one of the few students of color and one of the only South Asian students in her New Mexico high school to reckoning with her white in-laws' support of Donald Trump. The conversations aren't always easy, but Jacob approaches each with nuance and fierce compassion-making the case that good talk is an essential part of not only learning, but healing. - Cady Lang

The Leavers, Lisa Ko

In the summer of 2018, my mum and I met up for a holiday to visit our family in Malaysia-she traveled from the U.K. and I traveled from Hong Kong, where I was living and working for this magazine. We called it our "girls road trip," starting in her hometown in Penang, before traveling down the peninsula to Melaka, and then back up meeting our cousins in Ipoh. We swapped books to keep ourselves entertained during the long bus journeys, one of which was Lisa Ko's The Leavers. The story is told through the perspectives of Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant mother working in a nail salon in the Bronx, and her son Deming, who is abandoned and later adopted by a white couple and renamed to become Daniel Wilkinson. Set in both China and New York, it's a tale about displacement, migration and belonging, and also the bonds between mother and child. The memories of reading it after my mum suggested it, while traveling through her home country together, will stay with me for a long time. - Suyin Haynes

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

An epic in every sense of the word, Min Jin Lee's novel Pachinko sprawls over nearly a century, tracing both the larger sociopolitical history of the Korean peninsula as well as the extremely specific trials and tribulations of one family across four generations. At the center of the story is Sunja Baek, a kimchi vendor who stoically absorbs the suffering of everyone around her as she perseveres through the decades. The book is fittingly being adapted into a TV series. - Andrew R. Chow

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Cho Nam-Joo

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 starts with a list of facts about the lead character, Kim Jiyoung, and the apparently normal elements of her apparently normal life. Yet turn the page, and discover that all is not well. Kim Jiyoung is exhibiting "abnormal behaviour." Author Cho Nam-Joo never lets the reader forget that everything in the novel is grounded in reality, closely following Jiyoung's life, thoughts and reactions, and including reminders there are many Korean women in similar circumstances. While the cultural context is specific to Korea, the specter of structural sexism resonates for every woman worldwide-women who are forced to adhere to the rules, forced to smart silently at the catcalls and forced to sacrifice their careers at the behest of men's wishes. As I read this short, subtly furious novel, so many elements of Jiyoung's experiences rang true. I appreciated Cho's masterful demonstration of Jacqueline Woodson's phrase: "The more specific the story, the more universal it becomes." - Suyin Haynes

Know My Name, Chanel Miller

For years, we knew Chanel Miller as Emily Doe, the woman who was sexually assaulted on Stanford's campus in 2015. We were introduced to her powerful voice in 2016 when her victim impact statement letter was made public-a piece of writing that stunned the world, and was even read on the Congress floor. In her memoir, Miller drops her shield of anonymity not only to reclaim her identity, but to introduce the world to who she is as an artist and writer. Miller captures her experiences leading up to and after the assault, and does so in remarkably harrowing, but clear terms. In doing so, she creates a bold and transformative text about survival, grief and resilience.

Buy Now: Know My Name on Bookshop | Amazon

Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng

The year is 1977, and Lydia Lee, the eldest daughter of a Chinese American family in small-town Ohio, is dead at the bottom of the local lake. Everything I Never Told You initially appears to be another thriller about the mysterious death of a teenage girl-but the novel, Celeste Ng's debut, reveals itself to be much more. Starting at the end of 16-year-old Lydia Lee's life, Ng slowly unveils a teenager buckling under the weight of trying to fulfill the dreams her parents were unable to pursue. Her mother Marilyn, a white housewife who was unable to finish her degree to become one of few female doctors at the time, pushes her favorite daughter to surpass her own station in life. Lydia's father, James, a first-generation Chinese American who has always sought acceptance from his all-American peers, places his aspirations of assimilation onto his whitest-looking child. Lydia performs a treacherous balancing act of maintaining a facade of success while in search of her own identity, an experience that is isolating-and all too familiar. Everything I Never Told You is a gut-wrenching window into the struggles of a mixed-race family longing to find their place in a slow-changing America. - Paulina Cachero

The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen

At the center of Viet Thanh Nguyen's aching debut novel is a nameless communist agent straddling two worlds. He's the son of a Vietnamese mother and a French father who comes to Los Angeles after the Fall of Saigon. It's there that the narrator, a thoroughly conflicted man, spies on his fellow Vietnamese refugees. The Sympathizer, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, is written as the spy's confession and brings with it a fresh perspective on the Vietnam War, one of a person who truly sees and understands both sides. The result is an intricately crafted book that is more than just a gripping spy story as Nguyen captures the many complexities of identity, politics, friendship and love.

The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng

After reading Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng's moving tribute to his hometown of Penang and the ferry that formerly carried cars from the island to the Malaysian peninsula, I sought out his 2012 novel The Garden of Evening Mists. The novel is told through the perspective of Teoh Yun Ling, traversing the 1940s and her imprisonment in a Japanese civilian internment camp; the early 1950s as Yun Ling becomes an apprentice to a Japanese gardener in the Cameron Highlands district of Malaysia, and the 1980s, as an older Yun Ling retires from a successful career as a judge and reflects on her life and experiences. Famous for its cooler climate and renowned for its natural beauty, Cameron Highlands has been home to vast tea plantations since the 1920s. Reading this novel when I've been mostly indoors in the same environment for more than a year, I was moved deeply by the graceful, elegant prose. Tan's absorbing, rich depictions of both vast landscapes and intricate details transported me to another time and place. - Suyin Haynes

Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino

Fueled by reality TV and the internet, entire generations-specifically Gen Z and Millennials-have been raised in an era that centers around the self. In an incisive collection of essays, cultural critic Jia Tolentino unpacks our collective self-delusions about who we are, what motivates us and how we view the world. In her 2019 book Trick Mirror, Tolentino tackles a broad spectrum of cultural frameworks including the internet, late-stage capitalism, religion and the "cult of the difficult woman." I found Tolentino's essays on her disillusionment with religious institutions in the South, her criticism of complicity in commodified feminism, and her revelations about experiencing sexual harassment as a woman to be particularly enlightening and validating of my own experiences as a first-generation Asian American from the South. - Paulina Cachero

Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine

Few books have dealt with racial and sexual politics-and, specifically, Asian American masculinity-as deftly as Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings, a graphic novel that charts the final days of a relationship from the perspective of its antihero, Ben Tanaka. Ben, a cranky, misanthropic movie theater manager in San Francisco, is obsessed with white women, despite living with his girlfriend Miko, an Asian American activist and film programmer who is increasingly fed up with Ben's curmudgeonly ways. The dissolution of their romance is not merely personal, but political-a visceral, incisive affront to the long-held mythical belief that love (or perhaps, more accurately, desire) is somehow immune to racism; it's also a probe into how deeply we may internalize the white gaze. Thanks to Tomine's wry humor and bracing storytelling, it lays bare the real-life consequences of how a history of racist policies and stereotypes affects how we not only love others, but ourselves. - Cady Lang

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

In his semi-autobiographical debut novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, poet Ocean Vuong tells the devastatingly beautiful story of a Vietnamese American boy caught between his family's painful past surviving the Vietnam War and their struggle to build a new life in America. Written in the form of a love letter to his Vietnamese mother who cannot read, a young man in his late twenties, nicknamed Little Dog, details the experience of his poor immigrant family in Hartford, Conn. in the 1990s. The narrator slowly unearths the trauma his mother and grandmother cannot escape. Vuong's coming-of-age story is a brutally honest exploration of race, class and identity in America. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous moved me not only with its devastatingly beautiful lyricism, but with its raw and unflinching portrayal of the Asian American immigrant experience: the often selfless sacrifice to provide for one's family, the widening generational and cultural divide between immigrant parent and first-generation child, and the struggle to fit into a country that views you as a perpetual foreigner. - Paulina Cachero

Stargazing, Jen Wang

A middle grade graphic novel that follows two unlikely elementary school friends, Stargazing makes it known to readers that Asian Americans are not a monolith. The story follows Christine, a Chinese American girl who's studious and always trying to meet her parents' expectations. But the arrival of Moon, another Chinese American girl who moves next door, shakes up Christine's life. The artistic, outspoken and unabashedly confident Moon seems to be everything Christine isn't. The two become fast friends. But when Moon is in trouble, can she count on Christine? Wang accurately portrays a tight-knit Asian American community, full of characters that show young readers how minorities don't have to fit into any box. - Karena Phan

Frankly in Love, David Yoon

Frank Li, a Korean American teen, has to meet a lot of his parents' traditional expectations-which include dating a nice Korean girl. But when Frank falls in love with his white classmate, Brit Means, he begins plotting a way to get what he wants while still pleasing his parents. He teams up with Joy Song, a family friend who is dealing with a similar situation in her own home. The two start fake dating to make his parents happy, but the plan soon takes an unexpected turn that forces Frank to question everything he knows. On its surface, Frankly in Love is a coming of age story about a high school romance. But throughout the book you see Frank navigate the culture his parents know and the one he learned being born in America. Yoon unpacks complex ideas about identity, friendship and family expectations that children of immigrants face. - Karena Phan

Asian American Dreams, Helen Zia

Throughout my life, the history of Asian America was largely supplementary to my education. My mother worked hard to ensure that any gaps (and there were many) in my schooling about the history of Asian Americans in this country were covered. It's a familiar issue that Helen Zia addresses in Asian American Dreams, where she seeks to tell the stories of the Asian Americans who helped build the country we know, but whose narratives largely are "missing in history." From documenting the first major wave of Chinese immigrants in the 1850s to bearing witness to the moments that have mobilized the Asian American community, such as the 1982 racially-motivated murder of Vincent Chin that helped solidify Asian Americans' place in the Civil Rights discourse, Zia shines light on an the untold but important legacy of Asian Americans in American history. - Cady Lang
-With reporting by Annabel Gutterman
Write to Naina Bajekal at naina.bajekal@time.com and Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com.

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A Reading List to Celebrate Asian Authors

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It might seem trite to say that in times of despair, we can look to the written word for solace. The shootings in Atlanta on March 16, in which a white gunman killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women, has sent waves of grief through the Asian American community and through global East and South East Asian communities.

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Powerful engaging read - See Goodreads review

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Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.

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How to Teach Culture with Integrity in the Art Room - The Art of Education University

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It's so easy as art teachers to get excited about the beautiful art forms of different cultures. From the expressive brush paintings of Japan to the intricate Aboriginal paintings of Australia, we may have the best intentions when teaching our students about other cultures, but ultimately end up falling short.

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Aboriginal Art: Revisited, Researched, and Revamped!

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Aboriginal Art: Revisited, Researched, and Revamped! Connections % %

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Let's start with a truth. As teachers, we have so much to juggle: When do I step in and correct this behavior? How and when will I start the new project? Where should this student sit? The list could go on forever. In fact, it's said that teachers make

1,500 educational decisions every single day. I think it's fair to say that for everything we do as teachers, there's probably something we're neglecting or avoiding, as our time and energy is finite. We've got to pick our battles. It's all a balancing act.

One of the overwhelming, untouched laws of most art rooms is the sacred status of student originality. I think most people use originality and creativity interchangeably, but I think originality has a bit more weight and stigma to it. Originality, by its very definition, implies that nothing else like it exists-it is the first of its origin. Creativity can be a bit more inclusive, with such fuzzy exceptions like appropriation and parody.

If we as teachers demand originality of all of our students at all times, are we in fact neglecting or avoiding other issues? Think specifically about working with difficult or stubborn students and how frustrated they must feel when we adopt an unflinching adherence to originality. Do any other subjects during the day operate this way?
Are students expected to add something to the entire field of science that is completely original? Of course not. That's ridiculous.
But we still adhere to this notion that students, and here I'm thinking specifically of middle school kids, have to come up with something completely original in art on a weekly basis.

So let's look at the pros and cons of pushing originality.

The Pros of Pushing Originality

The pros of teaching originality are pretty obvious. An art program that only focuses on building skills by copying famous works or teacher examples is missing out on a huge piece of what the arts teach students-skills like creativity, critical thinking, and complex communication. These skills happen naturally and frequently when students come up with original ideas. But, I'd argue those same skills can develop, albeit on a smaller scale, even if students aren't always being 100% original.

The Pitfalls of Pushing Originality

So, what could possibly be wrong with pushing originality? Let's think about students that have a difficult time starting new projects. They struggle to come up with new ideas. They've been told what to do and how to think for so long that when we present them with limitless opportunities, they can get bogged down.

I've always been a firm believer that kids would rather be seen as tough than struggling, especially by their peers. So, when students feel stuck on a project, motivation drops and behavioral issues sprout up. The exception here might be some of our gifted and naturally engaged students. However, rarely is a class comprised only of these types of students.

What if instead of holding onto originality, we could find ways for students to ease into creating without feeling like they've got to reinvent the wheel? What if we tap into their interests and modify their assignments? I like to think about it in this way: I don't have a problem with students working around their own limitations in skill. This might include using a photocopier, light box, or projector to get assist with deficiencies in drawing. In the same vein, I don't have an issue with students borrowing and appropriating from pop culture when it comes to creating artwork, especially if it gets them out of the rut of self-doubt and apathy. In fact, one could argue that when our students use imagery from their visual culture it's akin to what Pop Art and Post-Modern Artists have been doing for some time.

Students experience joy and learning through making. If we place originality as the gatekeeper of making, then we're prematurely cutting off a good number of students.
So where do you stand on the issue of adhering to student originality? Have you ever lowered the bar or done away with originality to jumpstart your students' learning? Was it a successful gambit?

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How Important is Originality in the Art Room? - The Art of Education University

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Let's start with a truth. As teachers, we have so much to juggle: When do I step in and correct this behavior? How and when will I start the new project? Where should this student sit? The list could go on forever. In fact, it's said that teachers make 1,500 educational decisions every ...

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Inclusivity for All Learners in the Art Room - The Art of Education University

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As art educators, we not only want students to create art, but we also hope to create a learning environment where every student feels included, valued, and encouraged. The desire to create a positive experience in an inclusive art room helps drive everything we do. Our students know they are valued…

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Talking to Young Children About Race and Racism

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Here are tips, books, and resources to help you have meaningful conversations with young children about race, racism, and anti-racist behavior.

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How Black Art Can Spark Conversations with Children | Parenting Tips & Advice | PBS KIDS for Parents

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Learning about Black art and artists can help children resist race-based negativity as well as learn about Black history.

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How to Talk Honestly With Children About Racism | Parenting Tips &...

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Talking with young children about race and racism is tough and important. Here are ideas to help you prepare for conversations, ask questions, and model anti-racist behavior.

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The Benefits of Teaching Children to See Race | Parenting Tips & Advice | PBS KIDS for Parents

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What are some ways you can help show your child the benefits of seeing race? Here are tips to celebrate everyone's skin tone.

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How to Use Children's Books to Talk About Race and Racism | Parenting Tips & Advice | PBS KIDS for Parents

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​Storytime opens up new worlds for our children. Here are seven ways Dr. Aisha White recommends using picture books (with questions and conversation starters!) to talk about race and racism.

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Talking About Race With Kids: Conversation Starters | Parenting Tips...

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Having conversations about race with our children can be easier than you think. Here are some simple open-ended questions and ideas to get you started.

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Children's Books With Strong Black Characters | Parenting Tips &...

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To encourage conversations about race and diversity with your children, check out this list of children's books to read together as a family.

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Children's Books to Celebrate Black Culture | Parenting Tips & Advice | PBS KIDS for Parents

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The following are some of our favorite books to celebrate African American history, culture and experiences.

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Children's Books by Arab American Authors and Illustrators |...

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April is Arab American Heritage Month, making it a perfect time to celebrate the talents of Arab American authors. Here are 10 Arab American-authored or illustrated books for children that are worth adding to your reading list.

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Children's Books by Asian American Authors and Illustrators |...

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May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, making it a great time to celebrate the amazing talents of Asian American authors and illustrators. Here are 10 books for young children to add to your reading list!

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6 Anti-Racist Educators to Follow on Instagram Right Now

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As a social media junkie, I spend countless hours surfing through hundreds of profile pages on different platforms. In the wake of COVID-19 and rising

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Anti-Racist : a person who opposes racism and promotes racial tolerance.

Bias : favoring or showing prejudice towards certain people or ideas.

BIPOC : Black, Indigenous and People of Color.

Cultural Appropriation: inappropriately and/or incorrectly using or taking advantage of, or claiming ownership and rights to use another culture's capital and patrimony; such as fashion, trends, iconography, traditional art, ceremonies, etc.

False Narrative : a story that you perceive as being true but has little basis in reality, this perception can be due to insufficient or inaccurate information or to insufficient or inaccurate assessment.

NBIPOC : Non-Black Indigenous People of Color

Person of color : a person who is not white or of European parentage.

Stereotype : a category or group that we put people into (thinking a certain type of person or thing acts/thinks/looks a certain way).

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Advice

Creating space to talk about race can open powerful learning for you and your students. These tips can help you make race conversations normal, constructive and successful.

Background

Racial dynamics, disparities and divisions permeate our society, communities, schools and classrooms. Systemic racism is so deeply rooted in our history, culture and institutions that there's no escaping it. Visible or not, its impacts are ever-present.

Yet, discussions of racism are typically not part of our curriculum - unless we're teaching social sciences or literature, or highlighting a particular holiday or hero. And even then, the race content may often be lacking or lackluster.

Adding to this context is the fact that a majority of our public school students are students of color while only 18 percent of our teachers are teachers of color. This presents different challenges for white teachers and teachers of color when approaching issues of race.

Because racism is complex and contentious, many of us are afraid to even broach the subject.

Fear of opening a can of worms and making a mistake can be paralyzing. It often feels easier and safer to avoid the topic altogether. Instead of calling attention to racism, we too often wish it would just go away. But whether we choose to talk about it or not, racism is already in the building. And, the more we avoid it, the more it grows.

Silence and inaction reinforce the status quo. Avoidance speaks volumes - it communicates to students of color that racism doesn't matter enough to warrant attention and, by omission, invalidates their experiences, perspectives, identities and lives. White students, on the other hand, often see racism being accepted and normalized, without acknowledgement or accountability. And the lofty ideal of educational excellence and equity for all students, if it even exists at your school, may seem like a hollow commitment.

To advance real solutions, we need to address real problems. As teachers, we have "teachable moments," or opportunities to constructively and productively address race. But these opportunities need to be thoughtfully created, seized, planned and managed. We have choices when addressing matters of race. In our own classroom, we are the power-holder, the gatekeeper, and the standard setter. One choice is to unconsciously and passively perpetuate racism, while the other is to consciously and actively pursue racial equity.

You probably don't have to revamp your entire curricula or classroom practice. But there are many ways we can make room for addressing racial dynamics. Discussions in your classroom can even be steppingstones to addressing race in your school, school district and community. Creating the space to talk about race can open the way for some of the most powerful learning and change that you and your students will ever experience.

The following tips can help you make race conversations normal, constructive and successful. These skills are best learned through collective dialogue with others committed to addressing racial equity, as well as through lots of practice. When discussions of race and racism become normalized, the promise of equity can be realized.

1. Create a Welcoming Classroom and School

Each class has its own culture and learning climate. When you make equity and inclusion prominent priorities in your classroom norms, routines and environment, your students will feel a greater sense of belonging, safety and openness. Balance participation and learning opportunities.

The more you can form authentic relationships and connections with all your students and their families, the more you will understand them-especially those who typically face the most marginalization, such as students of color, LGBTQ students, students from low-income families, English language learners, new immigrants, and students with physical or learning disabilities. New research is beginning to find that teacher empathy can be a key factor in student success and the reduction of punitive disciplinary actions.

Create a supportive culture and hold an affirming space for all of your students, individually and collectively, by:

Using diverse curriculum materials, differentiated instruction methods and give students some choices to accommodate different interests and learning styles.

Contributing to the welcoming climate of your school. For example, excess surveillance often unfairly targets and triggers students of color due to prevailing patterns of racial bias, thereby undermining efforts to create a school climate that is inclusive and conducive to learning.

2. Root Out Biases and Barriers

Everyone, regardless of race, can have unconscious racial bias. Be willing to examine your own bias and the ways you may be privileged or unaware. Reflect upon all aspects of your teaching practice.

Ask yourself:

Could your curriculum, pedagogy, grading, classroom management or disciplinary practices be giving preference to some students while putting others at a disadvantage?

Are there any barriers to learning and success that some students may be experiencing?

What are the racial impacts of different policies and practices at your school and school district?

Then, look at available data to see if there are patterns of inequitable outcomes or unintended consequences.

Finally, invite observation, discussion and feedback from colleagues and students about routine practices in order to surface lessons and equitable alternatives.

3. Encourage Self-Expression

Give your students the ability and validation to bring their full racial and cultural identities into your classroom so they can be themselves and speak their truths. Trust their wisdom and show deep respect. Discussions can begin by giving students an opportunity to share their experiences, perspectives or stories. Identify and appreciate points of connection, as well as differences.

Give students permission to only share what they want. Don't put anyone on the spot or expect any individual to represent their racial or cultural group. Your students may be your best teachers about matters of race, each with unique experience and expertise.

4. Be Open Yourself

Be willing to share different dimensions of your own racial identity and cultural background. Be open about your experience with racial inequities and/or racial privilege and any efforts you've participated in to advance racial justice. How has your racial identity been both a strength and a challenge in your life? What have you learned along the way, what were your mistakes, and what are you still learning?

If you are white, you may be used to the privilege of not having to think or talk about race, especially your own. Push yourself to take some risks, which will likely lead to some rich learning. Your honesty and humility will help your students open up.

5. Engage, Don't Avoid

Racism is perpetuated by silence-and silence is complicity. Being "colorblind" often serves as a pretense to downplay the significance of race, deny the existence of racism, and erase the experience of students of color. Be willing to lead the uncomfortable conversations and turn them into teachable moments. Learn to break through your own discomfort to embrace the tensions and unknowns.

When racism needs to be addressed but is being avoided, make it your job to initiate and facilitate a constructive conversation. Don't put the burden on students of color to have to bring things up or do all the heavy lifting to help white students learn. Even if you don't feel confident or fully skilled, challenge yourself and be courageous. At the other end of the spectrum, you also don't want too heavy-handed about race, where the discussion feels forced or too narrowly framed. Instead, you want to strategically provide the space for students to bring up their own angles on an issue. Let go of perfection and expect some messiness. Like anything else, it gets easier with practice.

6. Create Opportunities for Discussion

Use current events, cultural happenings and local angles to spark relevant and meaningful discussions among your students. Pop culture (e.g. music, movies, sports, celebrities) is particularly engaging for young people, supplying continuous fodder for important race conversations. Keep abreast of race-related news sites or social media by people of color to get ideas for hot topics.

Discussions about race are often reactive, once blatant racism has occurred, and often not very constructive-with lots of blaming and shaming. Be proactive by creating planned opportunities for students to share stories and life experiences in ways that connect to your curriculum. You still may need to react, at times, to incidents of racism in your classroom-such as micro-aggressions (routine slights and insults)-but you can prepare in advance your process for addressing them so that you're not caught off-guard. You'll need to make your discussions developmentally appropriate, but students at all levels - even very young - are already aware of, and affected by, race.

7. Talk About Racism and Racial Equity

If you want to get real about race, you have to also be willing to talk about racism and racial equity. Here are some concepts that you can introduce to add clarity and context to your discussions:

Race is not simply an individual characteristic or cultural identity. More significantly, it is a social category and a power dynamic-a marker of a racial group's positional power in society. Racial identities are socially assigned, regardless of how you self-identify. While attention to diversity (variety) is important, it is even more critical to address equity (fairness or justice), since racism is fundamentally about power.

Systemic racism - inequities and ideas about race based on history, institutions and culture - routinely advantages white people and disadvantages people of color. Some racism is conscious and intentional, but a lot of racism is

unconscious and unintentional (also known as implicit bias). Racism can be intensified by other intersecting inequities, such as gender and class, thus race requires explicit, but not exclusive attention.

Racial equity (or racial justice) is the systematic fair treatment of all people, resulting in fair opportunities and outcomes for everyone. Racial equity is not just the absence of discrimination but also the presence of values and systems that ensure fairness and justice. Systematic equity, which affirmatively and continually supports and ensures the fair treatment of all people, is needed to supplant the system of racism.

Racism is experienced at many levels-internalized, interpersonal, institutional and structural. Interpersonal manifestations of racism get a lot of our attention because they are more visible and visceral. But they are often just the superficial symptoms of broader systems with deeper root causes. Engaging in a systems analysis, can help students identify deeper causes and generate options for solutions.

Racial equity is not just the absence of discrimination but also the presence of values and systems that ensure fairness and justice.

This can provide a productive path for your discussions, beginning with the sharing of personal experiences and observations of racism, then working through some analysis and arriving at proposed solutions and strategies to advance racial equity.

8. Establish and Enforce Group Norms

Since conversations about race can be difficult and divisive, establish some agreements before you begin the conversation. Allow your students to generate, agree to, and hold each other accountable to, their own norms. Display these agreements and refer back to them, as needed. Decide upfront on the goals and parameters of the conversation - what you are and are not going to address.

Example group norms are: honoring confidentiality, using "I" statements instead of "You" statements, focusing on actions and impacts rather than assumptions and intentions, participating fully but evenly, deeply listening, allowing disagreement, appreciating feedback instead of getting defensive, and always respecting each other.

Learning and using restorative justice practices, such as peace circles, can also be helpful for addressing harm or conflict. These practices can help bring real issues to the surface while also fostering healthy communication, conflict resolution and relationships.

9. Process is as Important as Content

If you expect a challenging conversation, take time to get centered and take some deep breaths together. Try to be fully present with each other, without any distractions. Pay attention not only to what is being said (or not being said), but also to how it is being said, and who is saying it (or who is not speaking). Expect to do more facilitating and process management, with the content of the conversation mostly generated in real time by your students.

You can invite students to lead all or parts of the conversation. This not only gives them more ownership of the content, but also helps them practice important skills. You can be ready to guide or mediate, if needed, but you don't always have to lead the discussion, especially if some of your students have more direct experience with the topic at hand.

Decide upfront on the goals and parameters of the conversation - what you are and are not going to address.

Even if there is disagreement, as long you've followed your group norms and everyone feels heard and respected, the conversation will likely be constructive and productive. Build in movement breaks, as well as time at the end for
appreciations and closure.

10. Model Your Values and Vision

Practice equity, inclusion, empathy and respect in your own classroom. Your actions, more than your words, will have the greatest impact on your students. They are looking to you for leadership and ally-ship. You can play a formative role in helping them build critical skills for navigating the complexities of race.

Talking about racism is just a start. Taking action is the biggest driver of change. Create opportunities and strategies to move from awareness and analysis to action and impact. You and your students can go beyond the classroom by advocating for equity in your school and school district. Speak up and speak out. Be intentional about supporting more voices and leadership of people of color. And be proactive by proposing bold and concrete solutions that embody the values and vision of equity and inclusion for all.

Racial Justice in Education Links

Myth

It's easier and safer to avoid talking about racism with students and colleagues.

Reality

Silence and inaction reinforce the status quo, and tells students of color that racism doesn't matter.

Speak up for racial justice

Stay Informed We'll come to you

We're here to help you succeed in your career, advocate for public school students, and stay up to date on the latest education news. Sign up to stay informed

Myth

It's easier and safer to avoid talking about racism with students and colleagues.

Reality

Silence and inaction reinforce the status quo, and tells students of color that racism doesn't matter.

Speak up for racial justice

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10 Principles for Talking About Race in School | NEA

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Creating space to talk about race can open powerful learning for you and your students. These tips can help you make race conversations normal, constructive and successful.

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While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, the earlier parents start the conversation the better.

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Every child has the right to grow up healthy, educated and safe - regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status. Systemic change to end racism is essential to achieving this vision.

Save the Children was founded over 100 years ago to fight for universal values and children's rights. However, we also live in a society that still suffers from a legacy of institutional racism. The past year has been an especially difficult one for America, and for anyone who believes in and is fighting for a more just world.

Save the Children remains committed to fighting for what is right and against injustices. We proudly stand in solidarity with the Black communities, the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and all communities targeted by racism, sexism, ableism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of discrimination..

As you seek ways to navigate conversations with children in your life about recent events, including violence, and race in America, we are here for you. We know that talking to kids about racism and social justice are not always easy conversations to have, nor are they a one-time occurrence. There is also no unique individual or organization that holds all the answers to every question that may arise. But we encourage you to use the following tips to start a conversation or as a continuation, aimed at helping children to better understand what is happening around them.

1. Limit exposure to media and social media. Protests are occurring right now over racism across our nation. Protests have occurred throughout history to express feelings over conflict, violence, injustice, discrimination, inequality and more. To peacefully assemble is a protected right in the United States and is a way to stand together and make your voice heard.

It is important for your child to understand what is happening, but also understand that the images and stories portrayed on the news and social media can cause anxiety and fear in both children and adults. It's encouraged to limit exposure based on what you feel is right for you and your family.

2. Talk about race in age-appropriate ways.
- For preschoolers:At this age, your child may begin to notice and point out differences in the people around you, like when you're at the park. If your child asks about someone's skin tone, you might say, "Isn't it wonderful that we are all so different!" You can even hold your arm against theirs to show the differences in skin tones within your family.

- For elementary school children: This is the age that is important to have open talks with your child about race, diversity and racism. Discussing these topics will help your child see you as a trusted source of information on the topic, and he or she can come to you with any questions. Point out stereotypes and racial bias in media and books such as villains or "bad guys" in movies.

- If your child makes comments or asks you questions about race based on school incidents or something they read or watched: Further the discussion with questions such as, "How do you feel about that?" and "Why do you think that?" This is also helpful if your child heard something insensitive or if your child experienced racial bias themselves. Before responding to his or her statement or question, figure out where it came from and what it means from his or her perspective.

3. Recognize what's in your power. Think about what you can personally do to take action and stand up for what is right.

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Tips for Talking with Children About Racism and Social Justice

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Every child has the right to grow up healthy, educated and safe - regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status. Systemic change to end racism is essential to achieving this vision. Save the Children was founded over 100 years ago to fight for universal values and children's rights.

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EmbraceRace is a multiracial community dedicated to sharing and developing best practices for raising and caring for kids, all kids, in the context of race. We partnered with MomsRising - a transformative multicultural organization of more than a million members working to increase family economic security and end discrimination against women and mothers - to create these tips for our communities.

They are designed to help parents of all backgrounds talk to and guide their children about race early and often by lifting up age-appropriate activities that can be incorporated easily into your daily life. We hope these tips provide some much needed support for families committed to building tolerance, racial equity, and a social culture where all kids and families can thrive!

1) Start early.

By 6 months of age babies are noticing racial differences; by age 4, children have begun to show signs of racial bias.

Let your child know that it's perfectly okay to notice skin color and talk about race. Start talking about what racial differences mean and don't mean.

2) Encourage your child.

Encourage your child to ask questions, share observations and experiences, and be respectfully curious about race.

Expose your child to different cultural opportunities - photographs, films, books, or cultural events, for example - and discuss the experience afterwards.

You don't have to be an expert on race to talk with our child. Be honest about what you don't know and work with your child to find accurate information.

3) Be mindful.

What kids hear from us is less important than what they see us do.

You are a role model to your child. What you say is important, but what you do - the diversity of your friendship circle, for example - is likely to have a bigger impact.

If your child doesn't attend a diverse school, consider enrolling her in aer-school or weekend activities such as sports leagues that are diverse if you're able. Choose books and toys that include persons of different races and ethnicities. Visit museums with exhibits about a range of cultures and religions.

4) Face and know your own bias.

Let your child see you acknowledge and face your own biases.

We're less likely to pass on the biases we identify and work to overcome.

Give your child an example of a bias, racial or otherwise, that you hold or have held. Share with your child things you do to confront and overcome that bias.

5) Know and love who you are.

Talk about the histories and experiences of the racial, ethnic, and cultural groups you and your family identify with. Talk about their contributions and acknowledge the less flattering parts of those histories as well.

Tell stories about the challenges your family (your child's parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grandparents, others) has faced and overcome.

6) Develop racial cultural literacy.

Develop racial cultural literacy by learning about and respecting others.

Study and talk about the histories and experiences of groups we call African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and whites, among others.

Be sure your child understands that every racial and ethnic group includes people who believe different things and behave in different ways . There is as much diversity within racial groups as across them.

7) Be honest.

Be honest with your child, in age-appropriate ways, about bigotry and oppression.

Children are amazing at noticing patterns, including racial patterns (who lives in their neighborhood versus their friends' neighborhoods, for example). Help them make sense of those patterns, and recognize that bigotry and oppression are sometimes a big part of those explanations.

Be sure your child knows that the struggle for racial fairness is still happening and that your family can take part in that struggle.

8) Tell stories.

"Lift up the freedom fighters ": Tell stories of resistance and resilience.

Every big story of racial oppression is also a story about people fighting back and "speaking truth to power." Teach your child those parts of the story too.

Include women, children and young adults among the "freedom fighters" in the stories you tell. A story about racial struggle in which all the heroes are men wrongly leaves many people out.

9) Be active.

Be active - don't be a "bystander" on race.

Help your child understand what it means to be, and how to be, a change agent.

Whenever possible, connect the conversations you're having to the change you and your child want to see, and to ways to bring about that change .

10) Plan for a marathon, not a sprint.

It's okay to say, "I'm not sure" or "Let's come back to that later, okay?" But then do come back to it.

Make race talks with your child routine. Race is a topic you should plan to revisit again and again in many different ways overtime.

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10 tips for teaching and talking to kids about race

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These tips are designed to help parents of all backgrounds teach and talk to their children about race early and often by lifting up age-appropriate activities that can be incorporated easily into your daily life.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching

Teachers may be hesitant to discuss race with young kids, but these research-backed, age-appropriate strategies can help.

Conversations about multicultural education, antiracism, and antibias are becoming more prevalent within educational communities. However, there may be hesitation and confusion about whether and how to create a classroom community that is supportive of children from racially diverse backgrounds-particularly ones who are younger.

In early childhood, educators may approach racial diversity and race-related issues from a color-blind philosophy or believe that young children are unable to understand issues of race due to their age. These approaches not only are dismissive of children and families' experiences but also create an inaccurate portrayal of history and current events. Additionally, color-blind approach is an ableist term that equates actual medical blindness with ignorance and implies that racism is only connected to sight and negates the structural and day-to-day issues associated with racism.

As a result, educators should intentionally create a learning environment that respects and values racial diversity while addressing students' experiences and the historical issues that shape those experiences. Here are five research-based approaches that early childhood educators can use.

Reflect on Who You Are and Your Experiences With Race

In order to create a learning environment that authentically supports racial diversity, educators can start with self-reflection. Understanding oneself will reveal educators' feelings, thoughts, and attitudes about race and how they influence interactions and expectations with students.

Even if teachers share a similar racial background with students or self-identify as a BIPOC, it does not mean that they're aware of how race and culture influence their teaching. Educators can try journaling or having peer discussions to reflect on how their teaching practices are influenced by race and culture.

Remember Intersectionality

In addition to race, many children and families may experience other forms of discrimination and oppression when they belong to multiple identity groups simultaneously, such as gender, class, ability, language, or sexual orientation. Children may be blamed for problems or experience erasure because of their multiple identities. Therefore, creating learning environments that are supportive of racial diversity should also be inclusive of children's multiple identities. You can use resources like Photovoice, films, and texts to encourage students to reflect on the experiences of children and families with intersectional identities and think of ways they can be supported.

Discover Something to Love About Each Student

Even though children come from different racial and ethnic communities, it's important to balance that with recognizing students individually. To build learning environments that affirm and acknowledge racial diversity and intersectional identities, educators should discover something to love about each child in the classroom. This love and connection can develop through visiting the children's homes, meeting with families and community members, or interacting during recess or outdoor activities.

Avoid Tokenism

Educators should avoid doing one-off projects that reinforce stereotypes about different groups of people. Educators may incorporate activities and lessons that expose students to historical knowledge about people from a variety of racial and ethnic groups, the oppression experienced by people of different racial and ethnic groups, and the ways in which different groups have historically and currently contributed to national culture and society. When doing this, it's valuable to not position one or two well-known individuals as representative of their entire cultural community.

Educators may also share depictions of people building friendships with those from different backgrounds. These lessons can help reduce children's prejudice and negative attitudes toward people from different racial groups and increase young students' feelings about racial fairness. Even if students in the setting are more racially homogeneous, children can still benefit from being exposed to and learning about other races in nonstereotypic portrayals.

Build Bridges

Educators can implement activities that specifically address race-related topics or conversations. Students can read books that feature characters of different skin tones, then have a conversation about the importance of making friends with people from different backgrounds.

They can also make self-portraits by mixing paint colors or using crayons that match the children's skin tones. In this activity, children can see variation within their own and possibly other racial groups. This also may be a chance for students to observe colors associated with racial groups, like white, and notice if there are students who match that skin tone that may identify as White. For classes that are conducted virtually, students can use online painting tools.

Students may also compose books and photo journals or engage in oral storytelling to share information about themselves and their families with their peers. If educators notice children separating into racial groups in the classroom, they may have students complete activities and projects with different buddies, particularly those they may not choose to play with.

When educators start with understanding themselves and then expand that to understanding the experiences of others, they can intentionally cultivate a learning environment that honors racial and intersectional diversity within the classroom and the larger society. It is not a practice that has an end result; rather, it's a process that requires consistent reflection, learning, and growth.

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How to Support Young Learners in Racially Diverse Classrooms

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Culturally Responsive Teaching Teachers may be hesitant to discuss race with young kids, but these research-backed, age-appropriate strategies can help. Conversations about multicultural education, antiracism, and antibias are becoming more prevalent within educational communities. However, there may be hesitation and confusion about whether and how to create a classroom community that is supportive of children from racially diverse backgrounds-particularly ones who are younger.

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Does anyone have a good lead on artists of different abilities?

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Does anyone have a good lead on artists of different abilities?