Race and Gender - Books

A sharp deconstruction of contemporary white feminism, revealing how the performance of 'sass' and 'girl squads' serves to consolidate privilege rather than dismantle oppression.

One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of 2023. Continuing the trajectory of the Combahee River Collective, this collection brings together scholars, activists, and writers to examine how carceral liberalism masquerades as freedom while perpetuating oppression, critiquing the confluence of neoliberalism, incarceration, and patriarchy.

A powerful work by NYU professor, data scientist, and one of the few Black women AI researchers, Meredith Broussard. Reveals how tech neutrality is a myth and algorithms need accountability. From facial recognition only trained on lighter skin tones, to mortgage algorithms encouraging discriminatory lending, to dangerous feedback loops in medical diagnostic algorithms. Solution isn't making omnipresent tech more inclusive, but rooting out algorithms that target demographics as 'other.'

Through the personal experiences of historian Felicia Kornbluh's mother and neighbor, this book reveals the untold story of two grassroots movements in New York that transformed American reproductive rights politics—the fight to decriminalize abortion and the struggle against sterilization abuse.

An extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism by award-winning Gitxsan journalist Angela Sterritt who survived life on the streets. Combining personal narrative with in-depth investigation into Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), this book reveals how colonialism and racism created a society where Indigenous women's lives are ignored and devalued, while proving that Indigenous women's strength and brilliance is unbroken.

Reveals the forgotten history of enslaved women, reconstructing their pivotal role and indomitable spirit in the struggle against slavery in the Caribbean region.

Edited by Alice Wong, Disability Visibility gathers first-person writing by contemporary disabled people, bringing disability culture, media representation, embodiment, law, art, and everyday life into public view.

A poetically written and sharply critical exploration of the unspoken pain, anger, and alienation hidden behind the myth of the 'model minority.' Cathy Park Hong dismantles the racial and social hierarchies of American society through the lens of her own experiences as an Asian American woman.

A powerful critique of mainstream feminism's failure to address the basic needs of marginalized women, advocating for housing, food, education, and other survival issues to be at the core of feminist agenda.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha frames disability justice as practical knowledge from sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown communities, centering collective access, care webs, and liberation where no one is left behind.

Connecting liberation movements across different eras and regions, from abolitionism to Palestine, demonstrating the importance of intersectional analysis in contemporary social movements.

A modern feminist classic that deeply explores the phenomenon of 'mansplaining' and its impact on women. Solnit's sharp writing reveals gender power relations in everyday life, providing important perspectives for understanding contemporary women's circumstances.

A transgender rights activist's autobiographical work that explores the multiple meanings of feminine identity through personal growth experiences, challenging mainstream society's rigid perceptions of authenticity and femininity.

A hybrid of prose and poetry, Claudia Rankine's memoir-like art book provides uncompromising insights into the living conditions of 21st-century Black Americans—particularly Black women. From microaggressions to intentional acts of bias, Rankine creates a taxonomy of daily offenses against Black Americans, challenging all of us to consider our own complicity.

The final autobiography written by the legendary poet Maya Angelou. Addressing her early abandonment by her mother, years of estrangement, and a dramatic eventual reconciliation, this work beautifully maps how one woman learned to be independent, to forgive, and to blossom into a world-renowned writer through the complexities of maternal love.

Edited by Kim Q. Hall, Feminist Disability Studies systematically links feminist theory and disability studies, examining embodiment, ability norms, public policy, representation, sexuality, and public life as co-producers of gendered and disabled inequality.

A raw and powerful record of a girl growing up amidst poverty, violence, and rigid social expectations in Jamaica, winning her freedom through poetry and her own voice. It reveals the truth behind the illusion of 'paradise' while exploring biracial identity, sexuality, and the reclamation of self.

A powerful novel by the Nigerian-born author following the lives of four African women working in Antwerp's red-light district. Driven to Europe by poverty, betrayal, and a longing for a better life, they seek to reclaim their identities and find new solidarity amidst cold realities.

The madness known as the 'ideal womanhood' imposed on American women throughout the 20th century. This sociological entertainment dismantles etiquette education, strange beauty regimens, and patriarchal social expectations through extensive archival research and sharp humor.

A record of the soul's cry and intellectual legacy of Black women thinkers from the 19th century to the present. A monumental anthology that can be called a canon of Black Feminism, gathering the 'Words of Fire' spoken to shatter the triple constraints of racism, sexism, and class oppression.

An important collection of speeches and essays by veteran political activist Angela Y. Davis, focusing on transformations in conversations about sexism, racism, and economic equality in the late 20th century. From stories of female circumcision in Egypt to examinations of rap lyrics, to the personal politics of race, Davis's sharp and accomplished essays establish her place among the important contemporary feminist voices.

A classic collection by the master of science fiction feminist literature Butler, featuring the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning titular novella that explores gender roles, power relationships, and identity through interspecies dynamics.

A foundational work of intersectional feminist theory. Through fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde explores the intersectional oppression of race, gender, class, and sexuality, creating a revolutionary theoretical framework for understanding multiple identities.

A collection of essays, speeches, and reviews spanning 20 years by Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, focusing on the intersection of personal and political, from civil rights movement to anti-nuclear sentiment, from literary criticism to personal reflections of Black women, mothers, and feminists. Called 'womanist prose' by the author, it provides profound perspectives for understanding late 20th-century feminism.

A groundbreaking collection of writings by radical women of color that brought together diverse racial voices, critiqued the limitations of white feminism, and advanced intersectional feminist development.

Analyzes the history of the American women's movement from a historical materialist perspective, revealing the interconnections of racial, class, and gender oppression.

A creative memoir that weaves together Chinese legends, family storytelling, and American reality to depict the complex identity and silent struggles of a second-generation Chinese immigrant. A soulful record of breaking silence with words and winning back one's own story through the image of a warrior like Mulan.

When discussing feminist poetry, it's impossible not to mention Adrienne Rich, one of the most widely read poets of the 20th century and a renowned intersectional feminist activist. Our recommended best introductory poetry collection: 'Diving into the Wreck,' a particularly lyrical and emotionally charged collection of poems—including 'Rape,' a narrative poem often considered one of Rich's most important works.

Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography is a milestone work that changed the literary landscape—it not only pioneered how literature discusses issues of racism, sexism, and identity, but more importantly, it redefined our understanding of the autobiographical genre itself. In this work, Angelou explores her experiences growing up in Arkansas until becoming a mother at 16. Though sometimes heavy reading (Angelou's brief narrative of childhood sexual assault runs throughout the book), 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' introduced new ways of writing women's lives to the literary world.

Nearly 200 years after Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was published, it has quite rightly earned the status of a classic feminist novel. If Jane Eyre is a classic, then Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea—the 1966 novel that gives life to the abandoned woman in Brontë's story—is a masterpiece. By re-examining the character of Bertha Rochester and imagining her life before the events of the original novel, Rhys gives agency and dignity to literature's archetypal 'madwoman in the attic'.

Though Zora Neale Hurston's most famous novel is now considered a cornerstone work of the Harlem Renaissance, Their Eyes Were Watching God received a lukewarm reception when first published in 1937, not being rediscovered until the 1970s. The story follows a Black woman named Janie Crawford's coming-of-age in Florida, from her 'voiceless' teenage years to a more self-possessed adulthood.