It’s finally here! The first Good Carma Book Club (GCBC). I started this as an effort to continue the important conversations and changes taking place in homes, companies, social media etc. America has finally been alerted to the deep systemic racism our country has overlooked for centuries and we are ready to do something about it. The question I was receiving a lot is “but what can we do?”. Well, there are a myriad of things, voting knowledgeably is one of the first things I would recommend. The next would be to educate yourself. Read, listen to podcasts, watch documentaries and movies, have those difficult conversations, learn about American history from a Black perspective.
In my effort to organically continue the conversation and lend my voice to the cause I thought it would be great to start discussions around books that amplify the experiences, thoughts and voices of the Black community through Black authors. Thus the book club was formed.
Our book for the month of July is Austin Channing Brown’s I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. Here’s a list of Black owned bookstores you can purchase the book from online if you haven’t bought it yet.
Why did I choose this book?
I have been recommending this book to my white friends who are interested in racial reconciliation and learning more about the experiences of the Black community since I read it back in 2018. Reading this book made me feel seen and heard. I saw so many of my own feelings and pain through reading her words. And when my experiences are too painful to share I can point to this book and say read this and then you’ll know a bit about what it has been like for me.
My suggestions for reading this book
Read with an open mind
For people who are not Black some of the experiences Austin Channing Brown speaks about may leave you wanting to defend those of your race or may discourage you from continuing to read. If you are feeling this don’t ignore those feelings. I would instead suggest you dig deeper into books like White Fragility that can better help you process these experiences.
Take time to digest her words
Austin Channing Brown’s words are powerful. They speak to her experiences as a Black woman and to the experiences of so many others in the Black community. Take time to process her experiences, put yourself in her shoes and think about how you would feel and react in those moments, apply it to your own life. Depending on how you process things you may even need to journal or talk to a close friend about what you’re reading.
Talk about it with someone
I don’t know if everyone feels this way, but after reading a book that captures my attention or one that makes me think deeply about a topic I hadn’t before, I like to process it out with other people. If you would like to do this within a safe and open minded community I suggest you join the private Facebook group I created to do just this.
Here’s a great guide to the book that I’ll be using written by Austin Channing Brown. The guides gives questions to ask that help the reader better reflect on the experiences shared and process what the next step is after learning what could be new to you information in each chapter.
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This is the beginning of something great. If we continue to learn, grow, change and repeat we can truly help bring about a better tomorrow. It takes work and unity and putting aside your own pride but I will not lose hope that this can be achieved.
xo,
Carmen