Books

Exploring Race and Racism: MAJRR's Curated Reading Recommendations

Welcome to the Minority American Journal of Race and Racism’s curated selection of essential reads on the complex and crucial subjects of race and racism in America. These books offer deep insights, diverse perspectives, and thought-provoking analyses from renowned authors and experts in the field. Whether you’re a scholar, activist, or curious reader, these titles will enrich your understanding of this critical issue.

  • 2017

    • The Power We Possess: Understanding the Power of Your Vote and the Need for the Political Evolution of the Black Electorate

      THE POWER WE POSSESS: Understanding the Power of Your Vote and the Need for the Political Evolution of the Black Electorate, defines power as both a physical substance and an idea that is neutral and expansive. It will serve any master without remorse or compassion and when held will increase at an exponential and predictable rate. Power is also a principle. It is a fundamental, universal law from which many others derive. Simply stated the Power Principle provides that those who have power shall prosper, and those who do not shall serve. The Power Process is also observable. When it flows it is like an electrical current, either direct or alternating. When its flow is regular it appears as structure. When it moves quickly and takes an irregular course it is more characteristic of what is generally understood as a process. The Law of Power Units: each of us is a self-contained power unit. A power unit is composed of an individual and his/her power set. A power set is the individual power unit plus the skills and resources he/she brings to the table. Critical Mass (CM) is the minimum number of enriched/enlightened persons required to effect revolutionary political change. The Critical Mass equation is best stated as CM = φ (AAP)). This formula indicates less than two percent of our people, having been properly enriched, can generate the explosive impact, radical change, and radiant growth that will be the result of the cultural/political chain reaction. The attainment of Critical Mass is, therefore, the single most important objective of any organization whose goal is the empowerment of African Americans. Through Critical thinking, a developed Military Mindset, the use of Strategic Economics and the tactic of Confrontational Politics we will be able to win the psychological war, defeat, the political, economic, and cultural ideology known as white supremacy, Plantation Politics, and the intricate series of interlocking laws, policies, treaties, and judicial opinions backed by the ever-present threat of massive violent force that supports it. Thus, we will create the New Body Politic that will change the course of human events both here and abroad.

      Dr. Rev. Johnnie Cordero

    • Between the World and Me

      In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

      Ta-Nehisi Coates

    • Eloquent rage : a black feminist discovers her superpower

      So what if it’s true that Black women are mad as hell? They have the right to be. In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Brittney Cooper reminds us that anger is a powerful source of energy that can give us the strength to keep on fighting. Far too often, Black women’s anger has been caricatured into an ugly and destructive force that threatens the civility and social fabric of American democracy. But Cooper shows us that there is more to the story than that. Black women’s eloquent rage is what makes Serena Williams such a powerful tennis player. It’s what makes Beyoncé’s girl power anthems resonate so hard. It’s what makes Michelle Obama an icon. Eloquent rage keeps us all honest and accountable. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed. And it took another intervention, this time staged by one of her homegirls, to turn Brittney into the fierce feminist she is today. In Brittney Cooper’s world, neither mean girls nor fuckboys ever win. But homegirls emerge as heroes. This book argues that ultimately feminism, friendship, and faith in one's own superpowers are all we really need to turn things right side up again.

      Brittney Copper