Reverend Joseph Lowery, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, his wife Evelyn, and John Lewis (L-R) led several thousand civil rights marchers across the Edmund Petus Bridge to continue their 160 mile trek from Carrollton to Montgomery in protest of the imprisonment of two black women on vote fraud charges and to dramatize support of the voting rights act, Feb. 14, 1982. John Lewis was one of the original Selma to Montgomery marchers who was severely beaten on the bridge in 1965. Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
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Holiday Gift List: Activists and Allies
These 10 stimulating titles by powerful writers will ignite conversation and inspire resistance / BY Nathalie Atkinson / December 16th, 2021
In these portraits of trailblazers and books that explore the roots of community protest, politics, identity and history, words speak as loudly as actions.
Obsessive Book Buyers: Zoomer editors have carefully curated our book coverage to ensure you find the perfect read. We may earn a commission on books you buy by clicking on the Buy Now button.
1A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black PerformanceIn this finalist for the National Book Award, the MacArthur “genius grant” fellow weaves personal and American history together to chart a path through cultural moments, from American singer and French resistance spy Josephine Baker to the TV show Soul Train and even Whitney Houston’s awkward dance skills.
In this finalist for the National Book Award, the MacArthur “genius grant” fellow weaves personal and American history together to chart a path through cultural moments, from American singer and French resistance spy Josephine Baker to the TV show Soul Train and even Whitney Houston’s awkward dance skills.
2Dream Visions: The Art of Alanis ObomsawinA recent TIFF honouree, Obomsawin is an American-Canadian Abenaki filmmaker recognized as one of our finest documentarians, with more than six decades and 50 films that spotlight Indigenous stories and hold a mirror up to Canada. This book is introduced by an essay on Obomsawin’s visual language by Wanda Nanibush, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s curator of Indigenous art, with appreciations by cultural titans such as Laurie Anderson and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, as well as Indigenous luminaries like Bonnie Devine and Jesse Wente.
A recent TIFF honouree, Obomsawin is an American-Canadian Abenaki filmmaker recognized as one of our finest documentarians, with more than six decades and 50 films that spotlight Indigenous stories and hold a mirror up to Canada. This book is introduced by an essay on Obomsawin’s visual language by Wanda Nanibush, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s curator of Indigenous art, with appreciations by cultural titans such as Laurie Anderson and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry, as well as Indigenous luminaries like Bonnie Devine and Jesse Wente.
3All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family KeepsakeMiles, a Harvard professor, excavates the history of women and slavery from a family artifact – a simple cotton sack – from the collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in this extraordinary 2021 winner of the National Book Award for non-fiction.
Miles, a Harvard professor, excavates the history of women and slavery from a family artifact – a simple cotton sack – from the collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in this extraordinary 2021 winner of the National Book Award for non-fiction.
4As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic Nigerian-American cultural critic Teju Cole introduces this book of photographs, a companion to exhibitions scheduled for Toronto and Vancouver in 2022, which are curated by Aperture, a New York nonprofit foundation. The works are drawn from the Wedge Collection that Montague, a Toronto collector, started in 1997 to explore Black identity and the African diaspora with work by artists from Canada, the Caribbean, the African continent and beyond.
Nigerian-American cultural critic Teju Cole introduces this book of photographs, a companion to exhibitions scheduled for Toronto and Vancouver in 2022, which are curated by Aperture, a New York nonprofit foundation. The works are drawn from the Wedge Collection that Montague, a Toronto collector, started in 1997 to explore Black identity and the African diaspora with work by artists from Canada, the Caribbean, the African continent and beyond.
5How the Other Half EatsThis eye-opening look at racial stereotypes, and how dietary differences, public health and inequality begin in the kitchen, encompasses years of the American sociologist’s field research on eating habits, and focuses on four different families divided by class and race.
This eye-opening look at racial stereotypes, and how dietary differences, public health and inequality begin in the kitchen, encompasses years of the American sociologist’s field research on eating habits, and focuses on four different families divided by class and race.
6John Lewis: The Last Interview and Other ConversationsThe latest in the Last Interview series highlights the work of congressman John Lewis (1940-2020), the Civil Rights activist and icon who died of cancer in July 2020, with an introduction by New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb. It includes his 1965 testimony about being beaten by state troopers on Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge during the historic Selma march for racial justice, as well as his final interview with Zak Cheney-Rice of New York magazine.
The latest in the Last Interview series highlights the work of congressman John Lewis (1940-2020), the Civil Rights activist and icon who died of cancer in July 2020, with an introduction by New Yorker staff writer Jelani Cobb. It includes his 1965 testimony about being beaten by state troopers on Alabama’s Edmund Pettus Bridge during the historic Selma march for racial justice, as well as his final interview with Zak Cheney-Rice of New York magazine.
7Let the Record Show: A History of ACT Up New York, 1987-1993 This book, a monument to the ACT UP movement, builds on more than 200 oral histories conducted with members to explore its impact on policy and public consciousness in the early days of the AIDS crisis. It’s as much a living as an archival document, with a call to action for the next generation.
This book, a monument to the ACT UP movement, builds on more than 200 oral histories conducted with members to explore its impact on policy and public consciousness in the early days of the AIDS crisis. It’s as much a living as an archival document, with a call to action for the next generation.
8Misfits: A Personal ManifestoCoel, the acclaimed British creator of the searing series I May Destroy You, adapts her keynote speech from the Edinburgh International Television Festival in 2018 in this inspirational, pocket-sized book. Coel shares her experience growing up on a London council estate, her discovery of theatre and storytelling, and her experiences of race and gender in this rousing manifesto.
Coel, the acclaimed British creator of the searing series I May Destroy You, adapts her keynote speech from the Edinburgh International Television Festival in 2018 in this inspirational, pocket-sized book. Coel shares her experience growing up on a London council estate, her discovery of theatre and storytelling, and her experiences of race and gender in this rousing manifesto.
9Missed Connections: A Memoir in Letters Never SentThe bestselling Canadian author of the 2004 novel Fruit writes a moving and multi-layered memoir that builds on the responses to a personal ad he placed as a 21-year-old, closeted university student in 1992. (It was also the basis for his Buddies in Bad Times stage show, Box 4901, which was nominated for several Dora Mavor Moore awards). The dialogue around 13 of the letters explores coming of age and his complicated relationship with his mother.
The bestselling Canadian author of the 2004 novel Fruit writes a moving and multi-layered memoir that builds on the responses to a personal ad he placed as a 21-year-old, closeted university student in 1992. (It was also the basis for his Buddies in Bad Times stage show, Box 4901, which was nominated for several Dora Mavor Moore awards). The dialogue around 13 of the letters explores coming of age and his complicated relationship with his mother.
10Permanent AstonishmentThe first of five planned memoirs by Highway, 70, one of Canada’s most esteemed Indigenous writers, playwrights and performers, begins with his birth in a northern Manitoba snowbank and covers his childhood in residential schools through to his mid-teens. It’s this year’s winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for non-fiction.
The first of five planned memoirs by Highway, 70, one of Canada’s most esteemed Indigenous writers, playwrights and performers, begins with his birth in a northern Manitoba snowbank and covers his childhood in residential schools through to his mid-teens. It’s this year’s winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for non-fiction.