On Friday afternoon, I’ll be packing up a bag and heading to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Women’s March on Washington. I’m excited and proud to be fighting back in a peaceful way with strong women who will not let the new administration threaten our rights.
As I so often do when looking for inspiration, I’m turning this week to books. Here are five books I’m reading this week to get inspired for Saturday’s March.
March, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
I’ve always loved graphic novels and comics, and the March trilogy is at the top of the list. John Lewis is a national hero—and as an Atlanta gal, his role in the Civil Rights Movement has always been even more poignant for me.
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
I’ve just finished working on Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson, and Baldwin was very much an inspiration for him. A bestseller at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, The Fire Next Time is a powerful, honest examination of Baldwin’s experience with racial injustice.
Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, edited by Kelly Jensen
Essay collections have been my jam lately. There’s something uniquely powerful about throwing out one major topic and asking a bunch of people from several different backgrounds to write a few pages about it. On one page, you can read a sentence and react with a “YES, I FEEL THAT,” and then turn to the next page only to go “Ah, I didn’t realize.” It’s beautiful, powerful stuff. (Another recent collection I’ve been reading is Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living, edited by Majula Martin). This book inspires you to find your own journey as a feminist—just like these writers have.
Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt
At a time when abortion rights are in jeopardy and valuable organizations like Planned Parenthood are in risk of being defunded for only one element of their healthcare services, a book like this is crucial. Pollitt argues for abortion as a moral right.
All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister
It’s essential to understand your history in order to make real progress. All the Single Ladies chronicles the history of women’s rights through the eyes of the single woman.
I’d love to add to this list. What are you reading as you prepare for “vigorous and positive action,” as Martin Luther King, Jr. would say?
Laura Catherine Apperson 