Read Woke

Racialism and the media Black Jesus, Black Twitter, and the first Black American president book cover

Racialism and the media Black Jesus, Black Twitter, and the first Black American president

Venise T. Berry


Black Lives Matter, Black History, Diverse Characters, Read Woke, Nonfiction, Political

"Racialism and Media: Black-ish, Black Jesus and the First Black American President is an exploration of how the nature of racial ideology has changed in our society. Yes, there are still ugly racists who push uglier racism, but there are also popular constructions of race routinely woven into mediated images and messages. This book examines selected exemplars of racialism moving beyond traditional racism. In the Twenty-First century, we need a more nuanced understanding of racial constructions. Denouncing anything and everything problematic as racist or racism simply does not work, especially if we want to move toward a real solution to America's race problems. Racialism involves images and messages that are produced, distributed, and consumed repetitively and intertextually based on stereotypes, biased framing, and historical myths about African American culture. These images and messages are eventually normalized through the media, ultimately shaping and influencing societal ideology and behavior. Through the lens of critical race theory chapters examine issues of intersectionality in Crash, changing Black identity in Black-ish, the balancing of stereotypes in prime-time black male and female roles, the power of Black images and messages in advertising, the cultural wealth offered through Black Twitter, biased media framing of the first Black American President, the satirical parody of Black Jesus, contemporary Zip Coon stereotypes in film, the problematic popularity of ghettofabulous black culture, and finally the evolution of black representation in science fiction"

Katie's picture

Before watching the doc, read the book! How are negative depictions of race portrayed and what can be done about it? Curious how the film will take such a broad subject and capture it in a short doc! Racialism in the Media was written by Iowa professor Venice Berry. Her brother, also in Iowa City, Steve Toriano Berry made a documentary to accompany it. This event will take place at the Library as part of the 2024 Iowa City Book Festival: https://www.icpl.org/events/52476/icbf-24-film-screening-racialism-and-media -Katie

Brown is warm, black is bright book cover

Brown is warm, black is bright

Sarah L. Thomson

jE Thomson
Picture Books, Nature, Read Woke

Illustrations and text celebrate the colors brown and black, demonstrating the many positive assocations with these two colors.

Casey's picture

This lovely picture book is everything you want in a fall read-aloud, beautiful, touching, and repeatable. I cannot wait to share it at preschools and in-house storytimes! -Casey

Berry song book cover

Berry song

Michaela Goade

RECEIVED
Picture Books, Read Woke, Nature, Poetry

As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.

Casey's picture

Lyrical and visually stunning, Berry Song is a picture book for all seasons. -Casey

The katha chest book cover

The katha chest

Radhiah Chowdhury

jE Chowdhury
Picture Books, Read Woke, Crafts

Asiya loves to visit Nanu's house and rummage through her katha chest filled with quilts that tell stories about the bold and brave women in Asiya's family.

Casey's picture

I love this new picture book about the intersection of family history and handicrafts, best shared in lap-sit sessions poring over the lush illustrations. -Casey

Concrete Rose book cover

Concrete Rose

Angie Thomas

OverDrive Audiobook
Young Adult, Fiction, Black Lives Matter, Read Woke

International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.

Casey's picture

Dion Graham breathes life into the characters and setting of Angie Thomas's prequel to The Hate U Give. Don't miss this powerful chapter in Carter family history. -Casey

Playing the cards you're dealt book cover

Playing the cards you're dealt

Varian Johnson

jFICTION Johnson Varian
Fiction, Read Woke

"Ten-year-old Anthony Joplin has made it to double digits! Which means he's finally old enough to play in the spades tournament every Joplin Man before him seems to have won. So while Ant's friends are stressing about fifth grade homework and girls, Ant only has one thing on his mind: how he'll measure up to his father's expectations at the card table. Then Ant's best friend gets grounded, and he's forced to find another spades partner. "

Casey's picture

Playing the Cards You're Dealt is great for readers of all ages. Perfect for card players, fans of realistic fiction, and anyone who enjoys fabulously full characters, I can't wait to reread this one. -Casey

Himawari House book cover

Himawari House

Harmony Becker

GRAPHIC NOVEL Becker
Graphic Novels, Read Woke

"When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths."--Provided by publisher.

Casey's picture

Incredible design, a wide breadth of illustration styles, strong female friendships, humor, and polyglots adjusting to life abroad. Himawari House is a delectable slice of life through and through! -Casey

The girl and the wolf book cover

The girl and the wolf

Katherena Vermette

jE Vermette
Read Woke, Picture Books

"A young girl becomes lost in the woods after wandering too far away from her mother. Scared because she is lost, she encounters a large wolf who reminds her of her own ability to survive and find her mother again."--

Casey's picture

I love the reversal of classic fairytale tropes, this is one of my favorites. -Casey

Our little kitchen book cover

Our little kitchen

Jillian Tamaki

jE Tamaki
Read Woke, Picture Books

"A crew of resourceful neighbors comes together to prepare a meal for their community. Includes a recipe and an author's note about the volunteering experience that inspired the book"--

Casey's picture

Added by Casey

When the light of the world was subdued, our songs came through : a Norton anthology of Native nations poetry book cover

When the light of the world was subdued, our songs came through : a Norton anthology of Native nations poetry

811.6080897 /When
Read Woke, Poetry

"United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo gathers the work of more than 160 poets, representing nearly 100 indigenous nations, into the first historically comprehensive Native poetry anthology. This landmark anthology celebrates the indigenous peoples of North America, the first poets of this country, whose literary traditions stretch back centuries. Opening with a blessing from Pulitzer Prize-winner N. Scott Momaday, the book contains powerful introductions from contributing editors who represent the five geographically organized sections. Each section begins with a poem from traditional oral literatures and closes with emerging poets, ranging from Eleazar, a seventeenth-century Native student at Harvard, to Jake Skeets, a young Diné poet born in 1991, and including renowned writers such as Luci Tapahanso, Natalie Diaz, Layli Long Soldier, and Ray Young Bear. When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through offers the extraordinary sweep of Native literature, without which no study of American poetry is complete"--

Casey's picture

For me, poetry anthologies are evergreen. I always find something new to enjoy upon a revisit. I am particularly excited about revisiting this lovely anthology edited by Joy Harjo. -Casey