The 40+ Books on our Booklist

We’re sharing our booklist here, so you can see what we’re reading (we’ve had many people ask). Most of the books do not specifically cover climbing. But we now understand that you can’t talk about climbing without talking about racism and justice. This is our personal starting point for our learning (and unlearning) journey. And we’re absolutely open to suggestions of how we can continue to expand our awareness.

We’ve ordered these 40+ books primarily from Black-owned, Native-owned, and LGBTQ+-owned bookshops. The books below certainly cover anti-racism and environmental racism, but they also cover broader human rights and social justice issues. And, this list will continue to expand to include lived experiences through poetry and joy. Our main goal is to focus or reading on non-white, non-male authors — as we’ve been primarily reading those books for over 25 years already. We don’t expect to finish reading this entire list as it will be never-ending. We’re in this for the long-term.

These are a few of the sources that helped form our list and we’ll continue to come back to:

• 100 Resources to Educate Yourself  (@sarahmian)
• Intersectional Environmentalism (@greenirlleah)
• Environmental Racism (@cove)
• Anti-Racism Reading List (@glographics – Glo has also put together a 30 Days and 30 Ways to Be a Better Ally resource guide)
• http://bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES (@sarahsophief)
• https://tinyurl.com/antiracistresourceguide (@victoriaalxndr / venmo: victoriaalxndr)
• http://www.bit.ly/AllyGuideBLM
• http://antiracismforbeginners.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/p/CBAzxWSgXly (@sustainablyxi)
• https://www.instagram.com/p/CBbbDhnH66B (@jhanneu)
• https://www.instagram.com/p/CBd8eD-jd0w (@mr.bigstrings)
• https://www.instagram.com/p/CA8lpColKNv/ (@emmenjaan)
• The NativesOutdoors Reading List for the Outdoor Industry (@nativesoutdoors / @lennecefer)
• Non-binary reading list (@trans.boulder.babe)
• Ibram X Kendi’s booklist (at NYTimes)
• Camber Outdoors Diversity reading list

Our booklist is ordered by publishing date. I’m linking to Amazon (yuk) so you can easily read more details and reviews (these are affiliate links because that is the fastest way to add photos – I’ll donate any proceeds). We do not encourage buying books from Amazon and only use them as a last resort.

• A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind by Harriet A. Washington (Aug 2020) – listening to the audiobook
  
• Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias by Bärí A. Williams (March 2020) – Alison finished
  
• As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker (March 2020)
  
• The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (March 2020)
  
• Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall (Feb 2020)
  
• Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement edited by Ejeris Dixon & Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Jan 2020)
  
• A Tribal Manifesto by Lawney Reyes with Therese Kennedy Johns (2020) – This book is self-published and we could only find it at Sacred Circle Gifts and Arts who are selling signed copies.
  
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad (Jan 2020)- audiobook
  
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander  (Jan 2020) -audiobook
  
• Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders by Angelou Ezeilo with Nick Chiles (Nov 2019)
  
• Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice, and the Decolonial by by Sarah D. Wald, David J. Vazquez, Priscilla Solis Ybarra, Sarah Jaquette Ray (Nov 2019)
  
• Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel by Bernardine Evaristo (Nov 2019)
  
• Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s by Tiffany Midge (Oct 2019)
  
• Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture by Ed Morales (Oct 2019)
  
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (Sept 2019) Andreas finished
  
• Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers: Poems by Jake Skeets (Sep 2019)
  
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi  (Aug 2019) Andreas finished
  
• Heart Berries: A Memoir Paperback by Terese Marie Mailhot  (Aug 2019)
  
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge (Mar 2019) Alison finished
  
• There There Paperback by Tommy Orange (May 2019)
  
• Belonging At Work: Everyday Actions You Can Take to Cultivate an Inclusive Organization by Rhodes Perry MPA (Nov 2018)
  
• We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell and Frane Lessac (illustrator)  (Sept 2018) – Alison and Andreas finished. Note: This is a children’s book, I think I ordered the wrong book by accident… but I’m not sure what I meant to order. BUT this book is absolutely wonderful, with Cherokee words throughout; we’ll give it to our nephew.
  
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo (June 2018)
  
• There’s Something In The Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities by Ingrid R. G. Waldron (April 2018)
  
• All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks (Jan 2018)
  
• Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism by Carl A. Zimring (Oct 2017)
  
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum (Sep 2017) – audiobook
  
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (Aug 2017)
  
• Unlikely Alliances: Native Nations and White Communities Join to Defend Rural Lands by Zoltán Grossman (May 2017)
  
• “All the Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (Oct 2016)
  
• The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection by Dorceta E. Taylor (Aug 2016)
  
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Aug 2015) Alison started
  
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (Aug 2015)
  
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (July 2015)
  
• The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors by James Mills (Sept 2014) Alison currently reading
  
• Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney (June 2014)
  
• Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by Dorceta Taylor (June 2014)
  
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Mar 2014)
  
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer (May 2012)
  
• Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage by Dianne D. Glave (2010)
  
• Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry by Camille T. Dungy (Dec 2009)
  
• Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (Dec 2006)
  
• Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Jr. Vine Deloria (1988)
  

This List is Just On Part of Our Actions

Reading and becoming more aware is one step. Talking to others and spreading the knowledge is another. We don’t yet know all of our actions, but if you want to see more actions we’re already taking/planning to take, please head to weighmyrack.com/about

And Some Truth in Humor

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We’re always up for more book suggestions. And/or let us know if you’d like us to review these books as we finish reading them. You can comment to this post, or go to weighmyrack.com/contact to find our emails and phone numbers.

Also, books are one way to learn and it is the simplest action to take. We’re taking many more actions and you can read more about those on our About page.