Reading toolkit
We’ve pulled together the essentials for anyone seeking to read and resist: a specially curated reading list and discussion questions to start a conversation with friends, family or your local book club.
Reading list
With the help of our Ipas Library (the world’s largest collection of materials on abortion care, access and rights!), we’ve curated a diverse list of books to help us understand this moment.Â
Is there a book or article you think we should add? Please email to let us know!
Have limited time?
We’ve included timely articles available online that would also be great to prompt a stimulating conversation.
We Were Made for These Times, Clarissa Pinkola Estes
White Supremacy Culture – Still Here, Tema Okun
What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In?, Loretta J. Ross
Protest and Persist: Why Giving Up Hope is Not an Option, Rebecca Solnit
Books
Explaining the Moment
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Ibram X. Kendi
Why We’re Polarized, Ezra Klein
No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need, Naomi Klein
Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, Barbara McQuade
Rich White Men: What It Takes to Uproot the Old Boys’ Club and Transform America, Garrett Neiman
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Heather Cox Richardson
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, Jason Stanley
A Feminist Theory of Violence: A Decolonial Perspective, Francoise Verges
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson
History of Resistance/Examples to Learn From
Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age, Colin Barker, Gareth Dale, and Neil Davidson
Feminist Freedom Warriors: Genealogies, Justice, Politics, and Hope, Linda E. Carty and Chandra Talpade Mohanty
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, Angela Davis
Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organizing for Reproductive Justice, Marlene Gerber Fried, Elena Gutiérrez, Loretta Ross, and Jael Silliman
The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World, Mason Funk
Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in Iran, Malu Halasa
The Black Antifascist Tradition: Fighting Back From Anti-Lynching to Abolition, Jeanelle K. Hope and Bill V. Mullen
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, C.L.R. James
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Premilla Nadasen
Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World―and How You Can, Too, Ijeoma Oluo
How to Stand Up to a Dictator, Maria Ressa
Woman, Life, Freedom, Marjane Satrapi
A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, Rebecca Solnit
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
A Promise and a Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism, Becky Thompson
Solidarity Is the Political Version of Love: Lessons from Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing, Rebecca Vilkomerson and Alissa Wise
Resistance Strategies
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals, Saul Alinsky
Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition, Jeff Biggers
Emergent Strategy, adrienee maree brown
Abolition. Feminism. Now. Angela Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, Beth E. Richie
Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha), Mahatma Gandhi
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care, Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice, Mariame Kaba
Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, Peter Kropotkin
Healing Justice Lineages, Cara Page and Erica Woodland
Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit
Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism, Nadya Tolokonnikova
Challenging Systems of Oppression
Queering Reproductive Justice: An Invitation, Candace Bond-Theriault
Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy from Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex Writers, Laura Kate Dale
Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm, Robin DiAngelo
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo
The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, Mona Eltahawy
The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate, Jeannie Gainsburg
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, Mikki Kendall
How to Be an Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi
Set Fear on Fire | Quemar el Miedo, Lastesis
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation, Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown
Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundation, Theory, Practice, Critique, Loretta Ross, Lynn Roberts, Erika Derkas
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, Loretta J. Ross, Rickie Solinger
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor, Layla F. Saad
Trans Allyship Workbook: Building Skills to Support Trans People in Our Lives, Davey Shlasko
Queering Families: Reproductive justice in precarious times, Tamara, Lea Spira
That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Self-Care/Building Resilience
Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach
Radical Compassion, Tara Brach
Rising Strong, Brene Brown
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, Pema Chodron
The Queer Mental Health Workbook, Brendan J. Dunlop
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl
Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey
all about love, bell hooks
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love, bell hooks
Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, Michelle Cassandra Johnson
We Heal Together: Rituals and Practice for Building Community and Connection, Michelle Cassandra Johnson
The Trans Self-Care Workbook, Theo Lorenz
Strength to Love, Martin Luther King, Jr.
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts, Resmaa Menakem
Developing Resilience: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach, Michael Neenan
Black Elk Speaks, John G. Neihardt
Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human, Cole Arthur Riley
Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel, Loretta J. Ross
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel Van Der Kolk
Reading discussion questions
Here are some general questions you might use to guide a discussion of any selection on our list:
- What new information or ideas did you receive from this reading? Did it change your mind about something or challenge you?
- How did reading this make you feel?
- What did you like or appreciate about this book?
- Was there anything you didn’t like about this book? Anything you would like to have been different about it?
- What lessons from this book can you apply to your own life?
- Would you recommend this book to anyone in your life? If so, to whom would you recommend it and why?
- How would you rate this book on a scale of 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest ranking and 5 being the highest? What factors influence how you rate it?
Together, we’ll keep moving forward.