Between the World and Me
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Written during the backdrop of the recent racist murders of Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, John Crawford, and Mike Brown, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes to show that the very fabric of the American economic, justice, and governmental system was built on the backs of, and to the detriment of, black bodies. This book is also written starting with a letter to Coates’ own son, Samori. The addresses made to the whole nation have seldom applied to the Black person in America. This book is marked by its brutal honesty about what it's like to be Black in America, and how different that is from the reality that most White people live inside. This is a really hard and heavy read, but for every page you journey through, you become better for it. It is also important to note that this is not a Christian book, or even a religious one. But a deeply worthwhile one nonetheless.