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Read Woke diversity reading challenge through St. Mary’s County Library

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Alongside our Community Conversations on Race series, St. Mary’s County Library invites community members of all ages to join the Read Woke Challenge! Each month, October 2020 through May 2021, choose a book to match that month’s badge. You’ll read books by Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, Women, Asian-Americans, LGBTQ+ authors, and more! Provided in partnership with Beanstack, the online platform we use for all our reading programs, and librarian Cicely Lewis, Read Woke is designed to challenge people to educate themselves about others through deliberate, thoughtful reading. Books:

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today's racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide. In So You Want to Talk About Race, Editor at Large of The Establishment, Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro- aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the "N" word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don't dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans. <- (Click the image to reserve a copy today!) The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson Thirty diverse and award-winning authors and illustrators capture frank discussions about racism, identity, and self-esteem with a focusing on parenting. <- (Click the image to reserve a copy today!)

Changing the Conversation by Dana Caspersen

Changing the Conversation is written by conflict expert Dana Caspersen and is filled with real-life examples, spot-on advice, and easy-to-grasp exercises that demonstrate transformative ways to break out of destructive patterns, to create useful dialogue in difficult situations, and to find long-lasting solutions for conflicts. Sure to claim its place next to Getting to Yes, this guide will be a go-to resource for resolving conflicts.

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MORE TED TALKS:

10 ways to have a better conversation by Celeste Headlee

When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations -- and that most of us don't converse very well. Celeste Headlee has worked as a radio host for decades, and she knows the ingredients of a great conversation: Honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening. In this insightful talk, she shares 10 useful rules for having better conversations. "Go out, talk to people, listen to people," she says. "And, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed." (Click on image to watch!)

What it takes to be racially literate by Priya Vulchi & Winona Guo

Over the last year, Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo traveled to all 50 US states, collecting personal stories about race and intersectionality. Now they're on a mission to equip every American with the tools to understand, navigate and improve a world structured by racial division. In a dynamic talk, Vulchi and Guo pair the personal stories they've collected with research and statistics to reveal two fundamental gaps in our racial literacy -- and how we can overcome them. (Click on image to watch!)

How Lean Into Conversations About Race by Amanda Kemp

In this talk Amanda Kemp discusses her process for seeking to understand others and dialogue on discussions about race and other sensitive issues. She focuses on leaving space for transformation through unconditional love and unconditional acceptance.

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The lie that invented racism by John Biewen

To understand and eradicate racist thinking, start at the beginning. That's what journalist and documentarian John Biewen did, leading to a trove of surprising and thought-provoking information on the "origins" of race. He shares his findings, supplying answers to fundamental questions about racism -- and lays out an exemplary path for practicing effective allyship. (Click on image to watch!)