I think we can all agree that a reprieve from Trump mania is well needed for the sake of our sanity. With frantic and frenetic news updates inundating our news feeds all the time, it’s a wonder how we’re able to get through our lives without professional help.
Or maybe you have (no judgement). But, in the event that you can’t visit a therapist, here’s a roundup of books that will help you navigate these strange times we’re living in under the Trump administration.
1.‘What We Do Now: Standing Up For Your Values in Trump's America’ edited by Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians
With passages from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Gloria Steinem, George Saunders, and Dave Eggers, this inspirational collection of essays was crafted to help restore your faith in humanity (and maybe even democracy) in the wake of a Trump presidency.
What We Do Now: Standing Up For Your Values in Trump's America, edited by Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians reads like a handbook for anyone in need of a little heart and a little hope as we all continue to try and work towards values of equality and justice during a time when both are being deeply threatened.
2.‘Becoming’ by Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama’s blockbuster book is described by the New Yorker as a “work of inspiration and on the book’s cover, with a decade of work in the rearview, Obama smiles widely, and it’s her image we are most desperate for.
Her glow has been featured on the cover of Elle, Essence, Good Housekeeping, People, and other magazines, and on the arena stages of her book tour, where she’s been accompanied by Tracee Ellis Ross, Valerie Jarrett, and, for the inaugural event, in Chicago, by her cultural godmother, Oprah.
During her time in the White House, Obama grew into a symbol for rejecting the cool distance inherent to symbolism; she was the first First Lady to court an air of “relatability,” and she retained it even as she became one of the most popular Americans in history.
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3. ‘Dreams from My Father’: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
This critically acclaimed 2004 autobiography is described as a searching meditation on the meaning of identity in America, Dreams from My Father might be the most revealing portrait we have of a major American leader—a man who is playing, and will play, an increasingly prominent role in healing a fractious and fragmented nation.
4. ‘When We Fight, We Win: Twenty-First-Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World’ by Greg Jobin-Leeds
This book is the perfect guide to understanding the nuances of the modern social justice movement and how it can lead to lasting change in the near future. Detailing the history, philosophies, tactics, key moments, struggles, and successes stories of today’s political uprisings, Greg Jobin-Leeds collaborates with art and activist collective AgitArte on a book chronicling the last decade of activism in the United States.
When We Fight, We Win: Twenty-First-Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World is filled with tips, advice, and anecdotes about what works (and what doesn’t) when launching a movement for social change. You might want to take notes.
5. ‘When Women Win: EMILY’s List and the Rise of Women in American Politics’ by Ellen Malcolm, Craig Unger
This book outlines the origins of EMILY’s List, which is a political organization that seeks to inspire change both within politics and through political action by getting more women elected to office. Founded in 1985, EMILY’s List has worked to help elect 19 women Senators, 11 women governors, and 110 Democratic women to the House in the last three decades.
Reading like a collection of short biographies and featuring the stories of iconic figures from Hillary Clinton, to Elizabeth Warren, to Barbara Mikulski, When Women Win: EMILY’s List and the Rise of Women in American Politics is a much-needed reminder that when women win, we all win.
6. ‘Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement’ by Angela Y. Davis
Angela Davis began spent most of her life protesting and organizing against civil rights atrocities in the 60s and 70s. Her harrowing journey as a leader of the Communist Party USA, fighting racism prison industrial complex is documented in this collection of essays, interviews and speeches.
The book discusses the legacy of activism from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement, and reminding readers that the good work of social justice is never done.
Jasmine Browley holds an MA in journalism from Columbia College Chicago, and has contributed to Ebony, Jet and MADE Magazine among others. So, clearly, she knows some stuff. Follow her digital journey @JasmineBrowley.
