Recommended Readings

Up from Emergence

My Grandmothers Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic by Jamila Wood
The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives about Being Mixed Race in the 21st Century edited by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Sean Frederick Forbes, Tara Betts
Racial Formation in the United States by Michael Omi

Ancient Future

Kindred, Beloved, and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois
Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin
bobby-rogers.com, Bobby Rogers, visual artist
dameunstrange.com, Dameun Strange, composer and musician
freeblackdirt.com, Erin Sharkey, Writer, Producer and Educator
bullycreative.com, D. A. Bullock, Filmmaker, Storyteller, Archivist/Historian and Social Practice Artist

Colorblind Casting

The Feminist Spectator as Critic by Jill Dolan
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
The Christians by Lucas Hnath
A Note on Commercial Theatre by Langston Hughes
M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
A Note on Casting by Charles Mee
Decolonizing the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Not Just Money: Equity Issues in Cultural Philanthropy by The Helicon Collaborative
Playwright Katori Hall Expresses Rage Over ‘Revisionist Casting’ of Mountaintop With White Dr. Martin Luther King by Robert Viagas
The Ground on Which I Stand by August Wilson
Two Mile Hollow by Leah Nanako Winkler

My America

Third Place Gallery
mnprisonwriting.org, Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop
listentolead.com, Listen to Lead Consulting
The Activist’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for a Modern Revolution by William Martin
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Transracial Adoption

The Declassified Adoptee Essays of an Adoption Activist by Amanda H.L Transue-Woolston
Closure: A Documentary About Adoption by Angela Tucker and Brian Tucker
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Parenting As Adoptees edited by Adam Chau and Kevin Ost-Vollmers
Indians in the Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion by Dawn Peterson
Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving
Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States by Ellen Herman
Once They Hear My Name: Korean Adoptees and Their Journeys Toward Identity by Ellen Lee,‎ Marilyn Lammert,‎ and Mary Anne Hess
A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life by Janet E. Helms
Given Away by Kate Anne Kang
How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption by Rhonda M. Roorda
In Their Siblings’ Voices: White Non-Adopted Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Being Raised with Black and Biracial Brothers and Sisters by Rita Simon and Rhonda Roorda
In Their Parents’ Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees by Rita Simon and‎ Rhonda Roorda
The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege by Robert Jensen
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Learning to Be White: Money, Race, and God in America by Thandeka
Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara

Racial Identity Development

On Intersectionality: Essential Writings of Kimberlé Crenshaw by Kimberlé Crenshaw.
The Stages of Black Identity Development: Nigrescence Models by William. T Cross
What Does it Mean to be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy by Robin DiAngelo
Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon
A Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears and Laughter by Nikki Giovanni
A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being A White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life by Janet E. Helms
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby
Multiracial Families and Children: Implications for Educational Research and Practice by Maria P.P. Root
Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude Steele
Learning to Be White: Money, Race, and God in America by Thandeka
The Ground On Which I Stand by August Wilson

Divas

I Put a Spell On You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone by Nina Simone
Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone by Nadine Cohadas
The Amazing Nina Simone: A Documentary Film directed by Jeff Lieberman
What Happened, Miss Simone? directed by Liz Garbus
Interviews with Nina Simone from 1985 and 1987 conducted by Tom Schnabel for the radio program Morning Becomes Eclectic

Celebrating Rondo

The Arsenal of Exclusion and Inclusion by Tobias Armborst, Daniel D’Oca and Theodore Georgeen
Mapping Prejudice Project Traces History of Discriminatory Deeds in Minneapolis by Steve Brandt
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Unraveling of the City’s Racially Restrictive Covenants by Kirsten Delegard
The Days of Rondo by Evelyn Fairbanks
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
The Origins and Diffusion of Racial Restrictive Covenants by Michael Jones-Correa
Governing American Cities: Inter-Ethnic Coalitions, Competition, and Conflict by Michael Jones-Correa
Remember Rondo: A Tradition of Excellence by Vikki Sanders
The Unfinished History of Racial Segregation by Thomas J. Sugrue
Before There Was Interstate 94 … There Was Rondo by Mark Clark
Remember Rondo: Celebrating the People, Their Lives and Times by David V. Taylor
Voices of Rondo: Oral Histories of Saint Paul’s Historic Black Community by Kate Cavett
Invisible Walls: An Examination of the Legal Strategy of the Restrictive Covenant Cases by Leland B. Ware

Voting Rights

866ourvote.org, Election Protection
Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman
Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot directed by Bill Brummel
tolerance.org, Southern Poverty Law Center
showingupforracialjustice.org, SURJ

The Black Panthers

Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin
FBI Secrets: An Agents Expose by M. Wesley Swearingen
Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis
Want to Start a Revolution?: Radical Women in the Black Freedom Struggle edited by Dayo F. Gore, Jeanne Theoharis and Komozi Woodard
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

On the Frontlines

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby

“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.”
—Angela Davis, Activist, professor, and author

“We tend to think of healing as something binary. But healing and growth take place on a continuum, with innumerable points between utter brokenness and total health.”
—Dr. Resmaa Menakem, Therapist, author, and trauma specialist

“I believe that one of the most beautiful things about theater is that no one artist can do it alone.”
—Harrison David Rivers, Playwright and Penumbra company member

“You cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.”
—Audre Lorde, Black feminist, lesbian, poet, mother, warrior

“You cannot give energy if you’re not on fire on the inside.”
—Rev. Jesse Jackson, American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and political activist

“Within Penumbra's walls, a genuine spirit of care breathes and thrives, weaving a rich and tender atmosphere where creative courage is not just invited, but deeply embraced.”
—Lester Purry, Actor and Penumbra company member