I found this article by Sara Ackerman the other night while reading The New York Times and it really got me into thinking, something that, truth be told, I seldom do. We are right now facing up a stage where two countries are divided by race and ethnicity. There's no need for me to tell what nations I am talking about. Being Mexican right now is being part of something bigger than yourself. As Mexicans, we are now living through what might be a new face in our history: The present quarreling with our own corrupt government over their immeasurable injustices, plus the terrified idea of what is to come with president Donal Trump's threats, has put us in a position where we no longer know what to do or hope for. That's why I was attracted to Ackerman's article about diversity.
​I thought to myself, "I'm longing for this chapter in history to end, but what about for those who hasn't end?". I read this article mainly because of what I've just told before, but also because I found racism as a real proof of how evil and stupid people can seriously be when it all comes to the color of your skin. Racism is a very delicate subject for me and I highly disapprove all people who find joy in it.
To be short, I'm currently reading a classic that deals with the racism problem. And as if the Universe knew that I'm currently all into these types of books, I found out this article among other great books that talk about this very subject. You see, individuals bring their own experiences to a text to understand and draw meaning from it. There are multiple ways to identify with a text and racially is only one. But if a child’s race or ethnicity is underrepresented in books, it says something about how those pieces of their identities are valued.
Back in 2015, a girl aged 11-years-old named Marley Dias started a tendency on Twitter using the hashtag #1000blackgirlbook. Frustrated by the homogeneity of stories she read in class, Marley collected books featuring black girls to benefit underprivileged students. I believe Marley to be a one of a kind girl and in honor of the movement she created, I decided to jump on the train. That's why I'm bringing you today three recommendations of books written by authors brave enough to point this out.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird is primarily a novel about growing up under extraordinary circumstances in the 1930's in the Southern United States. The story covers a span of three years, during which the main characters undergo significant changes. Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus in the fictitious town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small, close-knit town, and every family has its social station depending on where they live, who their parents are, and how long their ancestors have lived in Maycomb. Scout and Jem almost instinctively understand the complexities and machinations of their neighborhood and town. The only neighbor who puzzles them is the mysterious Arthur Radley, nicknamed Boo, who never comes outside. When Dill, another neighbor's nephew, starts spending summers in Maycomb, the three children begin an obsessive — and sometimes perilous — quest to lure Boo outside. Not quite midway through the story, Scout and Jem discover that their father is going to represent a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping and beating a white woman. Suddenly, Scout and Jem have to tolerate a barrage of racial slurs and insults because of Atticus' role in the trial.
2. The Hate U Give / Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does--or does not--say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
3. The Summer That Melted Everything / Tiffany McDaniel
Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984: the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil.Sal seems to appear out of nowhere - a bruised and tattered thirteen-year-old boy claiming to be the devil himself answering an invitation. Fielding Bliss, the son of a local prosecutor, brings him home where he's welcomed into the Bliss family, assuming he's a runaway from a nearby farm town.When word spreads that the devil has come to Breathed, not everyone is happy to welcome this self-proclaimed fallen angel. Murmurs follow him and tensions rise, along with the temperature as an unbearable heat wave rolls into town right along with him. As strange accidents start to occur, riled by the feverish heat, some in the town start to believe that Sal is exactly who he claims to be. While the Bliss family wrestle with their own personal demons, a fanatic drives the town to the brink of a catastrophe that will change this sleepy Ohio backwater forever.
I'm currently halfway through To Kill a Mockingbird, and even though I haven't read The Hate U Give nor The Summer That Melted Everything, I've read so, so many good reviews of both of them that I cannot not read them. I seriously believe that books hold the power to transmit very valuable lessons, and in times like the ones we are through, it may be a good of a deal to read some of them.