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Must-Read Books for the Progressive Peeps 💙
25
items A longgg list of my favorite books about history, religion, science, and culture. I believe that self-education is one of the most important things we can do to arm ourselves against bigotry, hatred, and inequity.
Sections
7
Religion
American History
Global History
Women’s Empowerment
Activism
Modern-Day Issues in the U.S.
Religion
Learn about how early Christians destroyed an obscene amount of art, literature, and architecture on their crusade to “save” the souls of everyone else
The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World by Catherine Nixey [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
In ancient times, before the patriarchy was so firmly engrained into every aspect of society, many people worshipped a female deity. And for good reason.
When God Was A Woman by Merlin Stone [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
American History
The absolute classic, and any book list for progressives or liberals (or just anyone who cares about human rights for ALL) that’s missing this book, is just incomplete
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn Paperback Book - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
A story that hasn’t been told enough - the indigenous people of this continent who were then forced into enslavement for the people who stole everything from them
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
A big part of fascism is a sense of nationalism. To get people to feel national pride, sometimes, history gets a little… fudged
Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future -- Jason Stanley, Hardcover - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Not gonna lie, it’s a long book. But it’s worth taking the time to read an author as brilliant and thoughtful as W.E.B. Du Bois, especially on such an important topic that still has such a long way to go
Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 -- W. E. B. Du Bois - Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
While Howard Zinn’s classic is phenomenal, it does pretty much leave out the people who were here before this was United States. This book is a thorough and enlightening exploration of that topic.
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States -- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Global History
We didn’t learn our lesson in Vietnam. If we did, Iraq would not have happened. This book details the patterns of insurgency throughout history
Violent Politics: A History of Insurgency, Terrorism, and Guerrilla War, from the American Revolution to Iraq by William R. Polk [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
The conflict in Palestine is complicated, and part of that is because of how long it’s been happening. Read a history of what has been happening in that region since 1917
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 -- Rashid Khalidi - Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
I’m still working my way through this one, but it’s a chilling insight into how regular people were either brainwashed, peer-pressured, or forced into doing atrocious things for the Nazis
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Madeleine Albright’s book starts with an interesting and insightful history of fascism, so that we know what to look for today
Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Isn’t it kind of crazy that there are individuals who trade the goo that the earth produces, and therefore control much of the global economy??
The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources -- Javier Blas, Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
One of the most important books that I own, and one I will encourage anyone with a home library to add. It is crammed with survivor testimonies from before, during, and after WWII Germany
What We Knew by Eric A Johnson, Karl-Heinz Reuband [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Sometimes, one of the best things we can do to prevent history from repeating itself, is to learn the details and patterns of what happened the first time. This book showed me some of the more shadowy events of the Third Reich
The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America by Jim Marrs [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Women’s Empowerment
Look, I’m a woman and I didn’t even realize how many things were designed with the “default white male” in mind. This book helped open my eyes and shift my perspective
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men -- Caroline Criado Perez, Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Learn about the women that your history book forgot about. This book is packed with stories of women in all different industries and countries, and how they shaped history
The Women's History of the Modern World: How Radicals, Rebels, and Everywomen Revolutionized the Last 200 Years by Rosalind Miles [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
An interesting perspective on how women who don’t fit inside a neat, quiet box, are a threat. Let’s defend the witches instead.
In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial -- Mona Chollet, Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Activism
This might just be my top recommendation in this list. I think so many of us want to get involved and make a difference, but don’t know where to start, or think that the little things don’t matter. They do.
Micro Activism by Omkari L. Williams, Layla F. Saad [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
These authors have sooo much experience not just with activism, but with ORGANIZING the activism that drives change
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care -- Kelly Hayes - Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Modern-Day Issues in the U.S.
This book is 25 years old. The thing that shocks me is how much we’ve known about the issues with our public school system for so long, and done so little about it
The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools by Martin L. Gross [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
I will shout this particular recommendation from the mountaintops, because this man sacrificed SO much of his life to go undercover and infiltrate white supremacy organizations. For. Twenty. Years. Read his story.
The Hate Next Door: Why White Supremacists Are All Around Us—And How to Spot Them by Matt Browning Racism Book - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Ever stop to think about how many challenges immigrants face? And how bad life must be at home to be willing to fight those battles and take those risks? This book is beautiful, sad, and insightful, and will hopefully get you to imagine just that.
Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis -- Jonathan Blitzer - Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
I couldn’t put this book down. The opioid crisis is the most blatant example of why I’ll always have a hard time trusting big pharma… Profits over everything else.
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America -- Beth Macy, Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
Governments
An absolutely essential read that breaks down the major goals of fascist politics into sections, and makes it easy to see what it might look like today
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them -- Jason Stanley - Paperback - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop
While it’s not necessarily a How-To manual (much to my disappointment), Huffington identifies the biggest problems with our government. The ones we have to overcome before there can be real, lasting change
How to Overthrow the Government by Arianna Huffington [Paperback Book] - TikTok Shop | Black Friday Sale TikTok Shop