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True Story

Native American Histories

Welcome to November, nonfiction friends! If you are an alliterative person, November is the perfect month to indulge in all things nonfiction…and if you don’t love alliteration, I’m not sure we can be friends.

This week, I’m sharing a few books to read in honor of Native American Heritage Month. Let’s get on to the books!

Bookish Goods

wood coasters with old library due date cards

Book Lovers Coaster Set Library Due Date Card Wood Coasters by CheltenhamR

Protect your tables and celebrate your love of libraries with these vintage due date card coasters. $22

New Releases

book cover white women by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao

White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao

Regina Jackson and Saira Rao are the founders of Race2Dinner, an organization that facilitates conversations about racism and white supremacy among white women. In this book, they take on a common theme from these dinners — how white women’s niceness and perfectionism actually upholds white supremacy culture. The book challenges white women to think about whether being nice has actually ever been helpful, then deconstruct “aspects of traditional white woman behavior” that hurt all of us. This is a slim book that nevertheless will have a big impact.

book cover requiem for the massacre

Requiem for the Massacre: A Black History on the Conflict, Hope, and Fallout of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by RJ Young

Just over 100 years ago, the Black residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma, were the victims of a massacre — a story that’s been covered up or ignored ever since. In this mix of memoir and journalism, RJ Young looks at contemporary Tulsa, a city that both combats the racism of the past and continues to allow racial injustice today. Young tells the story of Tulsa’s Greenwood district, while also challenging previous narratives of this community, and exploring how Tulsa recognized the 100th anniversary of this event.

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

In honor of Native American Heritage Month in November, today I want to share two books that explore complex aspects of Indigenous history in the United States — both of which were finalists for the National Book Award!

book cover the other slavery by Andrés Reséndez

The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez

Although slavery of Native Americans was illegal in much of the United States, it was still practiced for centuries as an open secret in many states, and was not part of the abolitionist movements that sought to end slavery for Black Americans. In this history, Andrés Reséndez argues that mass slavery, rather than disease epidemics, destroyed Indigenous populations across North America. This is a part of American history I’ve never heard about but am eager to learn.

book cover the heartbeat of wounded knee by david treuer

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer

This book challenges some of our received ideas of Native American history, including that history basically ended in 1890 with the massacre at Wounded Knee. Instead, David Treuer shows that Native people didn’t disappear, and that their work to preserve language, traditions, and culture means that their story is “one of unprecedented resourcefulness and reinvention.” This is another book that blends memoir and reporting to look at how challenges of each historical era led to new and creative survival mechanisms among native people.

For more nonfiction reads, head over to the podcast service of your choice and download For Real, which I co-host with my dear friend Alice. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @kimthedork or send an email to kim@riotnewmedia.com. Happy weekend!