So there’s this 50 Books…

So there's this 50 Books by POC challenge thing that came up last year; it's a challenge to read fifty books in a year by people of color. (Kids' books, YA, cookbooks, etc. count, so if the idea of reading fifty big novels in a year is scary, there are definitely ways to make it easier. :-) The idea is that given the marketplace and entrenched systems of racism, if you don't make a real effort to seek out books by people of color, then by default, you'll end up reading mostly white authors. So, this is the effort, and I think it's a good thing.

So with that said, this year, there's a move to add a 50 Books by LGBT authors. Similar rationale, and again, I think it's a good thing. But of course, if you're trying to do both, and you don't read fast, reading a hundred books in a year is a pretty serious challenge.

Luckily for you, someone's started keeping a list of books by people who are both POC and LGBT. Which, hey, includes me! So I'm obviously all in favor of using this list to kick your social justice reading life into high gear. :-) Also, if you can think of authors that aren't on there already (the texts don't necessarily need to include either queer or POC characters, btw -- this is entirely author-identity-focused), please do suggest them. She was up to 32 authors, last I saw. There have to be more of us than that!

2 thoughts on “So there’s this 50 Books…”

  1. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I can’t remember, but possibly. I have a Google alert set up, that sends me e-mails when my name is mentioned.

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