Books like A Different Mirror — picked by fans

I was ashamed to be a white man after reading this account of Native American thoughts and feelings on watching their land, their way of life, slip away.

Just the account of what happened at Wounded Knee, where unarmed Native American men, women, and children were gunned down in the snow, left me sick to my stomach.

This is a non-fiction book that I read on my spiritual journey. I researched several of the accounts in this book because I couldn’t believe they were true. They were.

My favorite American novel is at once the most righteously angry and the most beautifully optimistic book I’ve ever read. 

Historical fiction urgently responding to the present, an intimate family saga that creates an entire community—Chesnutt’s masterpiece is a book I’ve taught almost every year of my career, and I find something new in it each time I read it.

No book reminds me more potently of the worst of our history, and no book inspires me to fight for our best more passionately. 

I recommend this book because it is a no-holds-barred narrative of what it is like to be a male agricultural laborer in 1920s racially segregated America.

It is a gritty tale of how a mostly male migrant population survived racial discrimination and economic hardship, living in the labor camps and working for a dollar a day. It shows how these men found ways to cope and acquire dignity even while experiencing loneliness since it was difficult to find brides (due to anti-miscegenation laws). From dressing up in $100 tailor-made suits and smoking cigars to paying ten cents a dance at taxi dance halls to gambling, prostitution, and labor activism, it tells the story of the first generation of migrant laborers in the United States.

The author died of tuberculosis in 1956.

I loved the chorus of voices in this novel.

Each resident of an apartment complex shares a glimpse of their life, and together those brief stories create a powerful portrait of immigrant experience. The novel reveals both the individuality of each character and the shared emotions that connect them—hope, uncertainty, longing, and resilience.

Reading it felt like listening to a neighborhood speak collectively about the challenge and courage involved in building a new life in America.

I consider this book one of the most important ever written on the subject of race. I marvel at the way the book causes readers to consider why so many people believe that racism exists but never take any responsibility for their role in its continued significance. I think the book is thoroughly researched, well-written, and thought-provoking.

At a time when so many of us feel helpless while navigating various social crises, Ijeoma’s latest book highlights amazing leaders who are literally creating revolutionary social change. She interviews leaders tackling issues from the prison industrial complex to how we spend money more intentionally.

After reading this book, I felt like I, too, could “be” a change. I felt inspired to believe that my success, and the success of the world, depends on the everyday revolutionary acts of anti-racism we can (and should) all commit to.

While I loved the interviews with each changemaker, it was reading how Ijeoma’s approach from pain and trauma to action evolved throughout the book that really drove the message home. 

It’s a common story on local news channels across the U.S: a suburban school board meeting is standing room only.

Parents and community members take turns stepping to the microphone to voice their discontent about something happening in their local schools—a guest speaker who presents Christopher Columbus’ beliefs about Native Americans, a new course advising approach that increases Black and Latino student enrollment in honors and Advanced Placement courses, or the adoption of a new book about growing up that happens to have LGBTQ characters.

Lewis and Diamond’s Despite the Best of Intentions presents data from a 5-year research project that helps readers understand how parents’ and educators’ deep-seated beliefs and fears get in the way of even the most thoughtful and well-intentioned equity efforts.

The book helps readers understand how resistance to DEI is not always loud and boisterous, but it is persistent and wedded to the… show more.

Linda Garcia is the true definition of a powerhouse! Not only does she talk about the stock market and how to become an investor, but she makes it easy to follow along and learn. She does an amazing job breaking down financial terms for everyone to understand. It’s as if she’s gently guiding you through all the things you’ve wanted to learn but hadn’t had the opportunity or access to.

This is a perfect resource to build generational wealth. It’s a must-read, and I highly recommend it if you are ready to work on your money wounds and build generational wealth.

As I listened to the audiobook version of this book, I felt optimistic and hopeful, which is not a common feeling when I read business, leadership, or DEI books. I found the whole book to be an invitation to do better as a leader, a community member, and a human being.

I felt a strong call to action without the usual shaming or blaming that I’ve found in too many recent books. I wanted to sit down and have a conversation with Denise, even though I had never met her. After finishing the book, I felt inspired, uplifted, and committed to taking ownership of my role in making our world more inclusive and indivisible. 

Gilmore's Golden Gulag helps us see why California is one of the wealthiest economies on the planet, but also home to the largest carceral system in the world.

She connects the evaporation of the social safety net and disruptions to stable employment by global capitalism to provide the answer: California uses prisons to absorb the surplus labor created by the greed, racism, and inequality of the global economy.

Read this book, and you will understand why, in my book, so many people I wrote about were pushed through our carceral system in California and never returned home.