Dear Reader,
I'm Dr. Anna Hoffman, an online therapist in California and Wisconsin. This post is part of a series called "A Therapist's Library," where I recommend my favorite books for healing, education, and prevention.
In response to recent police killings of Black people, I found myself searching for ways to channel my sorrow and anger into anti-racism work. One aspect of that work was reading, and I started with the brilliant audiobook version of Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk about Race.
I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to white people seeking uncomplicated explanations of important topics such as privilege, intersectionality, and microaggressions, and those who are ready to take their anti-racism work into conversations and beyond. If you have been sitting with helplessness in response to racial injustice and police brutality toward Black people, read this book. Oluo provides more than a dozen examples of concrete steps you can take to help dismantle structural racial oppression, including voting locally, supporting Black-owned businesses, and pushing your city government for police reform.
I invite you to join me in doing the essential work of learning how to be anti-racist. Please consider purchasing Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk about Race from a Black-owned bookstore. Although I cannot find a Black-owned bookstore in Wisconsin (please contact me if you know one!), you may purchase your book(s) through Chicago's Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery or one of the other Black-owned bookstores on this list.
If you are seeking therapy to engage in conversations around identity, privilege, oppression, anti-racism, or race-related stress, don't hesitate to contact me. Please know that I am a white therapist, and I understand many Black people may feel more comfortable seeking therapy from a Black therapist. To find a Black therapist, I recommend Therapy for Black Girls, the Black Virtual Therapist Network, the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network, or Psychology Today.
"Do not fear the opportunity to do better." - Ijeoma Oluo
Thank you for reading, and take very good care.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Anna Hoffman