“The most telling symptom of fascist politics is division. It aims to separate a population into an “us” and a “them.” This was a very informative book about what fascism is, how it works, and examples throughout history. I learned a lot from this book, especially in understanding how the United States got to this … More Review: How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
The Wrath to Come shows how one of the most popular stories of all time, Gone With the Wind, can be used to explain the current division in the United States. Churchwell explains how the history of mythmaking has influenced America’s politics and how Gone with the Wind influenced that mythmaking. “The United States is, … More Review: The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells by Sarah Churchwell
CW: antisemitism, genocide, violence, gun violence, gore I picked this book up because of the title, and I am very glad I did. This was a heavy topic, but a very important and powerful read. First, I am not Jewish but I try to read books on this topic to better understand Jewish history and … More Review: People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present by Dara Horn
Trigger Warnings: Discussions of racism, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, miscarriages, abortions, gun violence, police violence, harassment, fatphobia, eating disorders, food insecurities PTSD, suicide, victim blaming, mental illness, human trafficking, femicide, cultural appropriation, teacher discrimination and bullying. “One of the biggest issues with mainstream feminist writing has been the way the idea of what constitutes a … More Review: Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Trigger Warnings: Discussions of antisemitism, racism, blackface, Islamophobia, conspiracy theories, transphobia, J.K. Rowling, cancel culture. Jews Don’t Count: How Identity Politics Failed One Particular Identity discusses the ignored history of antisemitism and how people don’t count Jews as real minorities, even when they should. This book was great. David Baddiel talks about a lot of … More Review: Jews Don’t Count: How Identity Politics Failed One Particular Identity by David Baddiel
“The history of slavery is the history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it. This history is in our soil, it is in our policies, and it must, too, be in our memories.” Clint Smith … More Review: How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
“Throughout human history, three caste systems have stood out. The tragically accelerated, chilling, and officially vanquished caste system of Nazi Germany. The lingering, millennia-long caste system of India. And the shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based caste pyramid in the United States.” This book was mind blowing. Isabel Wilkerson dives into the history of the caste system in … More Review: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Red-Haired Ash Reads 