Reading List for Adults

These books range in difficulty level, from accessible to very challenging. If a free version is available online, it will be linked below. Otherwise, all links will lead to non-Amazon sources to purchase the books.

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney

Difficulty Level: Challenging

This book provides historical background on the impact of European colonization on African countries. While not inherently challenging, the book is long and dense. It offers historical examples of how European colonization, contrary to mainstream arguments, actually contributed to the "undeveloped" status of African countries. You will finish the book with tangible responses to myths of how colonization benefitted African nations.

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis

Difficulty Level: Accessible

This quick read tackles the issue of prison abolition. Angela Davis makes an empirically-founded argument that the US prison system is not effective in rehabilitating criminals, but rather works to remove "undesirable" individuals from society and profit off unpaid prison labor. Davis's rebuttals of common criticisms and skepticisms of complete prison abolition aim to deprogram what we've been taught to believe about the US carceral state.

The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

Difficulty Level: Accessible

Another read aimed at decolonizing the mind, King provides an alternative (and more accurate) overview of indigenous history than what is presented in the US school system. By learning about the diversity of experiences among indigenous groups in North America, the reader will recognize the limited and stereotypical image of indigenous people presented by the mainstream media. King connects history to contemporary times, highlighting ongoing indigenous issues.

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Difficulty Level: Challenging

Grounded in the French colonization of Algeria, renowned psychiatrist Frantz Fanon explores the social, political, and psychological violence of colonization on marginalized communities. Providing a revolutionary perspective on the role of violence in both colonization and decolonization, Fanon offers a theory of resistance that subverts those presented in educational, political, and news media institutions.

A Tortured People: The Politics of Colonization by Howard Adams

Difficulty Level: Medium

Centered on the colonial and post-colonial experiences of Canada's First Nations communities, Adams explores the aboriginal struggle for self-determination in the 1960s and 1970s. Offering an untold perspective of aboriginal history, Adams proposes a comprehensive theory of indigenous liberation within the context of contemporary Canadian politics.

Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition by Glen Sean Coulthard

Difficulty Level: Medium

Drawing from a wide variety of indigenous independence struggles, Coulthard analyzes indigenous liberation in the present context of neoliberalism and capitalism in Canada. This book provides insight into how Canadian government, society, and economy continue to displace and oppress First Nations communities in discreet strategies that often go unnoticed by outsiders.

Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by V.I. Lenin

Difficulty Level: Very Challenging

This dense read ambitiously tackles the issue of how contemporary imperialism, colonization, environmental destruction, and capitalism are inextricably linked. This read will enlighten you to how the exploitation and oppression of communities all around the world are interconnected, and serve as a foundation for the most advanced stage of capitalism.