Our Top Book Picks for Learning & Unlearning

We all have a lot of learning and unlearning to do, and change starts with knowledge. Here is a list of books that you might find helpful as you engage in better understanding issues of decolonization, racial justice and social change.

These titles have been recommended by folks in our community, including counsellors and people who have first-hand experience with hard feelings.

Click here to browse other book recommendations by topic.

Indigenous Toronto | Coach House Books

Indigenous Toronto: Stories That Carry This Place

Edited By Denise Bolduc, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, & Rebeka Tabobondung, and Brian Wright-Mcleod

Beneath many major North American cities rests a deep foundation of Indigenous history that has been colonized, paved over, and, too often, silenced. With contributions by Indigenous Elders, scholars, journalists, artists, and historians, this unique anthology explores the poles of cultural continuity and settler colonialism that have come to define Toronto as a significant cultural hub and intersection that was also known as a Meeting Place long before European settlers arrived.

Buy Now at Hard Feelings

My Grandmothers Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies

By Resmaa Menakem

In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology.

The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. 

Buy Now at Hard Feelings

Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing: Methot, Suzanne:  9781770414259: Books - Amazon.ca

Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing 

By Suzanne Methot

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality

By Bob Joseph

All Our Relations – House of Anansi Press

 

All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward

By Tanya Talaga

Stolen Life by Yvonne Johnson and Rudy Wiebe | Penguin Random House Canada
 

Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman 

By Yvonne Johnson and Rudy Wiebe

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

By Robin Wall Kimmerer 

Between the World and Me

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

 

Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger

By Lama Rod Owens
 

The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power

By Desmond Cole

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

By Layla Saad

The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health: Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help you Deserve

By Rheeda Walker

Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation

By Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Lama Rod Owens & Jasmine Syedullah

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

By Audre Lorde

So You Want to Talk About Race

By Ijeoma Oluo

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

By Reni Eddo-Lodge

 

The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

By Toni Morrison

Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good 

By Adrienne Maree Brown

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