What stands out from the book are Gandhi’s guiding principles rather than his particular causes.
For example, it is impossible to separate Gandhi from his humility, aversion to injustice, simplicity, or quirks.
American Sirens is about Freedom House, a Black ambulance service from Pittsburgh that set worldwide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) standards and revolutionized pre-hospital care. It also describes Freedom House’s eventual collapse in the face of overwhelming racism.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a story about Henrietta Lacks and the cancer cells that killed her and afterward, revolutionized science. It is about the Lacks family and how the decades without proper recognition contributed to their disadvanteged social position. And to a lesser extent, it is also about medical ethics and racial inequality.
One Mighty and Irresistible Tide is about how immigration law has changed over the decades, primarily between 1924 and 1965 but also more recently.
Jia Lynn Yang studies the men in positions of power that determined what American immigration law should resemble. She shares their upbringing, private letters, and the context in which they acted.
Wilkerson argues that many of America’s problems elsewhere labelled as Racism, or Systemic Racism derive from an unacknowledged caste system. She suggests that we, as Americans have an unwritten code of conduct imprinted on us by centuries of history and that this code instructs our assumptions, behaviors, and values.
In order to better understand caste, she travelled to India and met with people from high and low castes. And she studied the Nazis’ attempts to copy American law to create their own short-lived racial hierarchy.
Real Books that belong in the Restricted Section Most of you will be familiar with the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library. The books within contain dark magic, and you will need a professor’s written permission to gain access. The Catholic Church also had a List of Prohibited Books. The Church selected books that went against Catholic beliefs; both theological and secular. Most notably this list butted heads with growing scientific discoveries, like the heliocentric astronomical model in the 17th century. I’m sure you’ve also heard of Banned Books Week. A special week consecrated by libraries across America as a… Read More »Real Books that belong in the Restricted Section