"A house without books is like a room without windows." - Horace Mann
Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness (2015) by Simone Brown
The last article that we wrote together for WOC+Lib was about Blackness, excellence, and surveillance.
Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir (2021) by Ashley C. Ford
Honest, vulernable, searing.
So, You Want to Talk about Race? (2019) by Ijeoma Oluo
How to talk about race in a thoughtful, real way.
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America (2018) by Morgan Jenkins
Unflinching account of what it is like to Black, Female, and Feminist in America. Also, a series of essays which is a way that Kenya expressed herself through writing.
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close (2020) by Aminatou Sow and Anna Friedman
Kenya was a dear friend. She showed up and showed that she cared.
Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body and Spirit (2020) by Mary Frances-Winters
May Kenya be able to rest from the fatigue she experienced in a PWI as a brilliant, Black woman.
Passing by Nella Larsen (2021, reprint) by Nella Larsen
Kenya was intrigued by the Netflix film adaptation of "Passing." She was interested in exploring more about colorism and relationships between Black women, as well as seeing if there were carryovers of themes into the LIS profession.
Lead from the Outside (2018) by Stacey Abrams
Kenya inspired us all, but was not a traditional leader. I think she encouraged us all to lead in our own ways by being our most authentic, unique, unapologetic selves.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (2019) by Jenny Odell
Making longterm investments in ourselves, our rest, our futures. I think this is what Kenya wanted for all of her loved ones and for herself.
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds (2017) by Adrienne Marie Brown
Unique in thought, approach, strategy. A feminist, surreal, Afrofuturist manifesto on the possibilities of tomorrow and the power of our intellectual prowess and dreams.