15 Books That Will Make America's Race Conversation An Actual Conversation.

In the aftermath of the not guilty verdict in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, America decided to have yet another "conversation" about race. Some people, like President Obama, shared personal experiences that asked Americans to not deny historical context, and " to do some soul-searching." I would add that we should also do some reading. Reading is good for the soul.

1. Voices in Our Blood by Jon Meacham

2. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

3. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

4. Losing My Cool by Thomas Chatterton Williams

5. Black Picket Fences by Mary Pattillo-McCoy

6. The Hip Hop Generation by Bakari Kitwana

7. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

8. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley

9. The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter

10. Policing The Crisis by Stuart Hall

11. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

12. White Like Me by Tim Wise

13. How The Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev

14. Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit

15. Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys by Victor M. Rios