Readings & (Un)learnings

What to know

The booklists and resources listed below are personal recommendation and favourite of the Red Ma’at Healing Centre. The chosen items are intended to provide a decolonize approach towards healing. There are so many more amazing resources out there that we have yet to read and review, feel free to contact us with any recommendations to add to the lists below.

ToolKits

Mental Health

Positive Mental Health

Anti-Racism

Anti-Black Racism

Indigenous

Islamaphobia

2LGBTQ+

Microaggression

Trauma Healing

  • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A. van der Kolk

  • Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine

  • In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter A. Levine

  • Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith Lewis Herman

  • Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker

  • Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

  • Overcoming Trauma through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body by David Emerson

  • Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing by David A. Treleaven

  • Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society by Bessel A. van der Kolk

Yoga and Mindfulness

  • Egyptian Yoga: The Philosophy of Enlightenment Paperback by Muata Ashby

  • Egyptian Yoga: Postures of the Gods and Goddesses by Muata Ashby

  • Awaken to Love Through Raw Truth, Radical Healing, and Conscious Action by Seane Corn

  • Skill in Action by Michelle Cassandra

  • Decolonizing Wellness: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide by Dalia Kinsey

  • Yoga Where You Are by Dianne Bondy

  • Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith

  • The Wise Heart By Jack Kornfield

  • Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

  • The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele

  • Embrace Yoga's Roots by Susanna Barkataki

  • Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get on the Mat, Love Your Body by Jessamyn Stanley

  • Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma by Gail Parke

  • Meditation with Intention: Quick & Easy Ways to Create Lasting Peace Paperback by Anusha Wijeyakumar MA

  • Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit – A Return to Wholeness by Donna Farhi

  • Ra Sekhi Kemetic Reiki: Level 1 Paperback by Rekhit Kajara Nia Yaa Nebthet

  • Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are By Jack Kornfield

  • The Stories Behind the Poses: The Indian mythology that inspired 50 yoga postures by Raj Balkaran

  • Sacred Woman: A Guide to Healing the Feminine Body, Mind, and Spirit by Queen Afua

Self-love & Joy

  • All about love by bell hooks

  • After the Rain by Alexandra Elle

  • Spiritual Self Care for Black Women by Layla Moon

  • The Many That I Am: Writings From Nagaland by Anungla Zoe Longkumer

  • Black Girl in Love by Trey Anthony

  • Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

  • Getting Unstuck by Pema Chödrön

  • Revolution of the Soul by Seane Corn

  • Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness

  • Feeding the Soul by Tabitha Brown

  • The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

  • Self-Therapy by Jay Earley PhD

  • The Strong Black Woman by Marita Golden

  • Self-Care for Black Women by Oludara Adeeyo

  • day/break by Gwen Benaway

  • Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing by Suzanne Methot

  • On/Me by Francine Cunningham

  • Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa

  • A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

  • In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott

  • One Drum by Richard Wagamese

  • The Worlds of a Masaai Warrior by Tepilit Ole Saitoti

Indigenous Healings

Self-Love:

  • Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot (Seabird Island Band)

  • Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga (Ojibwe)

  • From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle (Métis)

  • Birdie by Tracey Lindberg (Cree-Métis)

  • Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk (Inuit)

Trauma and Healing:

  • The Break by Katherena Vermette (Métis)

  • Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq (Inuk)

  • They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars (Xat'sull)

  • A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott (Haudenosaunee)

  • Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)

Body Positivity and Acceptance:

  • The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Métis)

  • Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway (Cree)

  • Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (Anishinaabe)

  • Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)

  • Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson (Haisla/Heiltsuk)

Mental Health:

  • Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing by Suzanne Methot (Nehiyaw/Métis)

  • Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)

  • Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (Haisla/Heiltsuk)

  • From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle (Métis) (Also listed under Self-Love category)

  • In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by Helen Knott (Dane Zaa/Cree)

Anti-Black Racism

  • Ain’t I a women by bell hooks

  • Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

  • Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper

  • Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

  • How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

  • Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea J. Ritchie

  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

  • Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold

  • Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
    by Michelle Alexander

  • The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century
    by Grace Lee Boggs

  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

  • This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga

  • When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson

Anti-Black Racism Film/Media

  • Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers, 51min

  • Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses ‘White Fragility,’ 84min

  • “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools, 18min

  • Burns, Ken, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon, dirs. The Central Park Five. Sundance Selects, Florentine Films, and PBS, 2012. DVD, 119 min.

  • DuVernay, Ava, dir. 13th. Kandoo Films, Forward Movement, 2016. Netflix.

  • DuVernay, Ava, dir. When They See Us. Tribeca Productions, Array, and Participant Media, 2019. Netflix.

  • Peck, Raoul, dir. I Am Not Your Negro. Velvet Film, Artemis Productions, and Close Up Films, 2016 (2017, United States). DVD.

  • Shannon, Lyttanya, dir. The Naked Truth. Season 2, episode 2, “Death by Delivery.” Aired March 8, 2017, on Fusion TV.

  • Vargas, Jose Antonion, dir. White People. MTV, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zjj1PmJcRM.

  • Wah, Lee Mun, dir. The Color of Fear. 1994. DVD.”

Decolonize your mind…

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