I have tired of the racial self-help books. As a Black woman I think I am not the audience and found myself annoyed by much of this book. I think for white folks wanting to "do the work" this would be a good read, but for me it felt patronizing and lacking in any revelation.

THIS BOOK SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING. The only criticism I have is the subtitle - I understand the inclusion of spirituality but I think it turns potential readers off from the book, which is a shame because it is SO MUCH MORE than that.

I don't think I requested this book, and it's not the genre I'm typically interested in so I will not be reading it. Sorry!

I really enjoyed learning from this book. Thank you to the author for writing in a compelling and interesting way.

Do Better is one of those books that normally I would not pick up, but it is one of those books that I believe is important to read. I learned a lot from this and I think everyone can benefit from reading it.

“Do Better” is by the spiritual activist and self-proclaimed disrupter, Rachel Ricketts, who wants to help us do the work (of fighting white supremacy) from the inside out. It’s mostly written for white people to understand their role in historic and daily racism. And she does this by helping us recognize the role we play in racial inequality. And let me tell you… it’s not a gentle read. She is about tough talk. Most people will feel really uncomfortable. Because we should.
The hard part isn’t the reading… it’s doing the actual work required for people to CHANGE.
We need to take stock of our power and privilege… to mitigate and acknowledge the harms we caused others. It’s not looking back on the last 4 years, but the last 400 years. We need to show up for people who’ve been marginalized for centuries, and do better to create equity and liberation for all.

This is kind of a hard one for me to review because there were parts of I absolutely loved and other parts of it I didn't really care for. I loved that the author gave actual action steps and examples for white people to, well, do better. Obviously that's not the goal for all books concerning ableism and anti-racism but I do greatly appreciate the inclusion of it in this book. I love how you are given journal prompts and ways to interact with the book aside from just taking in information. On the other hand, I thought the language used within this book could potentially be off-putting. I felt like the author assumed the reader was a certain type and wrote it with that type in mind, but I don't think the majority of those people would actually need or gravitate to this book, because they would be already aware of most of the information/ideas within it. I also did not like what she had to say about Latinx people, and that's all I will say about that. Middle of the road book for me.

A content-heavy, thought-provoking and challenging read. A good mix of checking my bias with weighing whether or not I agree. Not for those beginning their anti-racist reading and heartwork journeys, but definitely a good push to go deeper for those who have been tackling racism in themselves and in the world around them.

Do Better is an important, insightful read. Not only did it draw attention to all of the ways that white supremacy plays out (including ways you may not have previously considered), but it actually provided action steps that can be taken to fight for racial justice.

As a white, cisgender woman, I've been trying to learn more about racism and white supremacy, including looking within to determine what I could be doing better. Because this book involves a lot of inward work and soul searching, I think it's a great way to get in tune with where you are currently at and then take the action steps to start improving. I've read multiple books about racism and white supremacy and feel that this has been the best in terms of giving me actual spelled out steps in terms of what I can do. It can be very easy to get lost in the research and reading about these subjects without taking action - but this book URGES you to take action throughout, as well as once you've finished reading.

This book has many journaling prompts, questions to ask yourself, and meditations weaved throughout. I think it's ideal to own the physical book so that you can take your time with the journaling prompts and to put in the work. It'll also be great to have to reference back to, as being an anti-racist is an every day, lifelong commitment.

This book is both easy to read and extremely challenging, Rachel has a way of writing that draws you in and makes you think about the world in a way differently than you have been. Through a whole variety of topics the author delves deep into the ways that White Supremacy infiltrates every part of life and how to address these issues from a rounded and spiritual approach. Each chapter ends with concrete and practical steps to take and where we are not doing enough.

This book is challenging, personal, and deep and is a book that everyone should read.