This was an excellent guide to how to make anti racism a daily practice. It shows real life examples from the author’s own experience and encourages others to work and make anti-racism a more present and mindful part of daily life.

As a white woman in suburbia, I've often wondered how can I better understand racism and be an ally to my BIPOC friends rather than exhaust them. Jennifer Harvey has tackled that and has the receipts to go along with it. If you are looking to do better in terms of what antiracism actually looks like and how to influence others in your circle, and maybe learn what not to do too, this book will be a helpful resource. Harvey isn't afraid to shine a light on her mistakes as an example, something that many are shy about. Not an easy read but definitely a worthy read. And then...put it into practice!

This is a helpful tool to continue building practical skills toward becoming anti racist. I appreciated the daily approach and the tone which was very much a loving mandate for us all to act and do intentional work rather than just reading and talking about it.

Jennifer Harvey’s "Antiracism as Daily Practice" is a compelling and insightful guide that urges white Americans to make antiracism a central, daily commitment in their lives. Written in the wake of the racial reckoning, this book serves as both a call to action and a practical manual for those who are either newly awakened to the realities of racism or have long been aware but unsure of how to contribute effectively to racial justice. Harvey's approach is refreshingly grounded in real-life experiences and everyday interactions, making the book accessible and relatable. Harvey highlights the power that lies in personal relationships and daily choices and shows that meaningful change can begin at home, in conversations with friends, or in small acts of solidarity and resistance. The book is a powerful reminder that antiracism is not a destination but a daily journey, one that requires commitment, courage, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths. In conclusion, "Antiracism as Daily Practice" is an essential read for anyone committed to fostering racial justice in their everyday lives. Jennifer Harvey provides the tools, insights, and motivation needed to make antiracism a living, breathing practice that extends far beyond mere awareness. For those ready to do the work, this book offers a clear and practical path forward.

I deeply appreciate the author's intent but this book wasn't my favorite on the topic. Geared towards the white American, it challenges the reader to see and combat racism in their day to day experiences. It is structured into 10 different chapters, each detailing and explaining how one can incorporate antiracism practice into, you guessed it, daily life. At the end of each chapter are multiple reflection questions, challenging the reader to reflect on their own experiences with racism or antiracism. Harvey not only details personal stories, both of mistakes and conquests, but also shares stories of other antiracist individuals and their efforts to encourage change in their own situations and communities.

This book was well written and well researched. However, it almost reads more like a college assignment. I felt like the book required 101 courses prior, some other books and authors mentioned in it felt like "pre-requisites" to reading Antiracism as Daily Practice. This is not a book for beginners in the anti-racism work, but it is a good addition to the "library" of works.

Thank you to the author Jennifer Harvey, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of ANTIRACISM AS DAILY PRACTICE. All views are mine.

𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑝 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑. 𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜. 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡. p11

I like that white scholars and activists are stepping into more forward-facing antiracist work. For one thing, they've been there, subverting their own most damaging beliefs. Also, it is not for black activists to spend their time and labor, educating their subjucators. For these reasons and others, I look forward to more antiracist writings from white activists and scholars. Please dm me if you'd like some recommendations.

I like that this book focuses on questions such as where racism comes from, showing the history of racism in the US, in different stages of education, in different, often unexpected areas of the country. Why shame drives racism in white people and how those people can begin working to free themselves from such destructive emotion.

One of my favorite features of ANTIRACISM AS DAILY PRACTICE is the exercises and journal prompts provided throughout and at the end of each chapter. They not only clarify concepts, they offer time to meditate on personal values and habits and determine what personal changes might be in order and how it's possible.

Beginning antiracist work can feel overwhelming and it can be hard to know how to get involved. It can especially be hard to know what to do with all the emotions involved. This book is a great resource for anyone who wants to learn more about white antiracist efforts. Checking your white people is an act of love. For yourself and the world.

𝑆𝑜 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 [𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑚]. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. Loc.146

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. I think the most important lesson this book teaches white people is that no one engages in antiracist activism to make friends or make people happy or earn gratitude. People do it because it's right and necessary. In many of the stories this author tells, she makes a point of the unhappy ending.

2. The exercises and suggestions at the ends of the chapters are creative and challenging while still being completable. I think when placed in these situations with real life social stakes, the readers will understand how to navigate racially challenging situations more easily as a result of reading this book.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. The cringe factor is strong with this one. The author knows...sort of. But also, not completely.

Rating: ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹.5 /5 healing hearts
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Jul 21 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
📓 academic nonfiction
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 sociology
🪧 activism
🕯 racial justice

I appreciated that there were clear calls to action and strategies to challenge racist practices and societal structures. I feel that this book is, however, less helpful than similar books that I have read that were written by BIPOC authors.

I think anti-racism has become a cottage industry. I believe it was Ishmael Reed who opined that “anti-racism is the new yoga” and this book kind of embodies that. I’m sure the intent is to be helpful and I can see some of what’s presented in these pages could be useful for those really interested in meaningful and honest steps to engage in anti-racist activism. Some good examples are presented to guide would-be-activists here. So, yes the industry has become a box checking activity, like hot yoga. In order to sustain this ”movement” real work must be done. And that is what Jen Harvey is hoping to manifest through this text. Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced DRC.

As a white woman, I really appreciated this book. It gave good suggestions of how to be supportive, and work towards a just world. I would read it again and I recommend it for us white folks who need help knowing how to support and come alongside.

Thank you for writing it, and thank you NetGalley for th ARC.
Comment

Timely as any book like this is timely, it also serves as a gentle call to action. Nothing speaks to people more than personal stories, and this makes making change PERSONAL. There's no choice but to put this practice into action.

I appreciated that this felt grounded, not philosophical, and provided a way that I can implement this work in my life. It's relevant to my work life and I've already had conversations with colleagues about getting a reading group together.

In her latest book, Antiracism as a Daily Practice, Jennifer Harvey makes the case for why white people must “do their own work” in their communities. She writes with vulnerability and honesty about the challenges they will inevitably encounter along the way. Rather than a road map or step-by-step instructions, the book provides readers a general guide to antiracism work. This is because, as Harvey explains, there is no one-size-fits-all set of strategies to becoming antiracist. With her personal stories and those of others she knows, Harvey illustrates the inevitability of mistakes in doing this work. Readers will come away with a clear-eyed view of the complexities and messiness of antiracism practice.

Harvey addresses the paradoxes and challenges white people will face. For example, white people need to take action, but they also must let people of color take the lead. When do white folks take the microphone and when do they pass it? Other complexities Harvey addresses include how to talk to family about antiracism and how to hold people accountable for racist actions or speech without shaming or shunning them. “Accountability as belonging presumes you are worthy,” she writes. “You are invited, offered support, and lovingly challenged to come in, to come back.”

While this is not a how-to book, Harvey suggests next steps at the end of each chapter and offers a wealth of additional resources in an appendix. She encourages white people to face the racial brokenness in our communities and engage it in consistent and daily ways, because doing so promises healing, transformation, and a more just future for all.

Antiracism as a Daily Practice is a must-read for individuals and groups interested in restorative social justice and community building.

Depending on where the reader is on their own anti-racism/social justice journey, some of this will be new and some of this will enrich individual thinking. The author provides ample opportunities for reflection. In an effort to address social justice and work on change, this work is informative and thought-provoking. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

One part memoir, one part how to, this is an excellent book for white people that want to be allies, but have little idea about where to start or how to become one. This book focuses on Harvey's own experience moving toward anti-racism, starting from a Christian childhood and moving forward. For people who read White Fragility and are ready to move on.

Everyone should read this book. If you want to commit yourself to anti-racist practices, want to improve your relationship with the world, and want to better understand the complexities at play with racism you can learn a lot from this book.

Jennifer Harvey has written a smart, clear, well-researched and implement-able set of practices to help white people confront racism in our emotional lives, our personal relationships, and in our communities. This is not a beginner's manual. Harvey assumes the reader is already aware that racism hurts all of us and has probably already done some reading and learning. But transformation takes daily work over a lifetime, done in community. This book breaks down what we can do to embody the new ways of being that we long for.

Harvey is an ordained Christian pastor and teaches Christian Ethics at a seminary. While not explicitly written for a religious audience, she does use her life throughout the book. Readers who are anti-religion may struggle with that. If they're able to keep reading, though, I suspect they'll still find this a really helpful guide.

I will be using this book in small group studies and cannot wait to talk about it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy for review.

A good book for folks wanting to take their antiracism work further and continue to grow. I appreciated the authors inclusion of next steps at the end of each chapter. This made is easier to take concrete lessons from the well researched, if sometimes a bit dense, chapters and use them as a reference point for my own continued daily practices. 4.25/5 stars.

I am currently participating in the St Martin’s Press boycott in solidarity of the people dying in the Palestinian genocide and did not realize I was checking a St Martin’s book until too late.

The only way to truly be anti-racist is to support all marginalized communities including the people of Gaza being systemically eradicated by the I**aeli forces.

Lots of great advice and information to spark ideas for white people to do some self reflection and unlearn the internal racism that they may not have even realized was there.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is ready to take a deeper look at their thoughts and actions and needs a starting point to take some action.

Thank you to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to review an ARC of Antiracism as a Daily Practice by Jennifer Harvey. I thought the book was engaging and had some very helpful thought exercises. I was taken aback by how centered it is in a judeo christian mindset. I certainly don't begrudge Ms. Harvey her theological training or that the book is her looking at racism through her lens. In fact I found that quite useful in making the lessons accessible. I just was surprised since it is such an overarching theme and the religious themes are not alluded to in the book description. There are certainly white folks outside of that faith that could learn these lessons as well. . However overall, it was a good read.

Jennifer Harvey's Antiracism as Daily Practice is not only a teaching moment, but also a reflection moment. Geared towards the white American, it challenges the reader to see and combat racism in their day to day experiences. It is structured into 10 different chapters, each detailing and explaining how one can incorporate antiracism practice into, you guessed it, daily life. At the end of each chapter are multiple reflection questions, challenging the reader to reflect on their own experiences with racism or antiracism. Harvey not only details personal stories, both of mistakes and conquests, but also shares stories of other antiracist individuals and their efforts to encourage change in their own situations and communities.

This book was extremely well written and phenomenally well researched. Through reading this work, it is quite obvious that the author knows what she is talking about and I felt as though this is a great adjunct book to any white American looking to incorporate antiracism into their life. I especially enjoyed the last few chapters where it speaks about family dynamics and navigating your own individual world. I think books like this are extremely important in today's world, and I think we as white people always will continue to have work to do and more to learn.

I did find, however, that I don't think this is a "beginner" antiracism book. It alludes to certain authors, works, and events that someone starting their antiracist journey may not be very familiar with. I felt as though works by authors such as Ibram X. Kenji, Michael Eric Dyson, Michelle Alexander, Ijeoma Oluo, Robin DiAngelo, (among others) were almost "pre-requisites" to reading Antiracism as Daily Practice.

Special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.