Slow Down Reading

I’m reading  a variety of books during this time of slow down.  I’m no longer keen on the term ‘lock down’ and prefer ‘calm down’, but ‘slow down’ reflects my life and mood best of all at this time.  ‘Lock down’ was imposed on us, ‘calm down’ was how some of us treated the imposition, but ‘slow down’ for me is a really positive and affirming action.  I have no intention in the immediate future to change how I am living which is in a leisurely yet focused way.

So, back to the reading.

One major element in my choice of reading lately has been the Black Lives Matter movement and the challenge to look at white supremacy, white privilege and how they influence my life, thought and behaviour.  

I have just finished an initial reading of ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race’ by Reni Eddo-Lodge.  I have it as an audiobook and kindle book.  Eddo -Lodge reads the audiobook herself and this really adds to its impact.  I felt myself so challlenged at things she says that I already know which passages I’ll be returning to for deeper reflection and examination.

Another book I am using on the same theme is  ‘Me And White Supremacy’ by Laylaf Saad.  this is more of a work book with questions for self examination but she sets out the issues to be examined clearly before presenting the questions.

As a great lover of fiction I am changing my usual reading habits and choosing books by Black writers.  At the moment it is a classic American novel, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ by Zora Neale Hurston.  i invariably read fiction these days via audiobooks and the narrator of this book is wonderful, her name is Ruby Dee.  The novel tells a dramatic story and has a strong main character, Janet.  However, what really moves me is the poetic and descriptive  language.

I am in a book group with other local Quakers.  We came together because we are part of the local  Roots of Resistance group, a national Quaker group set up last year to resist the Arms Fair in London last September.  Our book group is reading ‘Doughnut Economics’ by Kate Raworth.  Again i have the audiobook and the kindle.  I need to read print for nonfiction in order to take it in but the audiobook is a good supplement to print.    The author again reads the audiobook and it is fascinating.

For light relief I’m rereading Frances Brody’s series about a woman private investigator in 1920s Leeds, Kate Shackleton, a young war widow. 

STOP PRESS

I’ve just registered on an online course called ‘Black Lives Matter, Whiteness and Racial Justice Learning For Quakers’.  Looking at the reading list and tasks set, my reading for the next five weeks willl be pretty much set!