The following is a list of titles that I feel relate to the aims of Ally Week. For those who don’t know, Ally Week is a week dedicated to supporting members of groups who are typically discriminated against based on a part of their identity. The week may be over, but being an ally is a lifelong commitment. One of the best ways to be in ally is to educate yourself, and this article aims to help the process along. My list is by no means exhaustive, rather, I simply selected titles I saved on goodreads. I have not read them all, but I intend to continue reading. The majority of these books are available through the NYU Library and all of the summaries are adapted from Goodreads, unless otherwise noted.Race PoliticsStudents of Color and the Achievement Gap by Richard R. Valencia Students of Color and the Achievement Gap surveys the ways in which low socioeconomic status affect academic performance. More than just a series of complaints and excuses, Valencia supports his findings with evidence, and suggests systematic changes that would transform the way we educate students of color. Negroland by Margo Jefferson Jefferson’s Negroland provides a balancing contrast to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me by illustrating the lifestyle of the Black Bourgeoisie-- otherwise known as Negroland-- during the mid-to-late 1900s. She delivers her memoir in crisp, descriptive prose that bares all while still managing to leave something to be desired. (This is my personal summary). Pioneering Cartoonists of Color by Tim Jackson In Pioneering Cartoonists of Color, Jackson tells the stories the largely uncelebrated cartoonists of color from the mid-1880s until the present. Where narratives by White and Asian artists are the norm, Jackson’s novel is a breath of fresh air. Ethnicity and Equality: France in the Balance by Azouz BegagAzouz Begag was France’s first Minister of Equal Opportunity, and is the first cabinet member to be of North African origin. Part autobiography and part sociopolitical analysis, Begag’s essay describes the political atmosphere that led to the 2005 riots, and suggests that lasting peace will only come after France society transforms the way it views suburban youth. Multi-Ethnic France: Immigration, Politics, Culture and Society by Alex Hargreaves Similar in nature to Begag’s Ethnicity and Equality (Hargreaves and Begag are colleagues), Multi-Ethnic France offers a more factual and slightly updated version of the 2005 riots, as well as the prejudices minorities face in France. Chinese Social IssuesCitizenship Education and Migrant Youth in China: Pathways to the Urban Underclass by Miao Li In China, the children of migrant workers are often at an education disadvantage. Li’s research scrutinizes the systems that lead to unequal access to education and investigates the ways in which education affect social mobility and life trajectory.China’s Forgotten People: Xinjiang, Terror, and the Chinese State by Nick Holdstock Uyghur Muslims constitute one of China’s largest ethnic minorities. They live in Xinjiang, the westernmost region in China. Frequently the victims of oppression, Uyghurs are struggling to maintain their cultural and religious identity amidst China’s assimilationist politics. Holdstock’s novel describes the social situation that led to the terrorist attacks in late 2013 and early 2014, and discusses what the atmosphere of unrest will mean for the future of the Uyghur people.China’s Assimilationist Language Policy: The Impact on Indigenous/Minority Literacy and Social Harmony edited by Gulbahar H. Beckett and Gerard A. PostiglioneThis book begins by explaining the historical background of China’s language policies, then unpacks empirical research regarding the effects of these policies on China’s indigenous and minority groups. The volume wraps up with an analysis of how human rights laws intersect with language rights and education. Miscellaneous Intersectional IssuesIntimate Empires: Body, Race, and Gender in the Modern World by Tracey RizzoRizzo’s novel synthesizes AsiaPacifiQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualitiesedited by Fran Martin, Peter A. Jackson, and Audrey Yue. This collection examines the shaping of local sexual cultures in the Asian Pacific region in order to move beyond definitions and understandings of sexuality that rely on Western assumptions. These diverse studies range across the Pacific Rim and encompass a variety of forms of social, cultural, and personal expression, examining sexuality through music, cinema, the media, shifts in popular rhetoric, comics and magazines, and historical studies. (Summary from Project Muse)Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims by Scott Siraj al-Haqq KugleLiving Out Islam documents the rarely-heard voices of Muslims who live in secular democratic countries and who are gay, lesbian, and transgender. It weaves original interviews with Muslim activists into a compelling composite picture which showcases the importance of the solidarity of support groups in the effort to change social relationships and achieve justice. (Summary from Project Muse)As I mentioned earlier, this is not an all-inclusive list of the resources and issues related to Ally Week and its goals. I tried to select issues that I felt would be most relevant to our student body. Considering the charged political atmosphere after Trump’s election, race issues have made it to the top of the list. Seeing as we are in China, Chinese social issues are the second category. I finished with the miscellaneous and intersectional issues category to provide a gateway for discussing other issues and to illustrate the ways in which multiple identities interact. Moving forward, the NYU Shanghai student body should be able to discuss these subjects in an informed, civil manner. This article was written by Sarabi N. Eventide. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Sarabi N. Eventide