How Would You Imagine an American Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

That Stack Of Books with Nancy Pearl and Steve Scher - The House of Podcasts

Nancy and Steve talk about two books that look at the history of the American civil rights movement. But one book sparks another suggestion.

Carry Me home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution,” by Diane McWhorter. Nancy says that if you are going to read one book about how young people challenged Jim Crow institutions in the early 60s, this is the book to read.

Nancy is also recommending books by Lewis Norden, a southern white writer. She says that his books are hard to describe. His novel, loosely based on the death of Emmett Till is called, “Wolf Whistle.” She calls it hilarious and heartbreaking. She invites readers to read it and write to us with your reaction. Maybe post your thoughts on our Facebook page.

She also likes his novel, “The Sharpshooter Blues.”

She says Norden is a writer who never got the readership he deserved.

Other books mentioned or that came to mind.

The Children, by David Halberstam

The Middle Passage, by Charles Johnson

While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement , by Carolyn McKinstry

Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson

In Peace and Freedom: My Journey To Selma, by Bernard Lafayette

Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness: What It Means To Be Black Now, by Toure

Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote about the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa in his book, No Future Without Forgiveness: A Personal Overview of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Does America need to take such an unflinching look at our past and present?

And maybe we should read some Mark Twain. W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Octavia Butler, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou.

Well, it is a long and fulfilling list.

-Steve