The Weather Maps: A Reading List for the Storm
A storm doesn't form in a vacuum. It's the result of atmospheric conditions we can learn to read. This project stands on the shoulders of giants, and these books are our weather maps—the essential texts that help us understand the systems we face and chart a course for change.
The books below are organized by our three core commitments, providing a guided path for learning and practice.
🌀 To Help Us Check Our Privilege
This is the foundational work of listening, learning, and understanding our place in the world with humility.
So You Want to Talk About Race
by Ijeoma Oluo
"Our desire to not talk about race also causes us to ignore race in areas where lack of racial consideration can have real detrimental effects..."
Why It's Essential:
This book is required reading for our first commitment. Oluo provides the essential language and frameworks for navigating the difficult, necessary conversations about race that are central to the work of checking our privilege.
Nice Racism
by Robin DiAngelo
"'Getting it' should immediately engender humility in recognition of how much we don't—and likely never will—completely know."
Why It's Essential:
DiAngelo's work is the compass we use for the internal journey of checking our privilege. It dissects the subtle ways that well-meaning people can perpetuate harm and reinforces the need for lifelong humility.
🌀 To Help Us Redefine Strength
This is the work of confronting fear, embracing vulnerability, and building the courage to act.
Raising LGBTQ Allies
by Chris Tompkins
"Homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, racism, and anti-Semitism...each is born from the same place: fear."
Why It's Essential:
Redefining strength begins with confronting fear. Tompkins masterfully identifies fear as the common root of prejudice, giving us a starting point for building the courage needed to be true allies to others and ourselves.
🌀 To Help Us Practice Solidarity
This is the work of seeing the whole picture, amplifying others, and building a truly inclusive movement.
The Rainbow Ain't Never Been Enuf
by Dr. Kaila Story
"...trouble the contention that LGBTQ+ communities have always been and are harmonious..."
Why It's Essential:
True solidarity requires seeing the whole, messy picture—even within our own movements. Dr. Story's work on intersectionality is critical to our practice, reminding us to address all forms of exclusion to build a truly inclusive storm.
🌪️ The Engine of the Storm: Our Core Theory
This is the foundational text that informs our entire strategy for change.
Practicing New Worlds
by Andrea Ritchie
"...what happens at the small-scale replicates, coalesces into, and shapes larger social structures and systems..."
Why It's Essential:
This book provides our entire theory of change. The concepts of "emergent strategy" and "critical connections" are the engine of our movement from a single drop to a flood. It is the blueprint for how countless small actions can build a world-changing storm.
Expanding the Atlas
Your Suggestion Here
The community is our library.
Why It's Essential:
A good meteorologist never stops studying the sky. This list will grow as our community grows. Have a book that shaped your understanding of allyship? Help us map the storm.