Welcome to Litsy!

Today is the 31st anniversary of the passing of the ADA and it‘s also #disabilityawareness month. Some of my favorite books, good beginners of disability history, stories (I have a ton of other books on parenting, activity books, so on). If you are interested in learning more about disability rights, How to Be an Antiracist podcast recently did a great one on Ableism (which of course helped me find more books to read) #Integrateyourbookshelf

Every week, I highlight #LGBTQAuthors as part of #TheRainbowShelf 🏳️‍🌈 Beverly Little Thunder has worked hard as an activist and spiritual leader, and has spent considerable time as a Sundancer. She is a founding member of the Two-Spirit Gathering movement. #LGBTQ #Lakota #NativeAmerican #IntegrateYourBookshelf

Wow, what a story. I loved how the author said at the end of the book that she was hoping to spur more research about the gay community in Chicago in the 1980s since there is such little information. It was such a good and heartbreaking story, I loved Yale. I grew up in the 80s but in a very small town in NJ, so I was unaware of what was really happening in the world, aside from what was on the news. One more #bookspin book & #doublespinbook

This was such a great book. I‘ve spent my life working with people with disabilities. Now as a mom of a child with invisible disabilities stories like this are so awe inspiring. The author was at the forefront of many of the actions that are in place today. It‘s still so hard to believe that the ADA was only passed in 1990. What‘s even more frustrating is that there are still people trying to dismantle disability rights to this day, the fight cont

I‘m not much on short stories but I really enjoyed this book. The stories surrounding the different realities of people from Haiti. There were a variety of stories and discussing the different experiences that people go through as immigrants, or life in Haiti (particularly after the earthquake), returning to life in Haiti. I‘ve never read a book about life in Haiti so it was interesting and enlightening to learn more about this country. #bookspin

We have a book basket that I put seasonal books in and I just added new beers to celebrate Women‘s History month. Ada Twist & Mae Among the Stars (she‘s 5 and says she wants to be an astronaut) are my daughter‘s absolute favorite books. My husband is a scientist so we try and add books about women scientists. #Integrateyourbookshelf

When people ask the question “if you could meet anyone dead or alive” James Baldwin would be my first choice. His writing is still so relevant to today. His gift of storytelling is so profound. One book off my bingo board, #bookspinbingo #integrateyourbookshelf

Bingo list for February, I made sure my list includes all African American authors (Henrietta Lacks is the only exception). I know I probably will not make much headway in next month since grad school is in full swing & I start working on my thesis. #bookspinbingo #integrateyourbookshelf

Well worth the hype, I loved it. There were so many topics brought up but Gyasi weaved a beautiful story that connected everything together. One more book off my bingo board. #bookspinbingo #integrateyourbookshelf

Alicia Garza is one of the original founders of Black Lives Matter movement. She discussed her background and her work in activism. She also highlighted a lot of the last 20-30 years and how politics shaped the criminalization of black people and culture. As you can see all the annotations I marked, I thought it was very insightful. The more I learn the more I rethink everything I grew up learning. #integrateyourbookshelf