LEARN. REFLECT. ACT....REFLECT

We are at the halfway point of the first week of the 21-Day Anti-Racist Challenge. Today's morning email theme is on The Expression of Racial Diversity in Your Bookstore.

Every Challenge Morning email is divided into four parts -- "Learn," an overview of the morning's theme, "Reflect," some questions to consider, "Act," a series of steps to take, and finally a "Dig Deeper" section of more resources to look at.

For many people it is tempting to skip right to the "Act" section. It gives something concrete to do (today's suggestions is to write an Anti-Racist statement for your store). And doing something makes us feel like we are, well, doing something. Something positive towards making a better world.

But it is perhaps the "Reflect" section that is the most important part of each morning's Challenge. Those questions it asks are questions that we can keep asking, in all sorts of situations. In fact, the point of the entire Challenge is to question our assumptions and (more to the point) get into the habit of questioning our assumptions.

This morning's REFLECT questions ask us to take a hard look at the books we stock, the books we promote, and the books we choose to read for ourselves:

• Are your reading choices, and what's displayed on your staff picks’ shelf inclusive of BIPOC authors?
  
• Are you buying books and gifts that reflect white authorship/white audience?
  
• What is the BIPOC representation in your online and in-store displays?
  
• What is the BIPOC representation in your author event programming?
  
• Could you and your store culture be actively supporting white superiority, even if unconsciously?
  

Replace "books" with other words of things you like or support -- music, sports, charities, local causes, newspaper columnists, television series you like to binge watch -- and all those questions above are still relevant, still worth asking, worth reflection.

Registration for the 21-Day Challenge remains open. Earlier posts can be seen anytime on the Challenge blog.