As we continue to do the work on antiracism, we’re going to make mistakes even while trying to get it right.

If you don’t want to drive yourself crazy, you have to accept that there will be times when perhaps you should have spoken up and didn’t, or should have stayed quiet, but didn’t, and instead said something idiotic. Or worse, said something that might have been idiotic, but you can’t be sure.

That’s where Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want To Talk About Race comes in. It’s an approachable book that provides the answers to questions you’ve been too embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask someone you know. Stuff you don’t want to admit to Google that you don’t know. Better yet, stuff you didn’t know you didn’t know.

Oluo’s conversational tone and matter-of-fact way of communicating gives you the start you need. She provides the answers to your questions, and provides tips to help you do better.

“We are all products of a racialized society, and it affects everything we bring to our interactions.”

Reading it was like sitting down with an Auntie who you know will give it to you straight, no blushing. Oluo does this, holding the reader accountable for mistakes made, but also giving you the sense that you can and will do better once you know how.