The traditional construction of gender is one of the pillars of a capitalist society.

The original organizers of Earth Day, celebrated in the United States on April 22nd every year since 1970 and globally since the 1990s, were inspired by the campus teach-ins and demonstrations of the 1960s. The first Earth Day consisted of protests held across the United States with the goal of raising awareness to protect the planet from deadly pollution and environmental degradation. Decades later, we are facing a climate emergency that touches all our lives and exacerbates nearly every major social inequity.

Black women have been at the forefront of movements for justice and liberation for centuries—though their histories and voices have often been overlooked. As we continue to reflect on the lessons of this Women’s History Month, we’re presenting this list of landmark reading by Black women.

Designed for activists, educators, students, and anyone looking to learn how inequality and injustice is woven tightly into American culture, these groundbreaking voices inspire transformation.

As 2020 draws to a close many of us are weary and frightened, but hopeful. While we’ve suffered under the pandemic and the police, we’ve also come together to build networks of aid, care, and solidarity. Record numbers of people took to the streets to protest the murders of Black people, braving arrest, beatings, sound cannons, and tear gas; 2020 opened a conversation about racism, equality, and justice that is now too loud to be ignored.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is one of the giants of contemporary literature. Writing primarily in Gikuyu, his writing spans genre and form—from novels to criticism, memoir to plays—and has been praised from the likes of President Barack Obama, the New York Times Book Review, The Guardian, and others. To celebrate the publication of his new novel The Perfect Nine, we thought we would share a reading list of some of Ngũgĩ's notable works.

September is National Translation Month, a month to celebrate literature written in different languages and honor the unique and often underrecognized process of adapting a text into a new language, while preserving the original meaning, voice, and style. Translators allow us to access and experience writing from all over the world which we might never encounter otherwise.

The first Labor Day parade took place in New York City on September 5^th, 1882 as a demonstration for worker’s rights. Twelve years later, it was signed into a law as a national holiday to celebrate and honor the working class, and to give workers a day off. Since the Industrial Revolution, impoverished working class people have struggled for fair wages, hours, and treatment—with immigrants and Black people often facing the worst conditions.