What We Are Reading Today: How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Updated 23 August 2019
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What We Are Reading Today: How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

In this book, Ibram X. Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism.

How to Be an Antiracist is an “essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: Contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society,” said a review in goodreads.com.

Critic Jeffrey C. Stewart said in a review for The New York Times that Kendi is on a mission to push those of us who believe we are not racists to become something else: Antiracists, who support ideas and policies affirming that “the racial groups are equals in all their apparent differences — that there is nothing right or wrong with any racial group.” 

Steward said: “For Kendi, the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, there are no nonracists; there are only racists — people who allow racist ideas to proliferate without opposition — and antiracists, those who expose and eradicate such ideas wherever they encounter them.”


Mini op-ed: We need a ‘potluck’ culture of reading

Updated 10 March 2026
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Mini op-ed: We need a ‘potluck’ culture of reading

DUBAI: The number of times we hear, “My kids don’t read,” “I don’t have the time,” or “Do people even read anymore?” is alarming.

With newspapers declared dead and YouTube summaries or ChatGPT reviews becoming the main course of words, I often wonder: have those asking these questions considered the role they play?

Each of us — school representatives, librarians, parents, educators, children, and even occasional readers — must ask whether we are helping create a culture where reaching for a book feels as natural as reaching for a smartphone.

Even the smallest effort counts. I think of a reading culture as a potluck where everyone brings something small, and together it becomes a wholesome meal. If you do not know where to begin, look around.

Purva Grover is an author, poet, playwright, stage director, TEDx speaker, and creative entrepreneur. (Supplied)

The UAE is rich in public libraries including in Sharjah and Dubai, such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, which is proof that access is not the issue. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is embedding reading into its national identity under Vision 2030 through digital libraries, major book fairs, and daily school reading.

Not a reader? Events such as the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature or the Sharjah International Book Fair offer easy entry points for conversation, community and curiosity.

They are built on cultural blocks that subtly encourage even non-readers into reading spaces. You could even start a reading club. I run one in Dubai called The Reading Village and have seen its quiet magic.

Culture is built by saying yes. And no to pirated PDFs on WhatsApp, as well as unchecked screen habits.

Tiny habits can help build an environment where reading becomes as much a part of our lives as scrolling on Netflix to decide what to binge-watch next.

Purva Grover is an author, poet, playwright, stage director, TEDx speaker, and creative entrepreneur. She is the founder of The Reading Village, a Dubai-based community.