Minnesota Prairie Roots

I’M FOLLOWING UP on yesterday’s post focusing on the book Our Hidden Conversations—What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity by Michele Norris to recommend four related books. But before I get to those books, I must share that Norris will be in Minnesota on Monday, January 20, as the keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center (Exhibit Hall A). The event begins with networking and mingling from 7-7:30 a.m., breakfast from 7:30-8 a.m. and a program from 8-9:30 a.m. The celebration also includes music by Grammy award-winning Sounds of Blackness and a special collaborative performance by Threads Dance Project and Vocalessence. For more information about this 35th annual MLK breakfast, click here.

Now the books:

1959 (reprinted) Edition of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book—Guide for Travel and Vacations

I checked this facsimile of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book out from my local library. This guidebook lists, state by state (and in Canada), the hotels, motels, restaurants, tourist homes and vacation resorts where Blacks were welcome in 1959. This list is revealing and sometimes surprising. And clearly, it’s unsettling to read, understanding the discrimination against Blacks that existed not all that long ago.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

This New York Times bestseller published in 2010 tells the fictional story of life on a tobacco plantation beginning in the late 1700s from the perspectives of a slave (the daughter of a White master and his slave) and an indentured servant (an orphan from Ireland). Although a work of fiction, The Kitchen House is historical fiction, thus rooted in truth. This is a difficult read. But it’s also an inspiring book that speaks to the strength of the human spirit, the love of family and resilience.

So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo

Another New York Times bestseller, this one published in 2019, is in my reading stack. The title, So you want to talk about race, pretty much explains the content. The book was gifted to me by someone who left it in my church mailbox. I am grateful. I expect I will gain new insights from reading this book about race.

Winter counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

This award-winning book published in 2020 has been in my reading stack for some time. I am half way through reading Winter Counts and already know I need to recommend this fictional book. Why? The storyline takes the reader onto the Indian Reservations of South Dakota. But what stands out for me is the authenticity of the writing. Author David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, knows of what he writes.

I am not only reading an intriguing novel about a vigilante set on justice for the Lakota community in dealing with illegal drugs and other issues. But I am learning about Lakota culture, beliefs, language and challenges, and a reclaiming of Native identity. This book has proven both educational and eye-opening.

TELL ME: Have you read similar books that you recommend I read? Please feel free to share with a brief summary of the book (s). I’m interested in any genre and in books for children to middle and high schoolers to adults.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling