"I didnt know I was living creatively until Marthas book. The different experiences we have taken without any guidance makes the topic and the content of this book so wonderful. One place to discover it all! Dianne Christopher

This informative guide helps allies who want to go beyond rigid Diversity and Inclusion best practices, with real tools to go from good intentions to making meaningful change in any situation or venue. 2022 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS GOLD WINNER 2022 NATIONAL ANTIRACIST BOOK FESTIVAL SELECTION 2021 PORCHLIGHT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN BEHAVIOR BOOK OF THE YEAR As we become more aware of various social injustices in the world, many of us want to be part of the movement toward positive change. But sometimes our best intentions cause unintended harm, and we fumble. We might feel afraid to say the wrong thing and feel guilt for not doing or knowing enough. Sometimes we might engage in performative allyship rather than thoughtful solidarity, leaving those already marginalized further burdened and exhausted. The feelings of fear, insecurity, inadequacy are all too common among a wide spectrum of changemakers, and they put many at a crossroads between feeling stuck and giving up, or staying grounded to keep going. So how can we go beyond performative allyship to creating real change in ourselves and in the world, together? In The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim shares foundational principles often missing in today’s mainstream conversations around “diversity and inclusion,” inviting readers to deep dive into the challenging and nuanced work of pursuing equity and justice, while exploring various complexities, contradictions, and conflicts inherent in our imperfect world. With a mix of in-the-trenches narrative and accessible unpacking of hot button issues—from inclusive language to representation to "cancel culture"—Michelle offers sustainable frameworks that guide us how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible. The Wake Up is divided into four key parts: Grounding: begin by moving beyond good intentions to interrogating our deeper “why” for committing to social justice and uncovering our "hidden stories." Orienting: establish a shared understanding around our historical and current context and issues we are trying to solve, starting with dismantling white supremacy. Showing Up: learn critical principles to approach any situation with clarity and build our capacity to work through complexity, nuance, conflict, and imperfections. Moving Together: remember the core of this work is about human lives, and commit to prioritizing humanity, healing, and community. The Wake Up is an urgent call for us to move together while seeing each other’s full and expansive humanity that is at the core of our movement toward justice, healing, and freedom.

Wake Up Black People: Are Our Communities in Peril? (Dreams Do Come True!) By: DeVere O. Kelley Why are so many of us Black Americans afraid to accept the blame for our own peril? Yes, we have been victims of systemic racism, poverty, wealth inequality, and police violence, but we have also caught ourselves in patterns which contribute to our demise. This book examines the history of not only the societal issues and stereotypes that have plagued our community for decades, but also the self-imposed burdens that continue to hold us back. Black homicide, drug usage, welfare, decrease in life expectancy, black incarceration and health problems are just a few issues covered in this thorough debut work by DeVere O. Kelley. Drawing from his own experiences and from the patterns of history, Kelley offers remedies for the obstacles still facing the Black community.

For a Better Life, Close the Gaps! We all want to make a difference. But just as you need to put on your own oxygen mask before helping other passengers on an airplane, getting your own life together is the first step to making a positive impact in the world. Franklin Covey cofounder Hyrum Smith shows that what stops us are gaps between where we are and where we want to be. The first is the Beliefs Gap, between what we believe to be true and what is actually true. The second is the Values Gap, between what we value most in life and what we actually spend our life doing. The third is the Time Gap, between what we plan to do each day and what we actually get done. Smith offers a practical blueprint that we all can use to recognize and close each of these three gaps and illustrates how it can be done through inspiring true stories. The 3 Gaps provides the concepts and the tools needed to establish a solid foundation from which you can help make the world a better place.

Charlotte is perceived like an ordinary 19 year old girl. She has a boyfriend who she adores, a decent family, lots of friends and wants to attend University. On the outside, she is happy. She wears a smile on her face and her heart on her sleeve, but on the inside she wishes she could really be that way. Her family hates her, her mother is an alcoholic, she doesnt have contact with her father, her only friends are the demons and Summer-Lee Smith, a girl who died the previous year and who has come back as a ghost to haunt Charlotte. Jake, her boyfriend, is the only thing keeping her afl oat. She only wants to recover because she knows it will save her relationship. But can Jake really be trusted? Will she fully recover and be happy again? Are the demons really her friends? And what is the reason behind Summer-Lee constantly popping up in her life?

A guide to the famous Heart Sūtra that reveals the tenderness and compassion underlying the striking rhetoric of this popular Buddhist text The radical message of the Heart Sūtra, one of Buddhism’s most famous texts, is a sweeping attack on everything we hold most dear: our troubles, the world as we know it, even the teachings of the Buddha himself. Several of the Buddha’s followers are said to have suffered heart attacks and died when they first heard its assertion of the basic groundlessness of our existence—hence the title of this book. Overcoming fear, the Buddha teaches, is not to be accomplished by shutting down or building walls around oneself, but instead by opening up to understand the illusory nature of everything we fear—including ourselves. In this book of teachings, Karl Brunnhölzl guides practitioners through this ‘crazy’ sutra to the wisdom and compassion that lie at its core.