Movies

Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore)

Grand Canyon (A mysterious movie that appreciates the contradictions of life)

Rabbit Proof Fence

Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)

Mississippi Masala (Myra Neir)

Brother From Another Planet (John Sayles)

El Norte (docudrama about immigration to the U.S. through Mexico)

Music

KRS1

Dead Presidents

Public Enemy

Gil Scott Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (the roots of old school)

Disposable Heroes of Hipopracy

Diggable Planets

Lucky Dube (South African freedom singer in Reggae style)

Books

a. non-fiction

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community. Written six months before his assassination, this book is the final legacy of the greatest advocate for democracy in American history. While it is 35 years old, King's perspective on racism and its solutions are still relevant for today.

Sassen, Saskia Globalization and its Discontents The single best explanation of the political economy of globalization today.

Davis, Mike City of Quartz A well-written history of Los Angeles from the early 1900s to the mid-1990s, which explains why all cities in the U.S. are becoming like LA.

b. fiction

Coetzee, J.M.,   Despair The Noble Prize winner's novel about hope.

Kingsolver, Barbara Small Wonder A wonderful book of essays on finding hope in a time of despair.

Chamouiseaux, Phillipe, Texaco A mind-boggling novel, translated from Creole, on life in a shanty town in     Martinique. A universal story of the power of the people of the less developed countries.

Michaels, Anne, Fugitive Pieces A beautifully written book by a Canadian poet about a man living with the trauma of the Holocaust.

Powers, Charles, In the Memory of the Forest A haunting book about the ways in  which the past continues to exert a powerful hold on the present. S