When I was 32, my dear friend, Ruth, who was also 32, died of colon cancer, that same year my mom, Suzann, died suddenly at 61. This is an incomplete list of books I have read or were recommended. Most of these books directly speak to death while others don't but I found helpful in grief. *Some aren't perfectly aligned with my values/heart/spiritual self, but in the early days of shock, or stuck in a swamp of regret, even one phrase that shimmered was helpful. 

The 10% commission made from my Bookshop page will go to Time To Pause: The mission of PAUSE is to create spaces that produce safe, culturally-specific, and expert-informed grief and end of life resources serving Communities of Color. 

Regardless of our race, gender, religion, location, and privilege - dying is not an option. But how we access safe, culturally-sensitive support and care is. No matter who you are, death and loss are universal and an inevitable part of life. However, the rise of social unrest and COVID-19 have highlighted a key part of dying that we haven’t acknowledged widely before now: there is inequity in the way we die.

Generalized grief resources are not centered, specific, or thoughtful enough to be useful for people in communities experiencing death due to racially-motivated violence or diseases prevalent in underserved communities.  This is a critical gap that must be addressed. The way People of Color experience grief after a death-related loss IS different. And what WE need to grieve safely and with dignity IS different.  https://www.timetopause.org/

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