Throughout the year, we will be showcasing our Athletics Staff and their interests as it relates to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Meet Raina Harmon.

ABOUT RAINA HARMON

  • Harmon played on the Central Michigan University women’s basketball team from 2000-04. Majoring in Sports Studies, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2004

  • She earned her Master’s degree in Sports Administration from Wayne State in 2009

  • Harmon served as the Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at the University of Michigan from 2010-12, where she assisted the coaching staff with all administrative aspects of the program

  • Prior to arriving to Iowa, Harmon served five seasons at her alma mater, Central Michigan University, as an Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach

  • As a passionate supporter of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives, Harmon currently serves on Iowa’s DEI Accountability Board. She has attended both the NCAA Inclusion Forum and the NCAA Minority Coaches Forum as a participant. As an advocate for social justice reform, she has been the keynote speaker for the CMU Multicultural Celebratory as well as the Liberty High School Diversity and Inclusion Series. Lastly, she has created a “brave space” within Iowa’s WBB program for Black student-athletes to share their experiences in an effort to amplify the voices of minority student-athletes within the athletic department.

Graphic design picture of Raina, Random Reads

BOOKS ON BLACK HISTORY

Erasure is a real thing! In these books you will find history that is not taught in schools. Did you know that Rosa Parks was not the first Black woman to refuse to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery? You ever wonder why Midwestern cities such as Detroit and Chicago are mostly segregated? These books on Black history will open your eyes to many untold stories and unseen heroes that helped to shape the world as we know it.

  • The Blood of Emmett Till, Timothy B. Tyson

  • Barracoon, Zora Neale Horston

  • Forty Million Dollar Slaves, William C. Rhoden

  • Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch

  • Stamped From The Beginning, Ibram X. Kendi

  • Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen

  • The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson 

  • The Tyranny of Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America, Lani Guinier

  • Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies, Dick Gregory

  • The Color of the Law, Richard Rothstein 

BOOKS ON BLACK EXPERIENCES:

Black people are not a monolith. These books share the experiences of Black people ranging from joy, sorrow, success, failures, achievements, struggles and resilience.

  • No Ashes in The Fire, Darnell L. Moore

  • This Will Be My Undoing, Morgan Jenkins

  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley

  • Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death and Redemption in an American Prison, Shaka Senghor 

  • The Black Athlete, John D. White 

  • We’re Going To Need More Wine, Gabrielle Union

  • Black Privilege, Charlemagne The God

  • Becoming, Michelle Obama

  • Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin 

  • Born A Crime, Trevor Noah

  • I Will Not Fear: My Story of a Lifetime of Building Faith under Fire, Melba Patillo Beals

  • The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, Edward Baptist 

 

Book Cover: Unseen
Book cover: Black History in It’s Own Words, Ron Wimberly
Book cover How To Not Get Shot, D.L. Hughley
Book Cover: I’m Judging You by Luvvie Ajaye
Book cover: You can't touch my hair by Phoebe Robinson

BLACK CONVERSATIONS

What’s happening in the world right now isn’t a new phenomenon! Black people have always had conversations with each other about making our communities better, changing policies, shifting police culture and eradicating white supremacy. If you’ve ever said to yourself “I’m going to engage in more conversations about race”, be sure to check out one of gems!

  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race., Reni Eddo-Lodge

  • We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • Conversations in Black, Ed Gordon

  • What the Truth Sounds Like, Michael Eric Dyson 

  • Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D

  • Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates 

  • Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Michael Bennet

    What’s happening in the world right now isn’t a new phenomenon! Black people have always had conversations with each other about making our communities better, changing policies, shifting police culture and eradicating white supremacy. If you’ve ever said to yourself “I’m going to engage in more conversations about race”, be sure to check out one of gems!

  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race., Reni Eddo-Lodge

  • We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • Conversations in Black, Ed Gordon

  • What the Truth Sounds Like, Michael Eric Dyson 

  • Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D

  • Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates 

  • Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Michael Bennet

BECOMING ANTI-RACIST

From a very young age, we learn things about people that simply are not true. The following books encourage self-reflection in order to ask ourselves tough questions about how we see other people. It isn’t until we become intentional about unlearning stereotypes, identifying our own biases and making a conscious effort to be better to one another, that we can truly begin to do the work of becoming anti-racist.

  • We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from Forgotten Black America, D. Watkins

  • How to Be An Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi

  • Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond, Marc Lamont Hill 

  • Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon To White America, Michael Eric Dyson 

  • They Can’t Kill Us All, Wesley Lowery

  • White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo

  • So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo

  • Me and White Supremacy, Layla Saad