Anti-Racism Resources for White People
/What a friggin week. We’re struggling to find words.
But honestly, nobody needs more words from us, and how we’re feeling about the horrific acts of racism that seem to be amplifying the last few months matters none. What DOES matter is what we can do about it going forward and how to do our part to stop racism from spreading, especially to our children and the next generation. It’s a scary, heartbreaking, and devastating time, and we can’t imagine what the family and friends of those who’s lives were taken must be feeling. Anger. Rage. Pain. Sadness. If we feel just a fraction of those feelings right now, their pain must be insurmountable.
We’ve seen many different posts this week from people wanting justice for George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and Christian Cooper, among others, and what we can all do to help. It was a reminder of how a nation can come together to fight back and also, how social media can be used for good. It was also a reminder of just how messed up we are as a country and how much work needs to be done, because racism runs deep in America and it is going to take every single one of us to make it stop. But it’s not enough to repost and share, we have to take action and make things happen. We need to use our rage to shift things so that these senseless tragedies don’t keep happening. But how?
We came across this document on Instagram shared by our friend Kyle and found it incredibly insightful and helpful. It’s called Anti-Racism Resources for White People and it was compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker & Alyssa Klein in May of 2020, and they encourage people to “feel free to circulate this document on social media”.
We’re sharing the document in full below (copied and pasted from the site), including articles to read, podcasts to listen to, movies to watch, organizations to follow and support, and other resources we should all consume. This is so incredibly helpful and is just another way we can all do our part to help make this world a safer place for all.
Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children:
Check out these books for children and young adults from the list of Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
Listen to the Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’
Listen to the Fare of the Free Child podcast
Read PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month
Follow The Conscious Kid on Instagram
Articles to read:
“America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
“The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
Videos to watch:
"How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion" | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
Podcasts to subscribe to:
Books to read:
Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
Films and TV series to watch:
13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent
King In The Wilderness — HBO
See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
Organizations to follow on social media:
Antiracism Center: Twitter
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
More anti-racism resources to check out:
Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism
“Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
(photo by Brittainy Newman for the New York Times)