Resources

A collection of our organizers’ favorites…

Level 1: Get a basic understanding of history in order to understand the present.

How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram Kendi (Book, Audiobook) traces back the history of racism to the 1400s when King Henry of France commissioned the categorization of humans by race in order to rationalize the trading of people as slaves. Race is a human construct. Racism was manmade.

The Long Shadow, on Amazon Prime. A film showing how the economics of slavery in America led to a racist society, and how racism has been supported and promoted by political forces up to this current day.

The Peabody-nominated podcast Seeing White explores the history and meaning of whiteness.

The 1619 Project. History of the US with Slavery at the center (NYT Podcast).

Netflix documentary, 13th, about the ‘industrialized prison complex’ (1 hr and 40min).

To understand the impact of this history through the lens of generational trauma for white and Black America, read My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem.

If you’re interested in creating inclusive cultures, where all feel a sense of belonging, then you’re going to need to understand microagressions. Most acts of racism aren’t overt acts, like cross-burnings. Most of us are perpetrating microagressions out of ignorance. We recommend Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar’s Book, You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism (the Audiobook is strongly recommended, Book). It’s hilarious and effective at the same time.

Level 2: Talking about race is hard. Shore up your skills.

Get started learning how to talk about race by reading White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo (perspective of a white woman working as a DEI trainer for many decades) (Book, Audiobook). DiAngelo's media page https://robindiangelo.com/media/ has a great 90-minute video.

Another great resource on this topic is So You Want To Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Olua (perspective of a Black woman).

Here’s another that combines an understanding of history and privilege called This Book is Anti-Racist, by Tiffany Jewell.

To learn about the issues of race and K12 schools, we recommend Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools by Amanda Lewis and John Diamond (Book, Audiobook). The author provides a good overview of the main ideas in this C-SPAN video here.

Level 3: Ready to take action?

If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and actively lead a life that no longer stands for racism, read How To Be An Antiracist ONCE AGAIN (recommended for Level 1 as well) by Ibram Kendi (Book, Audiobook). Kendi's media page has a number of great video interviews. Kendi presents clear recommendations for how to dismantle racism through policy.

To learn how to modify your pedagogy to connect with learners of all cultures, read Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond (Book). Recordings of Hammond’s talks can be found here, here, and here.

For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood, and the Rest of Y’All Too by Christopher Emdins (Book). Recordings of Emdin’s talks can be found here and here.

(we will continue to add to this list)