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Anit-Racism Resource List

Deb Spofford


From Julia Schostak

Hello!

I've been spending a lot of time lately, as I imagine many other people have, thinking about racism in all of its forms. If you were not aware, racism falls into four main categories (definitions courtesy of RaceForward): 

  • Institutional- policies and practices that reinforce racist standards within a workspace or organization

  • Structural- multiple institutions collectively upholding racist policies and practices (i.e. society)

  • Interpersonal- racist acts and microaggressions carried out from one person to another

  • Internalized- the subtle and overt messages that reinforce negative beliefs and self-hatred in individuals

Below are some statistics and resources to further your understanding of the racial disparities our country is facing. This is a lot to work through at once, so I encourage you to work through it as you have time. Beyond the statistics that I have shared are lists of books, movies, podcasts, and articles to pick through. I have also included a list of some organizations I have chosen to donate to. Please start this email where you see fit. 

This week, I challenge you to start on the path toward understanding. Pick up one book and read a few chapters, listen to the first podcast in a series, or watch one of the films on Netflix. Sign up for a newsletter at an organization working toward racial justice and set up a recurring donation if you are able.

Statistics:

While the current protests happening may seem to be about the brutal and unjust murder of George Floyd by a police officer, it is important to realize that this was only the tipping point. Brutality and murder by the police have been ongoing in the Black community since the beginning of policing, often with no consequence. Police brutality is the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by police officers. This includes assault and battery and death, but also harassment (like false arrest) and intimidation. In the past year, 1014 people have been shot and killed by police. While Americans of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and classes have been subjected to police brutality, Black Americans and low-income Americans are subjected to the most brutality. The American Public Health Association did a study in 2018 that found that the poorest neighborhoods and neighborhoods with the greatest numbers of non-white residents are the most likely to see deadly police encounters. Poor and low-income people, especially people of color (POC), face a far greater risk of being targeted, profiled, fined, harassed, violated, and brutalized for a minor offense than other Americans (via the Insititute for Policy Studies). Although half of the people shot by the police are white, looking at population numbers in the US, Black Americans account for less than 13% of the population but are killed at almost three times the rate of white Americans. Looking at the lifetime risk of being killed by police, Black men and boys see 96 deaths per 100,000 individuals, while white men and boys only see 36/100,000 (via the National Academies of Sciences). Among civilian deaths by police, an officer is charged with a crime in 1.7% of cases (via Mapping Police Violence). Between 2015 and 2019, of the 104 officers that were arrested for murder/manslaughter for fatal on-duty shootings, only 36 have been convicted of a crime (via Time Magzine). These protests are not just because of the murder of one Black man, but because of the murder (and abuse) of many, because of a system that is built on and upholds racists practices. 


Policing is not the only example of institutional racism within the United States. The prison system, the electoral process, and healthcare are three big ones that come to mind. Did you know that the US is ranked 56th in the world for maternal mortality (19 deaths per 100,000 births), and that Black women in the US are dying in pregnancy and childbirth at a rate of 2.5 times higher than white women? (via the National Birth Equity Collaborative)


All of this is to say, our country and its systems and processes have been built on centuries of systemic racism, of valuing white bodies above all else, especially over Black bodies. I know that this can be a lot to process and understand, but I believe it is our duty to understand our privilege and these systems of oppression so we can be better allies. I often remind my self when I get overwhelmed at the thought of all of this, how privileged I am to only have to learn about it, not experience it every day of my life. I am sharing some resources (and some lists of resources) that I have been using and that have been recommended to me to educate myself. These resources were compiled largely by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein. I have also listed some organizations that I have researched and plan on donating to. These lists are not exhaustive, of course, so if you come across a resource or organization outside of what is listed here, I would love to hear about it. 

Resources:

Articles

Books

This list includes both nonfiction and fiction books. Most are by Black authors, although some are by white and non-black POC. I highly recommend buying or ordering these books from your local independent bookstore (can be found on IndieBound) or checking them out from your library, as opposed to Amazon. I included fiction books because they can still speak highly toward the Black experience in America, and also because it is important to diversify our perspectives across the board, including our bookshelves.

  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

  • How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

  • This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga

  • White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD

  • I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

  • Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD

  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

  • 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

  • A Kids Book About Racism

  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

  • When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson

  • The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerton

  • Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's University by Craig Steven Wilder

  • The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter

  • Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington

  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

  • Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

  • Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

  • The Light of Truth by Ida B. Wells

Podcasts

Videos to watch

Films/TV Shows

  • 13th (Ava DuVernay)- Netflix

  • American Son (Kenny Leon)- Netflix

  • Dear White People (Justin Simien)- Netflix

  • See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol)- Netflix

  • Selma (Ava DuVernay)- Netflix

  • When They See Us (Ava DuVernay)- Netflix

  • Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada)- Hulu via Cinemax

  • If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)- Hulu

  • The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.)- Hulu via Cinemax

  • King In The Wilderness- HBO

  • Blackkklansman- HBO

  • True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s FIght for Equality- HBO

  • Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975

  • The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

  • Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton)- Free in the U.S. in June

  • I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc)

  • Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)

  • Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu)

Other Resources

Organizations:

I’ve selected a group of organizations that will hopefully have a variety of impacts. There are a few organizations that work toward the advancement of Black lives and the Black Lives Matter movement, bail funds to help support the current protests, and some that are towards increasing diversity in the outdoors and supporting black queer and trans individuals. I chose the last two categories because they are prominent in my life, so if those organizations do not speak to you, I suggest you find an organization that supports the involvement of Black and other POC in a hobby or interest that relates to you. I guarantee you one exists.

Black Lives

  • National Birth Equity Collaborative- NBEC creates solutions that optimize Black maternal and infant health through training, policy advocacy, research, and community-centered collaboration

  • NAACP Legal Defense Fund- NAACP LDF is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.

  • Black Lives Matter- BLM builds power to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe. This link is to the national foundation. You can search for & donate to a local chapter here.

Bail

  • National Bail Fund Network- there is no local bail fund here in Alaska, so I have chosen to donate to the National Bail Fund Network, a centralized network of over 60 community bail and bond funds across the country. If you are interested in supporting a local bail fund, a list can be found here.

  • LGBTQ Freedom Fund- The Freedom Fund posts bail and bond to secure the release and safety of LGBTQ people in jail and immigration detention.

Black LGBTQ

  • Center for Black Equity- The Center for Black Equity is the National leader in connecting members of the Black LGBTQ+ community with information and resources to educate, engage and empower their fight for equity and access.

  • The Okra Project- The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans people.

  • Marsha P. Johnson Institute- MPJI protects and defends the human rights of Black transgender people by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting the collective power of Black trans lives.

Black Outdoors

  • Black Outside, Inc.- works to reconnect Black/ African-American youth to the outdoors through culturally relevant outdoor experiences

  • Soul Trak Outdoors- Soul Trak Outdoors is a D.C. based nonprofit that connects communities of color to outdoor spaces while also building a coalition of diverse outdoor leaders

  • Greening Youth Foundation- GYF is a woman and minority-founded and led nonprofit, working with youth and young adults to provide environmental and wellness education and pathways to green careers

  • Camp Founder Girls- America’s first historically Black summer camp for girls, providing an immersive week-long overnight camp centered on bravery, confidence, creativity, and strength

I recommend finding organizations that you are interested in supporting, signing up for their newsletters and following them on social media, and setting up recurring donations if you are able. This fight will not be over soon, and these organizations will need support beyond this current push. 
Please feel free to share any and all of this information as you wish. 

As Angela Davis stated, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist.”

- Julia