Black Lives Matter: Some Learning Resources

I was originally going to start discussing my history reading list today, but in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the ongoing protests calling out systemic racism, I wanted to use this blog as a space for sharing resources about race and antiracism. Learning about systemic racism, and dismantling it, is critical work that we all need to do, especially if we are white people who haven’t been conditioned to see all the myriad ways in which society benefits us. The list I have going here is by no means comprehensive, but it should help get you started.

• Reading Materials
  • Online Articles:
    • Kim Crayton, Dismantling White Supremacy and the Five Stages of Grief
    • Katie Nodjimbadem, The Long, Painful History of Police Brutality in the U.S.
    • Michael W. Twitty, Dear Disgruntled White Plantation Visitors, Sit Down. Twitty is also the author of The Cooking Gene-A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
    • For a longer view of history, check out this library guide to learn about African diasporas.
    • To learn more about the interconnectedness between slavery and the U.S. colonies, visit the 1619 Project.
    • To learn what historians have to say about Confederate monuments and why they’re so problematic, visit this resource list from the American Historical Association.
    • To learn more about mental health and Black communities, read, “Mental Health Issues Facing the Black Community,” from Sunshine Behavioral Health. Also check out this article from Drug Rehab USA: Black Men Matter – Examining Mental Health Issues among Black Men – A Guide to Freedom – Drug Rehab USA. And here’s one more looking at the connections between alcoholism, mental health, and incarceration: A Guide On Black Mental Health – Treatment Over Incarceration – Alcohol Rehab USA
  • To learn more about financial literacy and closing the wealth gap, read this article: Financial Literacy & African Americans: Bridging the Gap (annuity.org)
  • Books:
    • Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
    • Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race
    • Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to for White People to Talk About Racism
  • And if you want more, here are some reading lists
    • An Antiracist Reading List
    • 10 Books to About Race to Read Instead of Asking a Person of Color to Explain Things to You
    • 17 Books on Race Every White Person Needs to Read
    • 10 Books I Wish My White Teacher Had Read
    • 31 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance
• Organizations to Support:
  • Black Visions Collective
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Southern Poverty Law Center
  • Here’s a list of organizations that support black women
• Scholarship
  • If you’re an academic, here’s an article that discusses the importance of citing scholars of color.
  • If you’re into DH and want to see a good example of a project that addresses race, the Colored Conventions Project is one of the best works out there, not only for its subject matter, but its willingness to credit the labor of its multiple contributors.
  • To learn more about how search engine algorithms, facial recognition, and other online privilege white people, check out the work of Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble and Joy Adowaa Buolamwini.
  • For work addressing black digital feminism specifically, check out these scholars:
    • Dr. Moya Z. Bailey
    • Dr. Catherine Knight Steele
  • If you want to read more about the experiences of black graduate students and researchers, visit these sites:
    • Black Girl Does Grad School
    • BLK + in Grad School
    • PhDivas Podcast
• Artists to Check Out:
  • Amy Sherald
  • Kehinde Wiley
  • Nick Cave
  • Kara Walker

White people, we can and must do better. Be willing to learn about white privilege and how you benefit from it. Be willing to listen to Black people and other people of color. Don’t make it about you; close your mouth and open your ears. Be willing to use your privilege to advocate. Help create a platform for underrepresented voices, and then step aside to let them speak. Be willing to vote against systemic racism. Be willing to challenge the infrastructures that benefit us at the expense of everyone else. Be willing to continue learning and to refine your views.

This is hard, uncomfortable, and ongoing work, but it’s critical that we do it. Black lives matter; it’s way past time our laws and social norms reflected that.

We owe it to everyone.