Start here: Your Black Friends Are Busy — my collection of resources has nothing on this app / Website!

This is simply a gold-mine:
21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge by Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr.
Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. The good news is, there’s an abundance of resources (readings! podcasts! video! music! actions to take it to the next level!) just waiting to empower you to be a more effective player in the quest for equity and justice.

And don’t forget that racism also targets our Asian American and Pacific Islander neighbors!

Some time ago, after Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown and Tamir Rice, after attending a significant number of #BlackLivesMatter and related marches, I determined that my niche in the movement needed to be educating other white people. We can only do the best that we know how until, as the poet says, we know better.

And it’s imperative that we, as white people, continue to learn better. So here are some of the resources I’ve collected from my Facebook and Twitter communities and beyond:

Critical race theory is a lens. Here are 11 ways looking through it might refine your understanding of history, by Eliott C. McLaughlin
The driving forces of history — be they racism, sexism, classism or the like — need to be discussed in classrooms, where scholars can rigorously suss out fact and fiction. In reconsidering the role of race and racism in American history, that’s what students of critical race theory aim to do.

Readings on Anti-Racism

The resources are practically endless, and you should do your own research, find your own Black activists and white anti-racist organizers to follow on your social media, and never stop learning and having the hard conversations with an open heart. Here’s just a sample of recent articles that have been impactful to me.

On Defunding Police

This is the major overarching demand of the Movement for Black Lives, and many cities are beginning to make moves in this direction. Why are police the problem, and why is the answer defunding and not reforming the police?

Anti-Racism Books

If you’re ready for some longer reads, here are some books that come highly recommended by activists I respect. (I haven’t read them all.) Many come with discussion guides for your book club, and other online resources.

Children’s and YA Books about Race

Mostly this is a compendium of lists that other people have made of their recommendations for books for children, plus some recommendations from my mom, auntie and librarian friends.

Anti-Racist Curricula

For my teacher friends, homeschooling parents, adult education leaders, and anyone else interested in studying the issues of slavery, civil rights and the history of Black protest.

On Racism and Asian Americans

Our history of race is about more than just Black and white, and the pandemic era has seen an incredibly disturbing rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the country. What can you do to help?

Resources on Israel/Palestine

Black Americans have stood in solidarity with the Palestinians, and vice versa, for more than sixty years. Black Panthers traveled to Israel/Palestine to learn from the movement there, Palestinians tweeted advice to protesters in Ferguson, and Black activists and lawmakers are standing with Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib as they call for a resolution to the conflict in Israel/Palestine. Learn more about the history of that brutal occupation.

Resources on Islam

This page has been up for a long time, but is now in a new place. While Islam is not a race, Islamophobia is in many ways a racialized category, causing many of the same injustices and prejudices as Blackness, and it’s worth remembering that Malcolm X worked hard to bring Black Americans into the ummah–the global community of Muslims, and one in five American Muslims is also Black, in addition to a growing Latino Muslim population.

And here’s some other great round-ups of additional resources:

Support the Fight Against Inequality: Resources and Ways to Act, by Destiny Kanno
How can you support your Black colleagues and friends? How can you support this movement? Understand that this movement is not history, nor will it soon be over. We need to fight for equality until life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are available for all.

Anti-Racist Resource Guide, by Victoria Alexander
This document was created to be used as a resource for anyone looking to broaden their understanding of anti-racism and get involved to combat racism, specifically as it relates to anti-Blackness and police violence.

Contemporary White Antiracism from The Cross Cultural Solidarity History Education Project
Organizations, resources, and extensive reading lists!

and coming soon….

YA and Adult Fiction by Black Authors

In the meantime, feel free to check out some of my recommendations for science fiction by women of color, or start here:

10 Documentaries To Watch About Race Instead Of Asking A Person Of Colour To Explain Things For You, by Ben Clay
If you, like many of us, are finding it hard to articulate how to discuss issues of racism, injustice, discrimination and privilege, we’d like to encourage you to take some time to learn and listen.

12 Documentaries You Should Watch About Racism and Police Brutality in America, by Jason Bailey