BLACK LIVES MATTER
This page is a dedicated space for Black Lives Matter Resources. Scroll Down to check out books, films, podcasts as well as links to petitions, places to donate and websites and social media links to incredible Black Artists, Business and Restaurants you can support in your area and around the world. Keep this movement moving - Ella Anderson
books
take some time to read
So You Want to Talk About Race? By Ijeoma Oluo
Oluo has been writing about race since the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin, when she turned her food blog into a space for talking about issues of racism and injustice. She’s since become an influential speaker and writer on these topics, and her book So You Want to Talk About Race? is New York Times bestseller. We find that it’s a good primer on racism and guide for continuing the conversation.
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad (we’ve heard the hardcover is selling out—here’s a link to the ebook).
“Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey of how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.” Saad also runs the Good Ancestor Podcast, is an incredible fource on Instagram, and first published her book as a free PDF in 2018 (which she now asks that you don’t use as it’s since been updated). To make sure she gets paid for the work she does that we all benefit from, support Saad’s work on Patreon.
The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter
For an in-depth history of how race was invented, and how the idea of whiteness has carried forth throughout time, from the ancient Greeks (who had no concept of race) up to today. It’s slightly academic, deeply informed, and a truly engaging read.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Sociologist and educator Robin DiAngelo’s coined the term “white fragility” in 2011 to describe the defensiveness that white people exhibit when their ideas about race and racism are challenged. In her 2018 book, she illustrates how this behavior reinforces white supremacy and prevents meaningful dialogue. Read it to understand how racism is not a practice that is only restricted to “bad” people. See also DiAngelo’s anti-racism resources for white people and her interview on Layla Saad’s excellent Podcast Good Ancestors.
How to Be Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.
“Ibram X. Kendi’s concept of antiracism re-energizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America–but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other.”
Why I’m No longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Eddo-Lodge, a London-based journalist, decided to write this book out of her frustration that the conversations in Britain around race weren’t being led by the people who are affected by it. The result is a book that explores issues such as the whitewashing of history and feminism and the political purpose of white dominance. The book turns three years old this week, and Eddo-Lodge is asking that anyone who buys her book donate the same amount to the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard
Delving behind Canada’s veneer of multiculturalism and tolerance, Policing Black Lives traces the violent realities of anti-blackness from the slave ships to prisons, classrooms and beyond. Robyn Maynard provides readers with the first comprehensive account of nearly four hundred years of state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization and punishment of Black lives in Canada.
Taking Sides, edited by Cindy Milstein
The lines of oppression are already drawn. The only question is, Which side are you on in the struggle against the violence that is white supremacy and policing? Taking Sides supplies an ethical compass and militant map of the terrain, arguing not for reform of structurally brutal institutions but rather for their abolition.
In spite of the double burden of racial and gender discrimination, African-American women have developed a rich intellectual tradition that is not widely known. In Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins explores the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals as well as those African-American women outside academe. She provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde. The result is a superbly crafted book that provides the first synthetic overview of Black feminist thought.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Named one of the most important nonfiction books of the 21st century by Entertainment Weekly‚ Slate‚ Chronicle of Higher Education‚ Literary Hub, Book Riot‚ and Zora
A tenth-anniversary edition of the iconic bestseller—“one of the most influential books of the past 20 years,” according to the Chronicle of Higher Education—with a new preface by the author
“It is in no small part thanks to Alexander’s account that civil rights organizations such as Black Lives Matter have focused so much of their energy on the criminal justice system.”
—Adam Shatz, London Review of Books
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.
Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.
films and documentaries
take some time to watch
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) Available to Rent
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) Free on Amazon Prime JUNE
See you Yesterday (Stefon Briston) Netflix
Selma (Ava DuVernay) Available to Rent
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution Available to Rent
The Hate U Give (George Tilman Jr.) Hulu
When they See Us (Ava DuVernay) Netflix
Queen and Slim (Melina Matsoukas) Available to Rent
LA 92 (Daniel Lindsay & T.J. Martin) Netflix
More Than a Month (Shukree Tilghman) Available to Rent
Slavery By Another Name (Sam Pollard)
Maya Angelou And Still I Rise (Bob Hurcules & Rita Coburn Whack)
The Kalief Browder Story (Time) Netflix
Blindspotting (Carlos Lopez Estrada) Hulu
Strong Island (Yance Ford) Netflix
12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen) Available to Rent
black owned business, restaurants and artists
take some time to support
HOW TO SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES This is a great article about how to support Black owned businesses at this time.
If you're not sure which businesses are black-owned, there are directories, such as this one from Dobobo.
75 Black-Owned Businesses to Support Check out this article in Forbes listing 75 Black Owned Businesses to Support
DIRECTORIES
SUPPORT BLACK ARTISTS
8 BLACK ARTISTS TO SUPPORT Check out this article about how to support these black artists.
Below is a is list of Black Artists that cross all genre’s of art that you should check out
Photo by Mathieu Bitton
2020 LA George Floyd Protest
petitions and support
take some time to take action
We defer to the Black Lives Matter page listing the petitions to sign and how to do so (even if you are outside of the U.S.)
From 2014, a guide for engaging in the movement for ending police and state violence against black people if you are unable to attend rallies and protests.
An open source guide to becoming a more effective ally by Amélie Lamont.
Optical allyship is “allyship that only serves at the surface level to platform the ‘ally,’ it makes a statement but doesn’t go beneath the surface and is not aimed at breaking away the systems of power that oppress.” A straightforward guide for not doing that by Mireille Cassandra Harper.
BAIL FUNDS AND MEMORIAL FUNDS
Or go here on ActBlue to split your donation among bail funds across the country
Organizations seeking donations
In addition to bail funds, there are groups and organizations fighting for Black racial justice and anti-racism that could use your support right now. Please also consider setting up a recurring donation to any of these organizations if you’re able—this provides organizations with a reliable revenue stream for regular operating costs and longer term planning.
Reclaim the BlockA coalition to demand that Minneapolis divest from policing and invest in long-term alternatives.
Black Visions CollectiveTransformative justice organization for developing Black leadership in Minnesota. Both Black Visions Collective and Reclaim the Block are Black-run and have been doing important on-the-ground work for the protests in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Freedom Fund An organization that pays criminal bails and immigration bond for those who can’t afford to as we seek to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing. It has encouraged people to donate to local Black and BIPOC-led organizations like the two above and to George Floyd’s family.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund The NAACP’s legal organization fighting social justice.
podcasts
take some time to listen
Intersectionality Matters! Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
Pod for the Cause (From the leadership conference on civil and human rights)
Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
Activists to follow on socialThis list is ever-evolving
@ckyourprivilege
@imrachelricketts
@thegreatunlearn
@renieddolode
@ibramxk