Culture+: Anti-Racism Resources
Jun 09, 2020
Culture+ is an editorial series that looks at trending topics and events with an eye toward what they reveal about our shifting culture. This week, we've curated a list of anti-racist educational resources and non-profit organizations to shed light on the civil unrest around the United States that’s stemmed from the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon Reed, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and other Black lives ended by police brutality.
After George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis on May 25, protests erupted around the country in response to police brutality against Black Americans and systemic racism in the United States.
People across the country—and around the world—are protesting, donating, educating, lobbying, and voting to raise awareness of racism and racial injustice. In honor of the moment, this week’s Culture+ compilation is dedicated to resources that can help people take action.
“Inform others. Don’t take your education and keep it to yourself. Figure out a way to work with your community,” says Jeanine Liburd, chief social impact and communications officer for BET. “Work your corner. Wherever you are, make change where you are. If everybody does that, imagine what a difference we’ll make.”
To read:
- “Why You Need to Stop Saying ‘All Lives Matter” by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle (Harper’s Bazaar)
- “Don’t Call It Rioting,” a recent interview with Maxine Waters (The Cut)
- “Activism Is Not An Aesthetic,” an essay from Same Faces Collective
- Talking About Race, from the National Museum of African American History and Culture
- “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic)
- “How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change” by former President Barack Obama (Medium)
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- How to be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Citizen: An American Lyric, a book of poems by Claudia Rankine (a list of Black-owned bookstores, here)
- A list of resources from The Anti-Racism Project
- "How to Protest Safely During the Covid-19 Pandemic"
- Instagram is making it more difficult to access important information by issuing its “Swipe Up” feature to only verified accounts with 10,000 or more followers.
To listen:
- 1619, a podcast from The New York Times’ Pulitzer-Prize-winning project about slavery in America
- Momentum: A race forward podcast from the Race Forward organization, hosted by Hiba Elyass and Chevon Drew.
- Code Switch — A weekly podcast touching on race and identity from NPR.
- The Nod: We’ve Been Here Before — hosted by Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, produced by Gimlet Media.
- Still Processing — a podcast from The New York Times on culture through the lens of race.
- Pod for the Cause, launched by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights launched and Pod for the People — a podcast touching on culture, social justice, and politics, hosted by organizer and activist DeRay Mckesson.
To watch:
- “Just Mercy,” a film based on the life and work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is available to rent for free wherever you rent films. Here are more anti-racism films available to stream right now from Vanity Fair.
- When They See Us, a miniseries on the Central Park 5 trial and 13TH, a documentary about racial inequality in the United States and mass incarceration, stemming from the 13th Amendment. Both are directed by Ava DuVernay and available on Netflix.
- The videos in “A Conversation on Race” series produced by The New York Times.
To get involved and give back:
- Call your representatives using an explainer from Vice.
- Sign the petition urging major retailers to pledge 15% of their shelf space to black-owned businesses.
- Order take-out or delivery from one of New York City’s Black-owned restaurants in the city that you can support right now. And for non-New Yorkers, here’s a list of Black-owned restaurant lists by city. You can also donate to restaurants destroyed by protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
- Sign the petition to terminate the officers responsible for the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police in her apartment earlier this year.
- Support Black-owned businesses that have been affected by the protests and here are 100+ Black-owned businesses you could support right now.
Contribute to the national organizations listed, here.
