Educate Yourself With These Anti-Racism Resources to Build the Foundation for Lasting Change

The PAUSE… There is a pivotal message present in these revolutionary times and I don’t want you to miss it. It’s time to resources yourself with anti-racism resources and begin making lasting change.

I know that it has been a very scary, overwhelming, daunting past month for most. I know that feeling because I’ve lived with it for the last 30 years.

I know there’s a lot of non-Black people in the world right now trying to do everything they can to not feel like a “racist.” I know because I’ve been seeing your actions through posts and shares.

Nothing makes me more happy than seeing a nation come together. Nothing makes me more happy than acknowledgement that there needs to be a change. Nothing makes me more happy than people standing up and speaking out for US.

But why is it important that you don’t miss the pause?

Well, here’s the thing: If you have always spoken up for marginalized, underserved, underrepresented people, may you continue to be brave and I thank you.

But if this is all new to you and you just committed yourself to doing “the work” and within the last week you have begun building your house with non-racist doors, woke windows, a “#sayhisname” roof, and an “I commit” carpet, I am almost certain that you have forgotten the step of building a solid foundation.

I know this may seem to be a contradictory thought to some of you because we ask you to take action and stand up for us, but know that we do not want your actions out of fear, but out of belief and truth.

So if you haven’t paused since this visible hurt we have endured has hit you, I encourage you to do that now. Then, take the time to actually read the books on anti-racism (keep reading for more anti-racism resources below) and watch 13th by Ava DuVernay (Netflix has made it free).

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Educate Yourself With These Anti-Racism Resources to Create Lasting Change:

If you’re not sure where to start, read on for a brief list of anti-racism resources. This list is not exhaustive by any means, and you can find a more comprehensive list from their original source here.
 

Anti-Racism Books

• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

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Anti-Racism Podcasts

• 1619
• About Race
• Seeing White
• Pod Save the People
• Code Switch

Anti-Racism Films and TV Shows

• American Son
• I Am Not Your Negro
• The Hate U Give
• Selma

Anti-Racism Organizations to Follow on Social Media:

• Audre Lorde Project: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
• Colorlines: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
• Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
• NAACP: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter, Facebook

Together We Can Build the Foundation to Create Lasting Change

Please continue to share Black stories. We need everyone in this, but before you move on, make sure you PAUSE to let it sink in.

Pause for the ones who have suffered. Pause for the many years that you have been “blind.” Pause to feel the stories, so when you stand with us, it’s on a solid foundation.

You can’t just share about change. You have to breathe it. You have to BE it. You have to build it from the ground up. So that this change that my people are putting hope and trust in is infinite.

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