In celebration of Black History Month (and another year of being Black), I wanted to share a starting list of ways we can get educated about “the issues.” As always with my lists, this is a start! It’s not all-inclusive because it’s impossible to condense all the education available and needed into any platform. So instead, these should be used as ideas to build on as we gain a better understanding of race, racial injustice, and racial inequities. I encourage you to educate yourself and your families and I encourage you to leave tips and other materials in the comments below or on Instagram so we can help each other get educated. Black Lives Matter, every month. Let’s start talking about it this month.
Instagram Pages to Follow
@chasingdenisse
@Valerieeguavoen
@amandaseales
Books to Read Your Kids
Hair Love
Beautiful Beautiful Me
Little Leaders
Woke Baby
Soulwee
Juneteenth
Books to Read Yourself
How to Be an Antiracist
Me and White Supremacy
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Medical Apartheid
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The Autobiography of Malcom X
Between the World and Me
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria
The End of Policing Alex S. Vitale
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
Anything James Baldwin
Movies to Watch
American Skin
13th
I Am Not Your Negro
When They See Us
The Hate You Give
Podcasts to Listen To
Code Switch
The Diversity Gap
1619
Intersectionality Matters!
Still Processing
Yo, Is this Racist?
Seeing White
Identity Politics
The Stoop
Atlanta Monster
Organizations to Support
The Bail Project (and any other Bail Fund)
Local Black and Brown Schools (which tend to be underfunded. If the school gives you an option to donate, this is a good way to get money directly into the community)
Community and Neighborhood Organizations (as much as I like large scale efforts, I’m more about local change)
Local Homeless Shelters (which tend to be full of Black men)
Black Stuff to Buy
*Check out my post about items in your household you can replace with products from Black-owned businesses.
Steps You Can Take
- Call out your coworkers
- Call out the all-White or all-anything tables
- Educate your family members and friends
- Set goals around your race education
Bonus!
Listen to, watch, read, look at things that show BLACK MAGIC. We see so much violence and pain depicted in so much that involves Black people. We need more emphasis on our joy, our talent, our value. So learn to love Blackness. Enjoy these:
Tiny Desk (Performances)
Tracy Chapman performing Fast Car Live
Follow Black and POC Influencers (see Valerie’s list of 100 influencers @youbelongnow)
