Anna's Black Lives Matter Resource Recommendations

I will keep this short and let the resources do the talking.

Now, as the Black Lives Matter Movement is gaining so much momentum, I think it is most crucial that my non-Black friends and I remember the importance of self reflection and education.

If I want to be committed to this movement for longer than it is "trendy," I must deeply understand and remind myself why it is important and recognize my privileges. If somebody asked me why you are marching for Black Lives Matter, I want to make sure I can give a thorough and well supported answer.

Don't forget to read what you are sharing! It would be a waste to keep passing the baton of responsibility on to the next person and never do the hard work yourself.

These resources are specifically about racism and blackness that I personally have engaged with and found incredibly meaningful.

Books:

• Salt by Nayyirah Waheed

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

• Blindspot by Mahzarin R. Banaji

• Speaking of Race and Class by Elizabeth Aries

• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

One book I would like to read: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Online media posts:

• "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh

• "75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice" by Corinne Shutack

• "George Floyd, Minneapolis Protests, Ahmaud Arbery & Amy Cooper" by Trevor Noah

• "This map shows the racial makeup of every block in N.J." by Stephen Stirling

Films:

• 13th

• I Am Not Your Negro

• Do The Right Thing

• Get Out

• Les Miserables (2019)

• Blackkklansman

• Just Mercy

Terms that got me thinking:

• Implicit bias

• Centering (as in white people centering the issue around themselves)

• Collective trauma

• Mass incarceration

• White fragility

• Redlining

• Police-free future

Artists (visual):

• Chystopher Myers

• Kahinde Wiley

• Nari Ward

• Kerry James Marshall

Unfortunately no female artists yet :(

Physical Events/Workshops/Projects/Classes:

• The Roots Project (for high school students in the New Jersey, NYC area)

• School's race dialogue clubs

• College classes on race

• First-year orientation programs set around race/social justice

• Protests (seeing mass support and outrage around an issue is incredibly empowering)

• Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC (it's free!)