Resources Re: BLM

Image credit: BlackLivesMatter

It's been a heavy week with the murders/deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmuad Arbery, Nina Pop, and countless others that reinforce how important Black Lives Matters. This is not new and is too normalized for something that should have never been normalized. Here is a landing page of resources in how to support Black Lives Matter, links for educational materials and resources for learning and unlearning, as well as some great pieces offering nuance to politics, language, and other things to think about. 

Note: Part of anti-Blackness is rooted in erasing the contribution of Black individuals and communities. This landing page is just that: a page to compile the amazing resources that have been created. If you use them, please credit the people/groups behind the work. I will do my best to continue updating this page. If you have questions or suggestions, please let me know. [Last updated: June 9, 2020]

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WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON? 
Police brutality, racism, anti-Blackness cannot be decontextualized. They are not singular incidences and we are constantly in history that is in the making. Sadly, most of us have not had the education we ought (despite great teachers or fun schools, etc…. or not) and even more sadly, most of our history textbooks are diluted in writing about the (continued) atrocities of the U.S. So...

• Here's some brief  history about policing and brutality on Black bodies from The Root
• And if you have questions about privilege, make sure to read Lori Lakin Hutcherson's piece on explaining white privilege

WHY INTERSECTIONALITY MATTERS WITH BLM

• Media coverage and even our own mindmapping invisibilizes Black women, the Black trans community, and much more.
• Watch Monica Johnson's Ted Talk about the emotional cost of being a Black women in America.
• Consider, reflect, and read about Breonna Taylor: police shot her in her own home and yet  do people know her name? 
• Which is why the #SayHerName campaign is so critical and builds on the work of Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw and how racism intersects with multiple forms of oppression.
• Speaking of, go watch Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw's Ted Talk on the urgency of intersectionality
• Intersectionality is also tied to how Black girls are policed and suspended. Watch Dr. Monique Morris's Ted Talk and go get her book, Push Out (which has been my personal gold standard of excellent academic writing)

ALL BLACK LIVES MATTERS

• Likewise, the murders within the Black trans community must not be ignored, including Tony McDade's murder
• Resources to support Black (trans)women and LGBTQ+ Black folx
• BLM & Disability. Read, learn, support.

SAY HER NAME

​Breonna Taylor 
Atatiana Jefferson
Natasha McKenna
Pamela Turner
Sandra Bland
Kayla Moore
India Kager
Rekia Boyd
Aiyana Stanley-Jones
Korryn Gaines
Michelle Cusseaux
Shantel Davis
Bettie Jones
Pearlie Golden
Redel Jones
Alexia Christian
Miriam Carey
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African American Policy Forum

THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE: LOOTING, RIOTS, & VIOLENCE

• Watch Tamika Mallory’s speech regarding violence and looting and read Kekla Magoon's Facebook post about  understanding its nuance
• Also watch African American Policy Forum's "Under the Blacklight" ep. 10 which offers incredible insight about looting and protests (also just go watch every episode)
• Language is important so make sure to question, what gets to be called a riot? 
• If you are going, make sure to blur photos. Let's not forget that at least six of the organizers tied to Ferguson have died and many more still receive death threats on the regular

HOW TO SUPPORT BLACK LIVES MATTER AND BLACK COMMUNITIES

• See the hyperlink above ^ (and the links under All Black Lives Matter)
• If you do not have money to support BLM, consider watching this Youtube video because the revenue from the ads goes to BLM (which also means don't skip the ads)
• If you're on social media, highly recommend Holiday Phillip's piece on performative allyship
• When buying books, consider buying them from one of these 10 Black-owned bookstores and checkout this compiled list of bookstores by location (from the African American Literature Book Club)
• Here's a list of Black content creators, businesses, and more to follow

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And Speaking of Learning and Unlearning...

BLACK (HISTORY) LESSONS WE PROBABLY MISSED

• Don't forget that most of our history books have refused to reckon with slavey, along with many other important histories, including...
• The Massacre of Tulsa, Oklahoma's Black Wall Street
• Check out this interactive guide from History regarding (un)familiar names and events
• And speaking of credit and erasure, read about Henrietta Lacks
• And for some history, if you don't know already know, go read about trans-activist Marsha P. Johnson 
• And for context, read about redlining and how housing policies segregated neighborhoods

ASIAN AMERICANS AND ANTI-BLACKNESS

• Check out Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit and similarly, check out the Southeast Asian Racial Justice Toolkit (includes translations)
• Speaking of translations, Letters for Black Lives was created in 2016, offers many different translations in how to talk about Black Lives Matters with family members
• Here are also more resources for non-black Asians on Anti-Blackness which includes videos, links, articles, as well as specific materials for subgroups within Asians
• For books to read, check out Black and Asian-American Feminist Solidarities: A Reading List
• And for action items, check out 20 Allyship actions Asians can do for the Black community

SCAFFOLDED / INTRODUCTORY RESOURCES TO LEARN & UNLEARN

• If you're just starting to learn/unless about racism, here's a scaffolded resource guide. Similarly,  here's a resource guide that breakdowns a lot of concepts related to racism
• Make sure to check out Reading Towards Abolition: A Reading List on Policing, Rebellion, and the Criminalization of Blackness
• And here are 75 Things YOU can do for racial justice and despite what the title suggests, these actions and steps are applicable to non-Black People of Color as well

AND... LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR EDUCATION SYSTEMS

• Resources on how our (K-12) schools criminalize Black youth and reinforce harm (credit: Dr. Subini Annamma)
• HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend reading Dr. Bettina Love's "We Want to Do More Than Survive" which connects the education industrial complex and how educators profit off of the continued oppression of Black youth
• And if you're in academia, cite Black women because the work we do, is more often than note, built on Black womxn #CiteASista
• Ways higher education and academia (whether faculty, staff, department leaders, funders, etc.) can help support Black Lives Matters

Also, given that my research looks at institutional responses to racism, I wanted to leave the statement from the American Studies Association here because this is how you write a statement.

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A NOTE ABOUT FORMAT: Similar to my thoughts and tensions in creating the Covid landing page, I recognize that this post is constructed (as a curation of resources) means it should actually be housed within the "Out-Sourced" webpage and not here under "Me-Sourced." However, I designed out--sourced as a static page where the content is not updated, in the ways that this page does. Like most of my website, I'll probably create a more optimal solution (later) but in the meantime, thank you for your flexibility as I continue to reflect on where different content should be placed on this site.  And again, as a reiteration from my note at the beginning of this post, when using any of these documents, please try to cite/credit the sources and creators who put in the labor~