Compiled by Kendra Calhoun (@_kendracalhoun on Twitter)
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I’ve seen a lot of great resources lists circulating on different platforms, and I wanted to add some of my own and have them in a central place for easy reference. Feel free to share, and if you have suggestions for things to be added, send them my way. I’ll continue to update this list as I can, but it is meant to be only a starting point, not a complete list.
Credit to everyone who did the work to compile the countless resources out there into the lists linked below and to everyone whose work, words, and ideas have become resources for so many people right now.
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White people and non-Black POC: there is no excuse for inaction if you have the ability to do something to tangibly support Black people right now. It doesn’t have to be going to a protest. You don’t have to leave your house. It may be something that’s not on one of the lists below. But pick something you’re capable of and do it.
As a reminder, asking Black people to explain our trauma is not supporting us. Circulating images and videos of violence against Black people is not supporting us. Expecting us to accommodate your feelings of discomfort when we talk about anti-Black racism is not supporting us. This isn’t about you or your feelings; it’s about your actions (or lack thereof) and how they contribute to our fundamentally anti-Black society and institutions.
You can show up for Black people *in your circle* by checking in to ask what you can do to support them if that’s the type of relationship that you have. (Really, I cannot stress this last part enough). Don’t message Black people you don’t really know/knew years ago/took a class with one time and still have their email and make extra emotional labor for them. (An essay on why knee-jerk, guilt-driven check ins are not helpful). Read the room, and reach out only if you’re prepared to listen to an honest answer and act on what people tell you – right now and in the long term. Personally, I find “Is there anything you need right now?” or “I’m here if you need X” more helpful than “How are you?” I might want a friend for a physically distant walk, or need food because I haven’t had the emotional energy to go to the store. What I don’t want is to have to decide for the Nth time that week whether I want to be honest with someone about how I’m feeling right now.
Not everyone will respond, their response might take a while, or their response might be that they don’t want to talk about it (or talk to you). Black people are not a monolith, which means different people will respond in different ways. I don’t always want to share my experiences as a Black woman with non-Black people – and Black people aren’t obligated to share our experiences, period – but it is important to me to know that people who claim me as their friend are here to support me, in whatever form that takes, and are ready to put in work.
Listen, learn, apply new knowledge, talk to non-Black people in your circle, hold yourself and each other accountable. Care about Black people you don’t know as much as Black people you do. If you don’t know any Black people or don’t have any in your inner circle of friends, now is a good time to think critically about why that is.
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Black people: take care of yourself, in whatever ways you need, so that we can continue to take care of each other.
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“Reading does not make one an anti-racist, but doing something productive with the knowledge that one gains [from reading] in order to create a more equitable society is anti-racism in action.” Dr. Candis Watts Smith [quoted here]
Multi-topic anti-racism resource lists (books, essays, TV/film, podcasts, scholars/activists/organizers to follow, orgs to support, etc.)
Readings on race and racism
Resources on policing, police abolition, and prison abolition
Anti-racist work in academia
Read Black
Buy Black
Support Black-led LGBTQ orgs (compiled by @RaquelWillis_ and @pfpicardi)
Additional ways to support Black queer and trans folks
Support movements/organizations fighting for racial justice for Black Americans
Action lists & ways to support on-the-ground protestors
Contact your local and state government officials
(To express support for Black social and political movements and condemn anti-Black, white supremacist, state-sanctioned violence in all of its forms)
Mental health resources for Black people