BLACK LIVES MATTER

A collaborative learning resource on matters of race, privilege and combating white supremacy by Gabby Menezes-Forsyth and Miriam Bennun

Here are some resources I have come across during my time at university and more generally through friends and social media that I feel are positive learning tools fo r those of you wanting to do more to understand your part to play in the fight against white supremacy. Below I will list some academic articles as well as more accessible resources such as films and documentaries, books, social media educators and podcasts that discuss and analyse the society in which we live and how it perpetuates violence against black people and oppression on a grand scale. I am by no means an expert, and so this list is not exhaustive, but these resources have helped me personally understand the role I have to play and I believe they are a good place to start. Please engage, it is the least we can do, and if you have any other recommendations do let me know and I will add them. - Gabby

Hi little addendum from Miri - I’ve added some books to the list that aren’t necessarily directly about white oppression but are instead excellent novels/books written by Black British, African and African American people about both post Colonialism and African American oppression. I think one of the most effective ways you can help us (in the UK directly and the US indirectly) is to understand our (many different) cultures, the impact of colonisation on our lives, how we face racism in the UK and to recognise that while we are oppressed we are also Booker prize winning authors. These texts have a * next to them. I have also of course included some very important texts whose central theme is living with White supremacy. I’ve also had people looking for more easily digestible content by black people so under the Films/Documentary/TV section I’ve added some TV shows and Films by black people or about black lives as well as the important civil rights documentaries and films.

Academic resources:

  • White Fragility by Robert DiAngelo (article): This article discusses the  environment surrounding racial discussion that insulates white people from having to engage in uncomfortable debates that force them to confront their privilege.

http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/resources/whiteness/white%20fragility.pdf

https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116 

  • The Racial Contract by Charles W. Mills (book): “Explains the way that racism is at the core of western societies.”

https://sfbay-anarchists.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Mills_CharlesW-The-Racial-Contract.pdf

If you don’t want to read the whole book check out this article on how the Racial Contract is relevant during the current pandemic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/americas-racial-contract-showing/611389/

  • Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon (book): In Black Skin, White Masks – first published in 1952 – Frantz Fanon offers a potent philosophical, clinical, literary and political analysis of the deep effects of racism and colonialism on the experiences, lives, minds and relationships of black people and people of colour. (review from LSE) See also Fanon’s book Wretched of the Earth.
  • The New Human Rights Movement by Peter Joseph (book): This book offers more of an overview on the limits we face as a society on human rights and freedoms, and what can be done to remedy this. Potentially a good introduction as it does not require lots of prior knowledge of political systems and institutions
  • How To Argue With A Racist: History, Science Race and Reality by Adam Rutherford (book) A scientific and historical look at the grounds for racism, explores how science has incorrectly been used to justify racism
  • To Die For The People by Huey Newton (book) A selection of essays and speeches by Huey Newton (founder of the Black Panther Party) edited by Toni Morrison
  • Black Against Empire by Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin (book) A history of the Black Panther Party, discusses the political and cultural goals of the party
  • Blood In My Eye by George L Jackson Written by the imprisoned activist founder of the Marxist-Leninist Black Guerilla Family, a collection of letters from prison and a manifesto, published just before his death in prison
  • Race without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (book): A useful resource for those for combating ‘color blindness’ - acknowledging our inherent biases even as self proclaimed non-racists.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=HKJE4rVZG1EC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=related:k9psld-sYeUJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=ldJTARJ6Tb&sig=9Jak3O1auH3MhsH8gpiKGS-o4Mc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

  • The New Jim Crow by Michele Alexander (book): Discusses how the war on drugs has been used to persecute people of colour for over a century. Highlights how mass incarceration and a systemically racist judicial system contributes to racism as a whole
  • JSTOR (the online library of academic texts) have kindly made several articles free detailing the (historical and ongoing) fight for Civil Rights and the struggles Black people (especially in Academia) face : link below
  • https://daily.jstor.org/institutionalized-racism-a-syllabus/?fbclid=IwAR0XqLV-pRS9aFSazieLHP2nGmRpFryEszsiYsd58qQeErrL6jriPqOFug
  • More broadly, I recommend engaging with any of the works of these academics whose work centre around discussions of race, intersectionality and postcolonialism: Gayatry Spivak, Edward Said, Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Ta Nehisi Coates (writes at The Atlantic well worth reading his articles), Maya Angelou, Ntozake Shange, Alice Walker

Books

  • Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch: An excellent analysis of race and identity within the UK. Outlines the subtleties of racial alienation that people of colour face.
  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge (A book, but you can read her article for the guardian here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/30/why-im-no-longer-talking-to-white-people-about-race Eddo-Lodge discusses the frustrations and complexities of demanding explanations of racism from Black People, and how often those discussions are co-opted
  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad: 'An indispensable resource for white people who want to challenge white supremacy but don't know where to begin' Robin DiAngelo
  • Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri: A deep dive in to the complicated history of Black hair and the shame, pride, culture and politics it is associated with. A really good reference point for those that may have been baffled by conversations around ‘black fishing’ and cultural appropriation and the damage it causes.
  • Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall: An excellent book about the failure of mainstream feminism to represent black women properly. I’m sure you will have heard the term white feminism, and this book accessibly and concisely presents an indictment of that ideology.
  • Natives by Akala: Part memoir but sociological study of growing up black in the 1980s and 1990s. Akala is so articulate and he writes and speaks extremely accessibly, and references the British colonial legacy and how it explains Britain’s own brand of racism.
  • The Heart of the Race by Beverly Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe: These authors were instrumental during the black feminist movement in Britain and founded the Brixton Black Women’s group, later known as the Organisation for Women of African and Asian Decent. The book itself focuses on the lives of black british women in the 1950s-80s.
  • We Need New Names* NoViolet Bulawayo Bildungsroman shortlisted for the Booker Prize by a Zimbabwean author talking about life as an African immigrant in America and life in Zimbabwe (formerly British Colony known as Rhodesia) really just a Very Good Read
  • Americanah* by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Looks at existing as a black person between the US, Nigeria (former colony) and the UK and the societal differences!
  • How to Be Black by Baratunde Thurston DEFINITELY the most accessible book on the African American existence, written by a comedian it discusses all the stereotypes African Americans face and the uncomfortable situations they face every day living under white supremacy
  • I Do Not Come to You by Chance* by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani Very funny, accessible and well written book looking at coming of age in an education obsessed society like Nigeria and how young people end up in the world of the famous email scams
  • The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Pulitzer prize winning novel in the tradition of Toni Morrison about two slaves in Georgia and the Underground Railroad
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe* Looks at life in Nigeria before colonialism, this is the African equivalent of, say, Virginia Woolf in UK schools it’s the book they all study and for good reason, always on ‘100 most influential books’ lists and really just very important to understand the devastation caused by the British
  • In the House of the Interpreter by Ngugi wa Thiong’o* Ever wondered about the British concentration camps? Not the ones before WW2 but the ones that happened after? This looks at the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 50’s and its brutal suppression
  • Speak No Evil by Uzondima Iweala One of my absolute favourites on this list, by the author of Beasts of No Nation, about a gay, black high school student in Washington DC in a highly religious community, narrated in part by his white friend and looks at the difficulties of balancing African culture, homophobia and religion in modern America
  • Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez Both my parents recommended this one I’m actually yet to read it, it’s apparently a look at being black and LGBT in the UK “Rainbow Milk is an intersectional coming-of-age story, following nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of a Jehovah's Witness upbringing and the legacies of the Windrush generation.”
  • Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah This is a 10/10 collection of (vaguely dystopian) stories about the US justice system, being black under the extreme capitalism of the US and violence
  • LOT by Bryan Washington Collection of short stories largely about black life in Texas, very poetically written look at poverty, culture and discrimination.
  • Heads of the Colored People: Stories Stories about the disconnect between class and race. It looks largely at stories of Upper Middle Class African Americans, who I feel don’t get talked about nearly enough. Very interesting look at the feeling of guilt that comes with being black and monetarily privileged.
  • Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo Booker prize winning novel that is genuinely brilliant at depicting the lives of intersectional Black British women, features a number of black women in Britain and their struggles with grappling with their sexuality, careers and British society
  • Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi* A story of an African family living as part of the diaspora in the Anglosphere, discusses Afropolitanism on a familial level
  • The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates A father-son story about growing up in Black America at the height of the 1980’s crack epidemic
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: A young adult fiction book about a girl who witnesses her best friend be murdered by the police after a traffic stop. Accessible and heartbreaking, it is also a movie by the same name.

Films, Documentaries and Television

  • When They See Us on Netflix: A fictionalised account of the trials of the real Central Park Five. Depicts the reality of a racialised legal system and the damage it inflicts.
  • Thirteenth on Netflix: A film that does a deep dive into the injustice of the USA incarceration system and how its history is rooted in modern slavery and denial of civil rights
  • The Black Panthers: Vaguards of the revolution: In depth documentary about The Black Panther organisation 
  • Policing the Police on Vice:

https://video.vice.com/en_uk/video/policing-the-police-the-copwatch-movement/5bb3cfb3be4077755f429ccc

  • Dear White People on Netflix: More light hearted, but touches on important topics surrounding race on college campuses in engaging ways, the original film is definitely a better watch than the series
  • Contrapoints ‘America is still Racist’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWwiUIVpmNY 

  • I am not your Negro Excellent BAFTA award winning documentary on James Baldwin and the Civil Rights movement, narrated by Samuel L Jackson
  • Famalam A comedy sketch show currently on BBC three, it makes (painfully accurate) jokes about Black British life such as our lack of representation on mainstream tv, the boastful aunties at hall parties, grime culture, the day to day stereotypes we face and also covers Black British history!  
  • Chewing Gum BAFTA winning sitcom about a young Beyonce loving woman in London and her experience grappling with religion and sexuality
  • The Boondocks I was unsure whether to include this but for those who haven’t seen it before and enjoy the Adult Swim Comedy genre (Rick and Morty, Archer etc) this is a great watch. Long running animated comedy about a black family and their experiences in proximity to a white neighbourhood and South Side Chicago. Genuinely hilarious and something you can watch easily outside of the context of BLM
  • Atlanta Dark comedy by (and starring) Donald Glover, highly praised for its portrayal of Atlanta, Georgia and presents serious social issues with a comedic edge, also just very good Emmy award television
  • Snowfall This is one of my favourite shows at the moment, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer. It shows the devastation of the crack epidemic of the 1980s from the perspective of several black characters in LA and also shows the behind the scenes CIA movements to sell cocaine into the black community to fund Contras in South America
  • Who killed malcom X: An investigation in to the murder of one of the most prominent civil rights activists of all time. A lot of the history around Malcolm X is muddied in mythology so this is a great reference to understand him and his legacy

Podcasts:

  • Pod Save the People: Black lives Matter organiser and activist DeRay Mckesson discusses topics of news and social justice with fellow activists
  • About Race with Renni Eddo-Lodge: The Author of Why I’m No longer talking to white people about race discusses anti-racist activism
  • Radicals in Conversation: Broader topics of conversation here but still useful in engaging and dissecting current affairs including racist structures within politics
  • Akala on race and class:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2eq8GcrGZfrSuRGBsO4i1z?si=lZmD_2DiTE-jOyPOGGAoUg 

Educators and Social Media accounts:

  • @privtoprog on instagram: “Desegregating the race convo since ‘18”
  • @iamrachelricketts on instagram: Racial justice educator
  • @thegreatunlearn on instagram: “A community of everyday human beings committed to curiosity for what is possible in the world”
  • @unpackyourprivilege on instagram: A course run by Sharyn Holmes (@sharynaholmes on instagram)
  • @deray on twitter: Prominent BLM activist
  • @colorofchange on twitter: “we design campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward”
  • @Blklivesmatter on twitter

Campaigns, Petitions and Funds

https://www.joincampaignzero.org/

  • Minnesota Freedom Fund: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/ Help pay bail for arrested protesters
  • Another google document with a more exhaustive list numbers to call and petitions to sign:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0KC83vYfVQ-2freQveH43PWxuab2uWDEGolzrNoIks/mobilebasic

  • A Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehsi Cotes:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/