As Black Lives Matter protests continue across the country and the globe, the questions on millions of minds are: How can we do better, as a society, and how can I help?
George Floyd, the black man who died last Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground for several minutes, is one of countless black people who have died during an encounter with police. Many who have been speaking out and taking to the streets over the past several days are doing so to demand justice for victims, and to call for the dismantling of systemic racism and all the ways in which it manifests itself.
It will take more than voting, or the actions of elected officials, however, for America to recover from the violent, sinister history and reality of racism embedded in its collective consciousness. Many people, including Fortune staffers, have been gathering and circulating resources to undo and unlearn racism. To quote Angela Davis: “It is not enough to be non-racist, we must be antiracist.”
Below are educational and actionable resources Fortune’s editorial staff have been consuming and sharing among our friends, families, professional networks, and one another to help us rise to the occasion in this long overdue moment—and in the weeks and years to come. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a good place to start.
Organizations to support
- The Bail Project works with public defenders and community organizations to provide assistance paying bail, court date reminders, transportation, and other support to low-income individuals.
- The Black Alliance for Just Immigration works toward racial, social, and economic justice locally and regionally by engaging with community partners to boost awareness about race, racism, identities, migration, and globalization.
- Black Visions Collective is a Minnesota-based organization dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression and violence by fostering black leadership.
- The UndocuBlack Network provides resources and community, along with advancing policy, immigrant rights, and racial justice to benefit black undocumented individuals.
- African Communities Together is “an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide.”
- My Block, My Hood, My City is a Chicago nonprofit at the forefront of getting aid to businesses in majority-minority neighborhoods.
- Hope Not Hate is an antiracist and antifascist advocacy group in the U.K. that focuses its efforts on community politics and stifling extremism.
- The Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective is a nonprofit “collective of advocates, yoga teachers, artists, therapists, lawyers, religious leaders, teachers, psychologists, and activists.”
- Know Your Rights Camp: A campaign and series of camps held in various U.S. cities to empower black youth and instruct them on how to interact with law enforcement, founded by professional football player Colin Kaepernick.
- National Black Arts’ Forward Artist Project Relief Fund: A fund to support black artists in need, enabling them to continue creating and featuring their art during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Books to read and discuss
- Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris
- Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America by Sharmila Sen
- Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
- On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
- Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman
- When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Asha Bandele, Angela Y. Davis (Foreword)
- This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
- We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation by Jeff Chang
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
- Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale
- Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States, edited by Joe Macaré, Maya Schenwar, and Alana Yu-lan Price
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
- Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Articles and blog posts
- “The White Space” by Elijah Anderson, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2015, Vol. 1(1) 10–21, American Sociological Association
- “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, June 2014
- “How White Managers Can Respond to Anti-Black Violence,” by Michael W. Kraus, Yale Insights
- “Why CEO Black Lives Matter Communications Are Critical: A DIBs Leader’s Perspective,” by Erin L. Thomas, VP, head of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, Upwork
- “Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?” Medium post by Courtney Martin
Films and TV shows
- 13th
- When They See Us
- Just Mercy (available to rent for free in June)
- Dear White People (Netflix series)
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Clemency
- Fruitvale Station
- I Am Not Your Negro
Instagram accounts to follow
- @monachalabi
- @zora
- @jemelehill
- @jennydeluxe
- @privtoprog
- @rachel.cargle
- @ohhappydani
- @attnwhitepeople
- @mspackyetti
- @antiracismctr
- @ibramxk
- @iamrachelricketts
- @ckyourprivilege
- @laylafsaad
- @nowhitesaviors
- @kendrick38
- @mattmcgorry
Black-owned businesses to support
- Semicolon: Chicago’s only black-woman-owned bookstore and gallery
- String Thing Studio: yarn store in Brooklyn
- The Lit Bar: bookstore in the Bronx
- “Black-Owned Bookstores to Support Now,” Publishers Weekly
- “125 Best Black-Owned Beauty Brands to Support Right Freakin’ Now” by Julee Wilson, Cosmopolitan, June 2, 2020
- “Here’s a list of more than 200 black-owned food businesses in L.A.” by Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2020
- “Black-Owned Restaurant Lists Circulating the Internet, Organized by City” by the Bon Appétit staff, June 4, 2020
Resources for parents
- “George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children?” by Alia E. Dastagir, USA Today, May 31, 2020
- “Talking Race With Young Children,” NPR, April 26, 2019
- “Raising White Kids Author On How White Parents Can Talk About Race,” NPR All Things Considered, May 31, 2020
- Racism and Violence: How to Help Kids Handle the News, Child Mind Institute
- “Framing Brave Conversations About Race and Ethnicity” (PDF), Leading Equity Center
- “George Floyd, Racism and Law Enforcement: Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events,” Anti-Defamation League
- “Teaching About Racism, Violence, Inequity and the Criminal Justice System,” Anti-Defamation League
Podcasts
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Other resource compilations we’ve come across
- How-To: Tools and Guides to Defend Black Lives
- A list of eight black-led LGBTQ organizations
- Activism & Allyship Guide prepared by the Black@ Airbnb Employee Resource Group
- A Twitter thread of children’s books that discuss race and racism by @wanderingbritt_
- Array 101: a learning companion to Ava DuVernay’s films
- Black people to follow in the cooking world by Samin Nosrat (start here and arrow toward more recent posts)
- Anti-Racist Resource Guide created by Victoria Alexander, M.Ed.
- TED talks to help you understand racism in America
- “Anti-racism resources for white people,” Google doc compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein, May 2020
- “Resources on Environmental Justice, Racism, and Whiteness,” Washington Environmental Council
- “An Essential Reading Guide for Fighting Racism” by Arianna Rebolini, BuzzFeed News, May 29, 2020
- “Attending a Protest: Surveillance Self Defense,” Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Resource guide comprising bail funds, memorial funds, mutual aid, and advice for protesters by Twitter user @botanicaldyke
- Talking About Race: a resource portal from the National Museum of African-American History & Culture
- Resource guide: “a working document for scaffolding anti-racism resources” by Anna Stamborski, Nikki Zimmermann, and Bailie Gregory
- The Movement for Black Lives: a series of daily actions to put an “end to the criminalization, incarceration, and killing” of black people. Examples include organizing a march or a Twitter storm, displaying a banner in your yard, providing materials such as masks and hand sanitizer to protesters, and much more. The actions are color-coded green, yellow, and red to indicate the level of safety risk associated with each.