Racial Justice Archive

FEBRUARY 2021

BOOKS

Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel
Offers powerful strategies and practical tools for white people committed to racial justice
 
Witnessing Whiteness by Shelley Tochluk 
Invites readers to consider what it means to be white, describes and critiques strategies used to avoid race issues, and identifies the detrimental effect of avoiding race on cross-race collaborations, and how racial discomfort leads white people toward poor relationships with people of color
 
Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories by Eddie Moore Jr., Marguerite W. Penick-Parks, et al.
The personal stories, experiences, and reflections of fifteen prominent White anti-racists recounting the circumstances that led them to undertake this work, making it clear that confronting oppression (including their own prejudices) – whether about race, sexual orientation, ability, or other differences – is a lifelong process of learning
 
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

MOVIES

(available on one or more of these platforms: Netflix, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play,  Amazon Prime, Vudu)

The Glass Shield (PG-13; 1 hr. 39 min.)
About a young black man [Michael Boatman] going into the LAPD with sort of high hopes about what he can do there and then seeing, from inside, the nature of the systemic corruption and how that can even infect him as a black man inside this space.
 
The Hate U Give (PG13; 2 hr. 18 min.)
About a girl who witnesses the death of her friend at the hands of a cop. Should she remain silent about what she saw, or should she testify and potentially get slandered herself?
 
King in the Wilderness (documentary; 1 hr. 15 min.)
Chronicles the tumultuous last three years of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, seen as both a flawed and extraordinary man, rather than a safe and sanitized myth. King was vilified and isolated for his radical vow to fight not only racism, but also the military industrial complex and poverty. He recognized that the complacency of white liberals was just as harmful and insidious as the actions of overt racists. 

The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson (documentary; 1 hr. 45 min.) 
Focuses on the mysterious death of black gay rights activist, and Stonewall veteran Marsha P Johnson in 1992 and forms the framework for a sobering look at the ongoing battle for equal rights.

Against All Odds: the Fight for a Black Middle Class (documentary, I hr. 17 min.) 
Discusses the extraordinary difficulty African Americans have faced in their efforts to establish and maintain a middle-class standard of living. Nearly 40 percent of all black children are poor. And, the black middle class remains proportionally much smaller and far less healthy than the white middle class.

ARTICLES

https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/09/22/racial-justice-in-america-a-deeper-look/
https://www.the-scientist.com/editorial/an-open-letter-scientists-and-racial-justice-67648
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/08/understanding-racism-inequality-america/?arc404=true
https://www.jns.org/opinion/sen-sanders-skin-color-is-neither-a-prerequisite-nor-disqualifier-in-the-quest-for-justice