ryanburgess / blm-resources

A list of Black Lives Matter educational material. The BLM list of resources includes books, articles, videos, and podcasts.

Black Lives Matter Resources

A list of Black Lives Matter educational material. The BLM list of resources includes books, articles, videos, podcasts, and newsletters.

Books

• Stamped from the Beginning - The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America - This is a FREE audio book that does a great job going in depth about the historical racism in America.
• So You Want to Talk about Race - This book shares the truths about the realities of racism, power and oppression.
• The Colors of Us - This book is a positive message that celebrates the differences and similarities that connect all people.
• Waking Up White - This book explores race with the desire to understand the racial divide.
• Me and White Supremacy - This book is a good resource for examining and owning responsibility for the ways in which they uphold white supremacy.
• White Fragility - A book that explores the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
• How To Be An Antiracist - This book covers Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America.
• Policing Black Lives - This book covers the state violence in Canada from slavery to the present.

Videos

• 13th - This is an excellent documentary on Netflix that outlines the racism towards Black people in America.
• Explained: The Racial Wage Gap - This short episode of Explained on Netflix does an excellent job explaining the racial wage gap in America.
• Who Killed Malcolm X? - This documentary series on Netflix covers the historical events around the murder of Malcolm X.
• When They See Us - This 4 part series on Netflix is the story of the Central Park 5.
• Talks to help you understand racism in America - This a good list of TED Talks that help educate about the racism in America.
• Eddie Glaude - This is Us MSNBC - Eddie Glaude talks about why blaming current racial tensions on Donald Trump misses the point.
• Racism Is Real - A 3-minute video explaining the differential in the white and black lived experience.
• ‘Intergroup anxiety’: Can you try too hard to be fair? - Explores why we may get tongue tied and blunder when we encounter people from groups unfamiliar to us.
• How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race - A TEDx talk by Jay Smooth that suggests a new way to think about receiving feedback on our racial blindspots.
• Let's get to the root of racial injustice - A TEDx talk by Megan Ming Francis that traces the root causes of our current racial climate to their core causes, debunking common misconceptions and calling out "fix-all" cures to a complex social problem.
• How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time - A TED Talk by Baratunde Thurston that explores patterns revealing our racist framing, language, and behaviors.
• Birth of a White Nation - A keynote speech by Jacqueline Battalora that offers a blow-by-blow description of the moment the idea of, and word for, “white” people entered U.S. legal code.

Podcasts

• 1619 (NYTimes) - This is a podcast series on how slavery has transformed America, connecting past and present through the oldest form of storytelling.
• Code Switch - This is a great podcast talking about various topics and conversations about race.
• Pod Save the People - This podcast offers a unique take on the news, with a special focus on overlooked stories and topics that often impact people of color.
• Our National Conversation About Race - This podcast is a lively multiracial, interracial conversation about the ways we can’t talk, don’t talk, would rather not talk about race.
• Your Parenting Mojo: Wait, Is My Toddler Racist? - This podcast episode is part of a series on understanding the intersection of race, privilege, and parenting.
• Parenting for the Future - This podcast covers a lot of great topics around talking about racism with your children.
• Throughline: American Police - This podcast episode covers the origins of American policing and how those origins put violent control of Black Americans at the heart of the system.
• Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist - An episode of Unlocking Us podcast with Brené Brown interviewing Ibram X. Kendi about how to be an antiracist.
• The Systems that Protect Police - A NY Times podcast around why misconduct procedures are rarely enough to discipline officers using excessive force.
• Black Like Me - A podcast that invites you to experience the world through the perspective of one Black man, one conversation, one story, or even one rant at a time.
• Mary Bassett: How Does Racism Affect Your Health? - A podcast episode about how and why race affects the medical attention you receive, your baby’s chances of living, and even life expectancy.
• Seeing White - A podcast that covers a lot of the historical events in America that have lead to racism in America.

Articles

• The Death of George Floyd, In Context - This New Yorker article outlines the details around the incidents that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement in America after the death of George Floyd.
• How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change - This blog post by Barack Obama talks about how change can happen.
• For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies - This is a great article helping to educate people on how they can be strong allies.
• How to Talk to Your Kids About Race and Being Antiracist - An article with tips on how to talk with your kids about racism and how they can be anti-racist.
• Keep That Normal - A blog post of reflections of the emotional battle being Black during the COVID pandemic.
• My Time as a Black Woman Software Engineer at Capital One - A blog post reflecting on what it's like to be a Black woman in technology.
• Why Can't We Teach Slavery Right in American Schools? - A NY Times article on why slavery is mistaught in American schools.
• Talking to kids about race - An article to help with conversations with kids and not shy away from those conversations is the first step in raising an anti-racist child.
• Message to White Allies from A Black Anti-Racism Expert: You’re Doing It Wrong - An article sharing perspectives for allies to learn from spiritual teachers like the Dalai Lama.
• My experiences of systemic racism and sexism at Pixar - A Muslim woman shares her experiences dealing with racism and sexism in the workplace.
• Pinterest Sounds A More Contrite Tone After Black Former Employees Speak Out - An example of how Black employees have been treated in tech companies.
• What Black Employee Resource Groups Need Right Now - An article provides good insights into improving ERGs and what Black ERGs need right now.
• How White People Got Made - An article that explains where the term “white people” comes from and which ethnic groups have and have not been able to become “white” through US history.
• White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack - An article by Peggy McIntosh who lists the ways she’s beginning to recognize the way white privilege operates in her life.
• White Fragility - An article that explains why it can be so hard for white people to talk about race, and how the resulting silence and defensiveness functions to hold racial dynamics and racial oppression in place.
• 21 Racial Microaggressions You Hear on a Daily Basis - An article with a series of photographs that highlight microagressions.

Newsletters

• Black Lives Matter Newsletter - An email newsletter to get updates about the 2020 election cycle from Black Lives Matter.
• Better Allies Newsletter - An excellent weekly newsletter that shares helpful tips on how to become a better ally.

Contributing

1. Fork it
2. Run npm install
3. Add your resource to list.json
4. Run node index to update README.md with your changes
5. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
6. Commit your changes (git commit -am "Add some feature")
7. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
8. Create new Pull Request