As part of commitment to continuing education on antiracism and allyship, the staff of the Student Counseling Center wants to share with you what we have been reading, watching, and listening to. Please consider purchasing books from a Black owned bookstore.
Dr Elizabeth Baker: How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Dr. Kendi does an excellent job walking us through important definitions in the antiracist movement, from what it means to be an antiracist to dueling consciousness and everywhere in between. He shares that one cannot be “not racist,” but rather we are either racist or antiracist. Reflecting on the wealth of knowledge and truths Dr. Kendi lays out, I, and hopefully all readers, feel challenged and have a new and better understanding of how to actively practice being antiracist.
Dr
William Hahn: Justice Knox
“We urge those of us who are white to dare to hold the pain of our African American neighbors, colleagues, friends and loved ones in our hearts until we are changed by that pain.”
– Justice Knox Board Members, Clergy, and Friends
For the past year, I have been involved with Justice Knox, a grass roots organization where individuals come together across boundaries of race, income, and faith traditions “to listen deeply to one another and hear stories of suffering and pain in our community.” We are committed to a deliberate and enduring process of dismantling inequality and injustice in our community.
Dr Gina Austin: NYTimes article: Trying to Parent My Black Teenagers Through Protest and Pandemic
It is a moving portrait of a father’s love in turbulent times and facilitates an up close look at our own relationships.
I also encourage you to watch this 60 Minutes piece on the racial terror of lynching of Blacks. This is American history to study and know; horrifying and part of atonement process for my White ancestry. Visit the new National Memorial or Peace and Justice in Montgomery Alabama, through the Equal Justice Initiative. I plan to visit.
Dr Judi Gibbons: 13th (available from Netflix and YouTube )
I have watched 13th three times now. This is not the history I was taught in school…why? Understanding the progression of Black disenfranchisement, systematic oppression, and racism is painful but important for allies to face.
Dr Ashley J Martinez: L.A. 92 (available to stream on Netflix & Hulu).
A documentary on the Los Angeles Race Riots in 1992 after Rodney King, a Black man, was beaten by several police officers in the street. The protesting and rioting that took place and the rhetoric surrounding that time (28 years ago!) exemplify the effects of institutional racism and White supremacy and how this is, sadly, nothing new.
Dr Maggie Klotz: Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race
As I began identifying my growth edges related to anti-racism, every time I looked at my son I couldn’t help but think about my role as a mother and my responsibility to raise a race-conscious child. The following website is a compilation of several resources that have helped me learn how to be proactive and honest in my conversations with him about race. I especially found the NPR podcast (listed first) to be helpful in laying the groundwork for this.
Michelle Proctor: Ted Talk by Ibram Kindi: The difference between being not racist and antiracist
In this talk recorded on June 9, 2020, Dr. Ibram X Kendi breaks down the difference between being not racist and antiracist. He answers questions from an online audience and “defines the transformative concept of antiracism to help us more clearly recognize, take responsibility for and reject prejudices in our public policies, workplaces and personal beliefs.”