Antiracist Resources and Reads: Lists for All Ages
Silence is complicity.
A blog, no matter what its subject, no matter how large or small its reach, is a platform. You use it to make your thoughts and feelings known. And if the world harbors evil, harbors racism, harbors pain and death and agony to a specific group of people in your society, if you just carry along without acknowledging it in any way, you are a coward. I am a coward. Normally I don’t say much when things are bad, but even I have to open my eyes sometimes and say something.
What can a white librarian do to help, even a little, when injustice is so blatant? You can be an ally. You can work to actually actively fight racism when you hear it, see it, and you can acknowledge it. You can listen. Project Ready, a free online professional development curriculum by UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science (and that my library has been using to regularly educate its employees), created this rundown of what allyship entails (click on it to enlarge):
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Check out Project Ready’s Allies and Antiracism module, if you get a chance. All their modules are good, but that one is just amazing.
My role in my library is to manage our collections. Yesterday, I was asked to create a booklist for my city’s patrons of some antiracist titles. I was immediately helped by about eight of my colleagues and, together, we created the following list of links. Please use this where it is most needed. Ebook links are to my own library system’s Hoopla, Overdrive, and Kanopy sites, but if your library has any of those platforms then you may be able to check out some of these titles as well.
Thank you.
UPDATED TO ADD:
I was recently alerted to this rally on Thursday. Please try to attend if you can.
Books for Children (Fiction):
- Blended by Sharon M. Draper (Libby ebook)
- From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (Hoopla ebook)
- A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Marie Ramee (Libby ebook)
- It All Comes Down to This by Karen English (Hoopla ebook)
- My Hair Is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera (Hoopla ebook)
- New Kid by Jerry Craft (Hoopla ebook) (Hoopla audio)
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Hoopla ebook)
- The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (Hoopla audiobook)
- Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (Hoopla ebook)
Books for Children (Facts):
- Are You Being Racially Profiled by Alexandra Hanson-Harding (Hoopla ebook)
- Race in America series by various authors (Hoopla ebook)
- A Ride to Remember by Sharon Langley (Hoopla ebook)
- Rise Up! The Art of Protest by Jo Rippon (Hoopla ebook)
- Standing Up to Hate Speech by Alison Morretta (Hoopla ebook)
- What’s Racism by Amy B. Rogers (Hoopla ebook)
Resources for White Parents to Raise Anti-Racist Children:
- Podcasts:
- Articles:
- The Conscious Kid: Follow them on Instagram
Books for Teens (Fiction Ebooks):
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- Black Boy, White School by Brian F.Walker
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
- Electric Arches by Eve Ewing
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
- I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Gilly Segal & Kimberly Jones
- Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
- Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
- When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur
Books for Teens (Facts – Ebooks)
- Discovering Wes Moore by Wes Moore
- A Few Drops of Red: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Clare Hartfield
- Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
- In The Shadow of Liberty by Kenneth C. Davis
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- March: Book One by Jon Lewis , Andrew Aydin and Illustrated by Nate Powell
- Obviously, Stories from My Timeline by Akilah Hughes
- Stamped; Racism, Anti-Racism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X.Kendi
- Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery
- We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
- White Privilege by M.T. Blackmore
Books for Teens (Fiction eAudiobooks)
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
- A Big Dose of Lucky by Marthe Jocelyn
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
Books for Teens (Facts – eAudiobooks)
- Because They Marched by Russel Freedman
- Girls Resist! by Kaelyn Rich
- How I Resist edited by Maureen Johnson
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Malcom X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers
- The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Shenkin
- Stolen Justice by Lawrence Goldstone
- Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery
Books for Adults (Fiction):
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (ebook, other ebook edition, audio)
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (ebook, audio, Hoopla)
Books for Adult (Facts):
- An African American and Latinx History of the United States, by Paul Ortiz (ebook, audio)
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper (audio, ebook)
- Everything You Wanted To Know About Indians But Were Afraid To Ask, by Anton Treuer (Hoopla ebook, Hoopla audio)
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (ebook, audio)
- Friends Disappear: The Battle for Racial Equity in Evanston by Mary Barr (ebook)
- Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon (ebook)
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (ebook, audio)
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (ebook, audio)
- An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (ebook, YA ebook, audio, Hoopla audio)
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (ebook, audio, YA ebook, YA audio)
- Lies my Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen (ebook, other ebook edition, YA ebook, Hoopla ebook, other Hoopla ebook edition)
- The Making of Asian America, by Erika Lee (ebook, audio, Hoopla audio)
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad (ebook, audio, Hoopla)
- Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation, by Derald Wing Sue (ebook)
- A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn (ebook, other ebook edition, audio, other audio edition, Hoopla)
- Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Fifth Edition, by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (Hoopla audio)
- Redefining Realness by Janet Mock (Hoopla audio)
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (ebook, audio, Hoopla audio)
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (ebook, audio, Hoopla audio)
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (ebook)
- When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson (Hoopla audio)
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD (ebook, audio)
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: and Other Conversations about Race, by Dr. Beverly Tatum (ebook)
Articles to Read:
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
- ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
- NAACP’s Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.
- The National Museum of the American Indian Education Office. Native Knowledge 360 Framework for Essential Understandings about American Indians.
- The Sentencing Project, Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System, April 19, 2018
- Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
- Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction, developed by the National Congress of American Indians
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
Films and Series to Watch on Kanopy
- America After Ferguson
- Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Oregon
- Copwatch: An Organization Dedicated to Filming the Police
- Every Mother’s Son: Policing and Race in America
- I Am Not Your Negro
- Let the Fire Burn: Tragedy in Philadelphia
- Peace Officer: The Militarized State of American Police
- Policing the Police
- Profiled: The Mothers of Murdered Black and Latino Youth
- P.S. I Can’t Breathe: Black Lives Matter
- When Justice Isn’t Just: Unarmed Police Incidents
Additionally, Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein compiled the following resources in May 2020. Consider their helpful list of links to follow-up on as well:
Videos to Watch:
- Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (50:48)
- “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
Podcasts to Subscribe To:
- 1619 (New York Times)
- About Race
- Code Switch (NPR)
- Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
- Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
- Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
- Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
- Seeing White
Organizations to Follow on Social Media:
- Antiracism Center: Twitter
- Audre Lorde Project: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Black Women’s Blueprint: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Color Of Change: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Colorlines: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Families Belong Together: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- MPowerChange: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Muslim Girl: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- RAICES: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- SisterSong: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- United We Dream: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
More Anti-Racism Resources to Check Out:
- 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- Anti-Racism Project
- Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow)
- Rachel Ricketts’ anti-racism resources
- Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism
- Save the Tears: White Woman’s Guide by Tatiana Mac
- Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits
- “Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
- Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials
Filed under: Booklists
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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Thank you to the supervisor that asked you to make this list for your library patrons. Thank you to your eight colleagues for their assistance with that assignment. And THANK YOU for sharing this information via your blog. Silence is complicity and many of us have been cowards. Only the physically blind and cognitively incapacitated can be excused for not responding to what the world has seen this week on video. Our silence dishonors every soldier and civilian who has willingly fought and given their life to uphold American beliefs and values since the Civil War. Those determined to take away these values MUST be held accountable and suffer logical consequences.