Black Lives Matter Education

Over the past week our televisions and social media feeds have been filled with the distressing images of events currently unfolding across all of America. Like me, if you are feeling overwhelmed and want to find a path to a deeper understanding of the issues, we have brought together some resources to help you on your journey. 

Our video streaming platform Kanopy has many relevant titles timely to this discussion that you can find here. I especially recommend Ken Burns’ The Central Park Five, the Oscar-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro and Stranger Fruit, a thoughtful and moving examination of the tragic death of Michael Brown killed by Officer Darren Wilson in 2014. 

In Overdrive, we have curated a Black Lives Matter reading list spotlighting the history of systemic racism in America and the lives of those fighting for change. 

For further reading, the following recommended titles are instantly available for checkout in Hoopla. 

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered by Mumia Abu-Jamal
The author gives voice to the many people of color who have fallen to police bullets or excessive force, and offers the post-Ferguson generation advice on how to address police brutality in the United States.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (audiobook)
A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today's racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that listeners of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.

Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
Based off the original workbook, Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that 'we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.' 

The Racial Healing Handbook by Anneliese A. Singh
A powerful and practical guide to help you navigate racism, challenge privilege, manage stress and trauma, and begin to heal.

We hope you find these resources invaluable to furthering the difficult conversations that lie ahead as we challenge ourselves to find a deeper empathy and awareness of the struggles of others. As activist and equal justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson has said: “Justice never comes when you only do what’s comfortable and convenient, change never comes, oppression never ends, equality never prevails.”

Trudi - Collections