MENV Anti-Racism Statement & Resource Guide
MENV stands in solidarity with those protesting racial injustices and historic oppression of the Black community. Silence is unacceptable. We are allies in the fight against systemic racism and white supremacy, today and everyday. Protection of the environment and racial justice must go hand in hand.
We also emphatically acknowledge and hold space for the pain that Black people in America are feeling in this moment, for the harms they have long experienced, and the trauma that they continue to endure.
Members of the MENV community are listening to learn, amplifying the voices of leaders of color, and taking steps to be actively anti-racist. As a group of educators and learners, we share some resources to both learn more and act in support of structural change. And we hope you will introduce us to other Black visionaries and leaders and new ways to deepen our allyship.
Ways to Better Understand this Moment
A Timeline of Events that Led to the 2020 ‘Fed Up’-Rising (Michael Harriot)
America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us (Adam Serwer)
Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? (Ibram X. Kendi)
Public Address On Revolution: Revolution Now (Rachel Cargle)
George Floyd and the Dominoes of Racial Injustice (Trevor Noah)
Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest? (Courtney Martin) (Note: This one is by & for white people)
Places to Donate
George Floyd’s Family GoFundMe
Want to support local efforts? Use the Racial Equity Resource Guide’s Organization Finder to identify a racial justice organization in your area to support
Short on funds? Establish a group giving circle
How to Get Involved
Showing up for Racial Justice: SURJ - Boulder
Color of Change (they have lots of petitions to sign)
5 Ways White People Can Take Action (Medium Post)
Simple Acts
Check on your friends, colleagues, and neighbors who may be having an especially tough time as racial violence and tensions rise.
Expressly identify yourself as Anti-Racist & act accordingly; invite others to join you
Counter the posts by your white friends and family that perpetuate myths about how white supremacy works (“all we need is love,” “my children are colorblind”)
Listen to music and appreciate art by Black creatives
Pay Black people for their wisdom, labor and activism
Invest in and/or spend money at Black-owned businesses
SBO (Support Black Owned) Directory:
Denver-area Black-owned businesses (a recent list by 303)
Learn about restorative justice & transformative justice.
Subscribe to podcasts by Black creatives and/or that promote anti-racism
(list of podcasts below)Diversify your social media feeds
(list of accounts to follow below)Read… Read… Read… and then discuss!
Resources for White People
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)
Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies (Paul Kivel)
White Allyship 101 (Dismantle Collective)
White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo)
Anti-Racist Allyship Starter Pack
An Anti Racist Reading List (Ibram X. Kendi for the NYT)
Anti-Racism Resource Guide
What to Do Instead of Calling the Police (Aaron Rose)
Anti-Racism Resources (Fight for Breonna)
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed (Craig Elliott)
Note: While many of these resources (especially 1-3) are aimed specifically at white people, they may also be useful to non-Black people of color.
Resources for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
Black Lives Matter Toolkits
Organizations and People Supporting BIPOC Mental Health
Resources for Parents or Others Interacting with Children
Podcast Episodes:
Fare of the Free Child Podcast
Integrated Schools podcast, episode Raising White Kids w/ Dr. Jennifer Harvey:
Parenting Forward podcast, episode Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt
This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How To Wake Up, Take Action, And Do The Work (Tiffany Jewell & Aurelia Durand)
A Kids Book About Racism (Jelani Memory)
A list of Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners for children & young adults
Books to Read by Authors of Color
So You Want To Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
Blindspot (Mahzarin R. Banaji)
Racism Without Racists: Color-blind Racism and The Persistence Of Racial Inequality In America (Eduardo Bonilla-Silva)
Me & White Supremacy (Layla Saad)
‘Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria’ And Other Conversations On Race (Beverley Daniel Tatum)
How To Be Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment In Black America (James Forman Jr.)
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies (Resmaa Menakem)
The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism For The Twenty-First Century (Grace Lee Boggs)
The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America (Khalil Gibran Muhammad)
Black Feminist Thought (Patricia Hill Collins)
Emergent Strategy (Adrienne Maree Brown)
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
A Few Fantastic BlPOC TED & TEDx Talks, too
The Danger of a Single Story (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True (Mia Birdsong)
The Problem With Race Based Medicine (Dorothy Roberts)
The Racial Politics of Time (Brittney Cooper)
A Prosecutor’s Vision for a Better Justice System (Adam Foss)
The Urgency of Intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw)
How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion (Peggy McIntosh)
Podcasts
1619 (New York Times)
About Race (About Race Radio
Code Switch (NPR)
Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (AAPF)
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast (Race Forward)
Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights) (The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
The Combahee River Collective Statement
Films & Television Series
Netflix
13th (Ava DuVernay)
American Son (Kenny Leon)
See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol)
When They See Us (Ava DuVernay)
Available to Rent
Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 (Goran Hugo Olsson)
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Stanley Nelson)
Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu)
Dear White People (Justin Simien)
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)
I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin)
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton)
Selma (Ava DuVernay)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.)
HBO
King In The Wilderness (Peter Kunhardt)
Anti-Racist Social Media Accounts to Follow
Antiracism Center: Twitter
Bree Newsome | Twitter
Check Your Privilege by Myisha T. Hill | Instagram
Ebony Janice | Instagram
Ethel’s Club | Instagram
Equality Labs | Instagram
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Kelly Hayes | Twitter
The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
No White Saviors | Twitter
Rachel Cargle | Instagram
R29 Unbothered | Instagram
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Strong Black Lead | Instagram
Survived and Punished | Twitter