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 

  1. A Timeline of Events that Led to the 2020 ‘Fed Up’-Rising (Michael Harriot) 

  2. America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us (Adam Serwer)

  3. Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? (Ibram X. Kendi)   

  4. Public Address On Revolution: Revolution Now (Rachel Cargle) 

  5. George Floyd and the Dominoes of Racial Injustice (Trevor Noah)

  6. 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

  1. Colorado Freedom Fund

  2. Official George Floyd Memorial Fund

  3. Reclaim the Block

  4. Campaign Zero

  5. George Floyd’s Family GoFundMe

  6. NAACP Legal Defense Fund

  7. Black Visions Collective

  8. North Star Health Collective

  9. 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

  10. Short on funds?  Establish a group giving circle

 

How to Get Involved

  1. Showing up for Racial Justice: SURJ - Boulder 

  2. Color of Change (they have lots of petitions to sign)

  3. 5 Ways White People Can Take Action (Medium Post)

  4. Use the Racial Equity Resource Guide’s Organization Finder

 

Simple Acts

  1. Check on your friends, colleagues, and neighbors who may be having an especially tough time as racial violence and tensions rise.

  2. Expressly identify yourself as Anti-Racist & act accordingly; invite others to join you

  3. 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”)

  4. Listen to music and appreciate art by Black creatives

  5. Pay Black people for their wisdom, labor and activism

  6. Invest in and/or spend money at Black-owned businesses

    1. SBO (Support Black Owned) Directory:

    2. Denver-area Black-owned businesses (a recent list by 303)

  7. Learn about restorative justice & transformative justice. 

  8. Subscribe to podcasts by Black creatives and/or that promote anti-racism
    (list of podcasts below)

  9. Diversify your social media feeds
    (list of accounts to follow below)

  10. Read… Read… Read…  and then discuss!

 

Resources for White People 

  1. White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh) 

  2. Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies (Paul Kivel)

  3. White Allyship 101 (Dismantle Collective)

  4. White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo)

  5. Anti-Racist Allyship Starter Pack

  6. An Anti Racist Reading List (Ibram X. Kendi for the NYT)

  7. Anti-Racism Resource Guide

  8. What to Do Instead of Calling the Police (Aaron Rose) 

  9. Anti-Racism Resources (Fight for Breonna)

  10. 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) 

  1. Black Lives Matter Toolkits

  2. BIPOC Capacity Building Initiative 

  3. Organizations and People Supporting BIPOC Mental Health

 

Resources for Parents or Others Interacting with Children

  1. Are Kids Too Young To Talk About Race? 

  2. Too Few Parents Talk to their Kids About Race 

  3. Podcast Episodes:

    1. Fare of the Free Child Podcast

    2. Integrated Schools podcast, episode Raising White Kids w/ Dr. Jennifer Harvey:

    3. Parenting Forward podcast, episode Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt

  4. This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How To Wake Up, Take Action, And Do The Work (Tiffany Jewell & Aurelia Durand) 

  5. A Kids Book About Racism (Jelani Memory)

  6. A list of Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners for children & young adults

 

Books to Read by Authors of Color

  1. So You Want To Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)

  2. Blindspot (Mahzarin R. Banaji)

  3. Racism Without Racists: Color-blind Racism and The Persistence Of Racial Inequality In America (Eduardo Bonilla-Silva)

  4. Me & White Supremacy (Layla Saad)

  5. ‘Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria’ And Other Conversations On Race (Beverley Daniel Tatum)

  6. How To Be Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)

  7. Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment In Black America (James Forman Jr.)

  8. My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies (Resmaa Menakem)

  9. The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism For The Twenty-First Century (Grace Lee Boggs)

  10. The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America (Khalil Gibran Muhammad)

  11. Black Feminist Thought (Patricia Hill Collins)

  12. Emergent Strategy (Adrienne Maree Brown)

  13. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper

  14. Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

  15. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

  16. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

  17. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

  18. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

  19. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

  20. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

  21. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

  22. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

  23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

  24. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga

  25. 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

  1. The Danger of a Single Story (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

  2. The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True (Mia Birdsong)

  3. The Problem With Race Based Medicine (Dorothy Roberts)

  4. The Racial Politics of Time (Brittney Cooper) 

  5. A Prosecutor’s Vision for a Better Justice System (Adam Foss)

  6. The Urgency of Intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw) 

  7. How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion (Peggy McIntosh)

 

Podcasts

  1. 1619 (New York Times)

  2. About Race (About Race Radio

  3. Code Switch (NPR)

  4. Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (AAPF)

  5. Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast (Race Forward)

  6. Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights) (The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)

  7. Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)

  8. The Combahee River Collective Statement

 

Films & Television Series

Netflix

  1. 13th (Ava DuVernay) 

  2. American Son (Kenny Leon)

  3. See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol)

  4. When They See Us (Ava DuVernay)

Available to Rent

  1. Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 (Goran Hugo Olsson)

  2. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Stanley Nelson)

  3. Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu)

  4. Dear White People (Justin Simien)

  5. Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) 

  6. I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin)

  7. Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) 

  8. Selma (Ava DuVernay)

  9. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) 

  10. The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) 

HBO

  1. King In The Wilderness (Peter Kunhardt)

 

Anti-Racist Social Media Accounts to Follow

  1. Antiracism Center: Twitter

  2. Audre Lorde Project: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook 

  3. Black Women’s Blueprint: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  4. Bree Newsome | Twitter

  5. Check Your Privilege by Myisha T. Hill | Instagram

  6. Color Of Change: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  7. Colorlines: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  8. Ebony Janice | Instagram

  9. Ethel’s Club | Instagram

  10. Equality Labs | Instagram

  11. The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  12. Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  13. Families Belong Together: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  14. Kelly Hayes | Twitter

  15. The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  16. MPowerChange: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook 

  17. Muslim Girl: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  18. NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  19. National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  20. No White Saviors | Twitter

  21. Rachel Cargle | Instagram

  22. R29 Unbothered | Instagram

  23. Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  24. SisterSong: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

  25. Strong Black Lead | Instagram

  26. Survived and Punished | Twitter