Resources for BLM Series
Haydenville Congregational Church

2/12/17

1. UCC Resources
   Toyan Harper, Jr. (TJ) is a new Associate for Racial Justice Ministries for the  Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ.  In this role he will seek to provide leadership and training in the area of racial justice ministries; coordinate and guide the work of MACUCC staff, clergy and lay leaders in this area;  support and expand networks of racial justice leaders within the Conference; and increase collaboration between the Conference and other organizations working to end racism.  TJ will be working with our clergy, churches and communities to engage the conversation of racial justice, seek ways that the Conference can support churches in this work, and provoke all of us toward the goal of eradicating racism.

The goal of the Racial Justice Ministry of the Massachusetts Conference is to engage
every setting of the Conference in the work of unmasking, dismantling and eradicat
ing racism in its personal, inter-personal, institutional and cultural forms, to make God’s love and   justice real.

B)  UCC ‘White Privilege: Let’s Talk‘ new curriculum
C)  UCC previous curriculum — Sacred Conversation on Race
2)  Resources for Children’s Church
Talking to Kids About Racism and Justice: a list for parents, caregivers & educators
Short list of books (babies thru teens), plus links and articles (with parent and teacher perspectives), videos and other useful websites.   A gold mine from the Oakland (CA) Public Library.
Talking to Our Children About Racism & Diversity
Some copies are available in the HCC library.  The full text is on this website: Talking About Racism With White Kids Lots of links to relevant topics in this article.

Talking to Kids About Police Brutality: A Community Resource List
 An extensive list of online writing, website resources and book lists.

Coming Together Project — Bibliography includes books for children

Books for Young Readers about Hope, Courage and Resilience in Challenging Times – detailed annotations, fiction & nonfiction for grade 2 and up, includes war, immigration, environment and activist movements.
Teaching for Change Books
The BEST place to look for (and purchase) books for children on all social justice topics, lists by age groups, themes & sujbects, with annotation and reviews.

3)  Local Resources
WMSURJ  (Western Massachusetts Standing Up for Racial Justice)
Coming Together Project – Russ Vernon-Jones
Website includes articles on What Is Racism?, Frequently Asked Questions About
Race, 8 Brief Informative Articles About Race, Facts About Racism and How Systemic It Is, Cartoons, Links to Other Resources, Bibliography

4)  Online Organizations
Center for the Study of White American Culture, Inc.
Compassionate Activism

5)  Blogs
Whiteness Studies and White Privilege
Tim Wise: Antiracist Essayist, Author and Educator

6)  Resources that can inform us about Black Lives Matter and Movement for
Black Lives
** Movement for Black Lives Policy Platform
The Permanence of Black Lives Matter:  A new policy platform from a coalition of activists signals a new stage in the protest movement. AUG 3, 2016

11 Major Misconceptions About the Black Lives Matter Movement
Our Demand Is Simple: Stop Killing Us (NYT May ’15)
How a group of black social media activists built the nation’s first 21st-century civil
rights movement and the role social media played.

Context for Black Lives Matter (video)

7)  Books
“Between the World and Me” by Te-Nehisi Coates. Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States” (The New York Observer)
“Deep Denial” by David Billings.  Part popular history and part personal memoir, documents the 400-year racialization of the United States and how people of European descent came to be called white. Author David Billings focuses primarily on the deeply embedded notion of white supremacy, and tells us why, despite the Civil Rights Movement and an African-American president, we remain, in the words of the author, a nation hard-wired by race.
“The Fire This Time” by Jesmyn Ward.  National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward takes James Baldwin’s 1963 examination of race in America, The Fire Next Time, as a jumping off point for this groundbreaking collection of essays and poems about race from the most important voices of her generation and our time.
“From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.  “A searching examination of the social, political and economic dimensions of the prevailing racial order offers important context for understanding the necessity of the emerging movement for black liberation.” —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
“The History of White People” by Nell Irvin Painter. A mind-expanding and myth-destroying exploration of notions of white race—not merely a skin color but also a signal of power, prestige, and beauty to be withheld and granted selectively.
“Just Mercy” by Bryan Stephenson. “Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. The stories told within these pages hold the potential to transform what we think we mean when we talk about justice.”—Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
“The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander. Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Praised by Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier as “brave and bold,” this book directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack Obama signals a new era of colorblindness. With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”
“Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race” by Derald Wing Sue.  This book explores the characteristics, dynamics, and meaning behind discussions about race as well as the hidden “ground rules” that inhibit honest and productive dialogue. Through emotional and visceral examples, this book explains why conversations revolving around racial issues are so difficult, and provides guidelines, techniques, and advice for navigating and leading honest and forthright discussions.
“Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America” by Michael Eric Dyson.  A frank and searing discussion of race by an ordained minister and sociologist.
“What If I Say The Wrong Thing? 25 habits for culturally effective people,” by Verna Myers. Using personal stories, Myers addresses the things that many of us struggle with as we balance our desire to be inclusive while embracing and honoring our differences.
“”Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” : and other conversations about race” by Beverly Daniel Tatum.  In straightforward language, professor/ psychologist Tatum explains the development of racial identity. To illustrate her point she uses anecdotes about her sons, excerpts from research interviews, and essays written by her students.

8)  Films
The Costs of Racism for White Americans – A Lecture By John Bracey
Race: The Power of an Illusion — PBS Series — Episode one explores how recent scientific discoveries have toppled the concept of biological race. Episode two questions the belief that race has always been with us. It traces the race concept to the European conquest of the Americas. Episode three focuses on how our institutions shape and create race.  Available on DVD or on You Tube.  Each episode is about 1 hour.
White Like Me: Race, Racism and White Privilege in America – informative and engaging documentary film.  Based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with this legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today.
Michelle Alexander speaks about “The New Jim Crow”– a powerful speech given at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, NY
Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity — From Shakti Butler comes a new film that asks America to talk about the causes and consequences of systemic inequity. Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity features moving stories from racial justice leaders and others of many different racial backgrounds. (58 mins)
What’s Race Got to Do with It? – a film that “focuses not just on what’s being said, but also what’s not being discussed openly – the underlying fears, frustration, ignorance and confusion that render unproductive so many of our conversations about racism.”   A powerful 49 minute film from California Newsreel.
You Can Help Stop the Violence Against Young Black Men – a 20 minute video talk by Verna Myers which has some important suggestions about how we might free our minds of internalized racism and take effective action
Conversations w/Great Minds Part 1 – Derald Wing Sue – The Ultimate White Privilege:Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence — a 20 minute video talk by Derald Sue, the primary developer of the idea of micro-aggressions.  He identifies common difficulties in trying to talk abut race and roposes four steps to becoming a genuine anti-racist.

A Brief History of White Privilege, Racism and Oppression in America / Legalize Democracy excerpt (5 min) Reviews the laws that constructed race and racism in the US.

Racism in America: A History in Three Acts  (1 hr)
James Dator (Goucher College Professor of History and Africana Studies) explains the origins, causes, and changing nature of racism and race ideology in the United States from 1619 to the present.
Speaks Truth about Racism in America (14 mins)
Tim Wise talking about racism and white denial.
Reverse Racism – Aamer Rahman (Fear of a Brown Planet)
Australian comedian explains reverse racism.

9)  Racism — General
Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism–from Ferguson to Charleston (Jon Greenberg) Extensive list of articles, good if you want to dig deeper.

10)  Addressing White Privilege

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (article)
In 1989 Dr. Peggy McIntosh, a white woman, wrote the influential essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” perhaps the most succinct analysis of white privilege yet written.  A 2-page eyeopener.

Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (6 mins video)
Peggy McIntosh tells briefly about writing this list, then shows the list.
“Healing from Toxic Whiteness to Better Fight for Racial Justice” – online workshop (1 hr 38 min) with audio and PowerPoint (also with transcript)

20 Small Steps for White People
How can I do something about racism? from Coming Together Project in Amherst.

The Real Reason White People Say ‘All Lives Matter’ (Dear Fellow White People) – article.  Why “Black” Makes Us Uncomfortable, The Problem With “Colorblindness”, “Black Lives [Do Not] Matter”, The New Face of Racism, What We Can Do: Embrace the Discomfort

Systemic White Supremacy Chart*
Diagram of all the overt and covert institutions and attitudes that are a part of racism and the assumption that white people are better than people of color.

Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible
This is a four part series featuring stories from white men and women on overcoming issues of unconscious racism and entitlement.

What Does It Mean to be White? The Invisible Whiteness of Being (PowerPoint)
Based upon a series of interviews with White folks and People of Color, Dr. Derald Wing Sue asks a very straightforward question: What Does It Mean To Be White? The variety of reactions are both provocative and powerful as they reveal how unaware and uncomfortable many White folks are in answering the question. The whole series by Dr Sue can be found by searching for his name at https://www.academicvideostore.com/
Constructing the White Race  by Matthew Wills
Short article looks at how scholars are examining how whiteness is historical and culturally defined.
How Do I Stop Being Prejudiced? — Heather McGhee (video& transcript)
While a guest on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” a caller told public-policy organizer Heather McGhee he was a prejudiced white man, but he wanted to know what he could do about it. This is what she said.
Getting It White: Racism, Inequality and Social Justice
An online slide show with lots of information.
11)  On Being Allies
10 Common Things Well-Intentioned Allies Do That Are Actually Counterproductive
Well-intentioned people make mistakes – lots of them. Mistakes must be expected and being held accountable has to be expected as well. The points in this article outline some of the common behaviors that show up often in social justice conversations
Three Simple Rules for Social Justice Allies by Alice Lee
Being an ally means a lot more than just thinking you are one, here are some simple rules to follow.  Short and to the point.
So You Call Yourself an Ally: 10 Things All ‘Allies’ Need to Know by Jamie Utt
It’s time for those of us who fashion ourselves “allies” or as “currently operating in solidarity with” to have a conversation.
Becoming an Anti-Racist White Ally: How a White Affinity Group Can Help
White Students Confronting Racism (WSCR),an affinity group for white people, By sharing our experiences of WSCR, we hope to enhance the reader’s understanding of affinity groups in general, and their potential benefits for white educators specifically

12)  Housing Discrimination
Racism in America: Small Town 1950s Case Study Documentary Film (30 mins)
The Story of the Contract Buyers League (9 mins)
Exposing Housing Discrimination: paired testing  (5 mins)
Housing Discrimination Undetected (3 mins)
What Is Systemic Racism? – Housing Discrimination (1 min)

13)  Listening to Black People
What it’s like to be Black in Naperville, America

Lost Voices — Darius Simpson & Scout Bostley — (3 min)
Button Poetry performance about Black and female oppression
The Stages of What Happens When There’s Injustice Against Black People

A Social Studies Teacher Was Tired of His Black Students Only Identifying With         European Culture, so he Did Something About it (Atlanta Black Star, Oct ’16)

 

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