Black Lives Matter

Nov 2, 2020

BLACK LIVES MATTER. PERIOD.

This is an unparalleled time in modern history where the masses are standing up against the systemic racism and white supremacy upon which our country has been built.

The question we must all ask ourselves is whether we are part of the solution or part of the problem. We must be consistently listening, learning, educating ourselves, and acting upon what we have learned. In her book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, Beverly Daniel Tatum says, "[A] genuine commitment to interrupting racism is a long-term commitment...We all need community to give us energy, to strengthen our voices, and to offer constructive criticism when we stray off course." So we call upon all of our listeners to be that energy. 

The best way to work towards being that energy is to start by educating ourselves. Even the most learned among us must be constantly evolving, which is part of the "lifelong commitment" that Beverly Daniel Tatum mentions above. In light of this, we wanted to share some of our favorite resources we have come across:

1) Black Lives Matter Resources are available HERE; 

2) The Black Lives Matter At Schools 2020 Teaching Curriculum Resource guide for teaching K-12 is available HERE; and

3) The Social Justice Film Festival has put together a list of films, books, and resources that you can access HERE.

We also wish to share a few book recommendations of our own. Below this message are six of our favorites for learning about being anti-racist and/or a better understanding about the conditions against which the Black Lives Matters Movement is currently fighting. Please try to seek out a black-owned bookstore to purchase them. We recommend L.E.M.S., located right here in Seattle, or take a look at this list put together by the African American Literature Book Club.

In the words of Ibram X. Kendi, from his book How to Be an Antiracist, "One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist” neutrality is a mask for racism."

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis "In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches, world-renowned activist & scholar Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today's struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine." How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi "In his memoir, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science--including the story of his own awakening to antiracism--bringing it all together in a cogent, accessible form. He begins by helping us rethink our most deeply held, if implicit, beliefs and our most intimate personal relationships (including beliefs about race and IQ and interracial social relations) and reexamines the policies and larger social arrangements we support.  How to Be an Antiracist promises to become an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society."

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo "In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life." From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor "In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and Black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation."

White By Law 10th Anniversary Edition by Ian Haney López "In the first edition of White by Law, Haney López traced the reasoning employed by the courts in their efforts to justify the whiteness of some and the non-whiteness of others, and revealed the criteria that were used, often arbitrarily, to determine whiteness, and thus citizenship: skin color, facial features, national origin, language, culture, ancestry, scientific opinion, and, most importantly, popular opinion. Ten years later, Haney López revisits the legal construction of race, and argues that current race law has spawned a troubling racial ideology that perpetuates inequality under a new guise: colorblind white dominance. In a new, original essay written specifically for the 10th anniversary edition, he explores this racial paradigm and explains how it contributes to a system of white racial privilege socially and legally defended by restrictive definitions of what counts as race and as racism, and what doesn't, in the eyes of the law. " Pedagogy of the Oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition by Paulo Freire "First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm."