What is Anti-Racism?
Take Action
Resources Especially for Parents and Children

What is Anti-Racism?

• Brené Brown talks with professor and author Ibram X. Kendi about racial disparities, policy, and equality. (Listen)

• The Difference Between Being "Not Racist" and Anti-Racist conversation with Ibram X. Kendi (Watch or Read the transcript)

• The National Museum of African American History and Culture has assembled a comprehensive collection of articles on the topic of race, from historical perspectives to contemporary social identity. (Read & Watch)

• The Anti-Racist Starter Pack assembles a poignant collection of TV shows, documentaries, films, TED talks, and books to educate and inspire. (Listen, Read, Watch)

• The New York Times and Ibram X. Kendi offer this anti-racist reading list featuring books to help the United States transcend its racist heritage. (Read)

• Compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker & Alyssa Klein especially for white people, this collection of resources not only educates but also provides links to organizations doing important work and looking for volunteers in the struggle against racism. (Listen, Read, Watch, Participate)

Take Action

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) continues to fight government abuse and to vigorously defend individual freedoms including speech and religion, a woman’s right to choose, the right to due process, citizens’ rights to privacy, and much more. (National Organization with MA Branch)

• Asian American Advancing Justice

• Asian American Federation Stay Safe from Hate Booklet

• Berkshire Center for Justice helps Berkshire County residents who are experiencing very real barriers to access the civil legal counsel they need and deserve by holding weekly free legal clinics, providing sliding scale direct legal services, and more. (Local Organization)

• Berkshire Interfaith Organizing acts towards justice by building relationships within our communities and across lines of difference, developing our leaders' skills in the public arena, and taking action on issues of common concern. (Local Organization)

• Black Men Matter – Examining Mental Health Issues Among Black Men – A Guide To Freedom

• Campaign Zero analyzes policing practices across the country, conducts research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, provides technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide. (National Organization)

• Center for Reproductive Rights uses the power of law to advance reproductive rights as fundamental human rights around the world.
  (National Organization)

• Clinton Church Restoration is restoring the historic Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church in downtown Great Barrington for adaptive reuse as an African American heritage site and cultural center dedicated to educating the public about the life and legacy of civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois and the Berkshires’ rich African American history. They host ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ virtual community read weekly on Tuesdays through Feb 16, 2021. (Local Organization)

• Color of Change designs campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward. Until justice is real. (National Organization)

• Critical Resistance: Abolishing the Prison Industrial Complex Toolkit (Read)

• Dignity and Power Now fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. Our mission is to build a Black and Brown-led abolitionist movement rooted in community power towards the goal of achieving transformative justice and healing justice for all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. (National Organization)

• Elizabeth Freeman Center provides leadership and services to address domestic and sexual violence in Berkshire County. (Local Organization)

• Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. (National Organization)

• Financial Literacy in the Black Community

• GoodReads List of Books on Community Organizing (Read)

• A Guide On Black Mental Health – Treatment Over Incarceration

• Guide to Bystander Intervention

• Showing Up for Racial Justice: guide for calling in white folks around the violence and property destruction narratives regarding the Black Lives Matter protests. (Read)

• Multicultural BRIDGE, a Berkshires-based grassroots organization dedicated to advancing equity and justice, offers an in-depth discussion about the killing of George Floyd, the protests that have erupted across the country, and what can be done to create change. (Watch)

• Moving as an Anti-Racist: Acknowledge, Align, Amplify, Ask, Activate by Gwendolyn VanSant of Multicultural BRIDGE (Read)

• The mission of NAACP is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. (National Organization with Local Chapter)

• WAM Theatre engages that community by producing theatrical events for everyone, with a focus on women theatre artists and/or stories of women and girls, and donating a portion of proceeds from those theatrical events to organizations that work to benefit the lives of women and girls in our communities and worldwide. (Local Organization)

• Women of Color Giving Circle seeks to inspire and provide funding and education to women of color; to build self-respect, self-reliance and resilience from girlhood until womanhood. (Local Organization)

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American Commission

• Racial Justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources from Massachusetts Nonprofit Network

• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. (National Organization)

• A New Way of Life Re-entry Project provides housing, case management, pro bono legal services, advocacy and leadership development for women rebuilding their lives after prison. (National Organization)

• New York Times: "George Soros’s Foundation Pours $220 Million Into Racial Equality Push"

• Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide.
  (National Organization and MA Branch)

• The Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. criminal justice system by producing groundbreaking research to promote reforms in sentencing policy, address unjust racial disparities and practices, and to advocate for alternatives to incarceration. (National Organization)

• Upstander Training

Resources Especially for Parents and Children

• Well and Good: 10 Anti-Racist Books Every American Child Should Read About Black Experiences (Read)

• Smithsonian Magazine: Twelve Books to Help Children Understand Race, Anti-Racism and Protest (Read)

• Discovery Museum Speaker Series presentation: Talking to Kids About Race and Racism: A Conversation with Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, President Emerita of Spelman College, moderated by Tiziana Dearing, Host of WBUR’s Radio Boston (Watch)
  Resources mentioned in Dr. Tatum’s presentation:

  • SocialJusticeBooks.org (Read)

  • Is My Skin Brown Because I Drank Chocolate Milk? | Beverly Daniel Tatum | TEDxStanford (Watch)

  • Facing History and Ourselves: Back to School 2020: Building Community for Connection and Learning (Read)

  • Teaching Tolerance: Diversity, Equity and Justice Resources for Teachers (Read)

  • Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD (Read)

  • Parenting 4 Social Justice | Green Writers Press (publication date March 23, 2021) (Read)

• Embrace Race (Read, Watch, Participate)

  • Mission is to assist in “raising a generation of children who are thoughtful, informed, and brave about race”

  • Resources, webinars, and opportunities to volunteer

    • Addressing Racial Injustice with Young Children, a conversation with three child and family psychologists who collaborated to write the children's book, Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice

• Kids’ Books for a Better World (Read, Participate)

  • recommend and discuss children's books that have a positive, progressive social message, or strong minority and/or female characters

• Kojo For Kids: Jason Reynolds Talks About Racism And The Protests (Listen or Read the transcript)

• Upworthy: “Childhood nursery rhymes and other 'classic' songs you probably never knew were racist”

  • ”One of the hallmarks of progress, both societally and individually, is when we realize that something we thought was benign is actually not. When it comes to progress on racism, the cultural norms of language are frequently where those realizations occur.”