You may or may not agree with these authors. You may or may not agree with their ideas. You may or may not agree with the way they conduct their lives. They all are part of the cultural landscape about race. They will stimulate your thinking and grow your compassion for other people.
We will update the list over time to continue to grow this as a place for people to refer to.
Click here for the Justice in June Reading plan:
Justice in June. a guided reading list to take you through a number of the most important works on racial understanding. (plans for 10 minutes a day, 25 min a day, 45 min a day. This is a comprehensive and detailed reading plan and might overwhelm you, but if you would like to move ahead. this is a great place to read and watch.
This resource was compiled by Autumn Gupta with Bryanna Wallace’s oversight for the purpose of providing a starting place for individuals trying to become better allies.
Confronting Racism: Five Must-Read Articles For Every Business Leader
This list is from forbes magazine and very helpful.
This message from the President of Emerson College, Dr. M. Lee Pelton, is a vulnerable and anguish-filled reminder of what it means to be black in America, told from one man’s experience. “Black Americans are invisible to most of white America. We live in the shadows – even those of us, who like me, sit at the table of bounty,” he writes.
This New Yorker interview features civil-rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. In a short number of questions and answers, Stevenson connects Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests to the long, racialized history of America. He puts this moment in the context of history.
Stevenson is author of a memoir, Just Mercy, that was made into a powerful 2019 legal drama starring Michael B. Jordan. Warner Brothers has made the film available for free streamingon Amazon and iTunes throughout the month of June, in response to the death of Floyd.
#2: Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protest
Cadet, who we mentioned earlier, takes the context provided by the first two articles and acknowledges a truth, “Black people take the personal trauma we all know to be true and tuck it away to protect white people” in order to meet the professional expectations of their white colleagues.
A similarly powerful article on the topic can be found here, by Shenequa Golding. “I just witnessed the lynching of a black man, but don’t worry Ted, I’ll have those deliverables to you end of day,” she writes.
#3: Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay–Chances Are They’re Not
We mentioned this Harvard Business Review article by Morgan Roberts and Washington earlier. The authors offer a series of practical “dos and don’ts” that all business leaders can follow.
One piece of advice: “Do not rely on Black and brown people to educate you about what happened in order to justify their hurt and outrage or counter ‘colorblind’ rhetoric.” White people, we need to do our own work on this topic.
#4: U.S. Businesses Must Take Meaningful Action Against Racism
Finally, as scholar-practitioners, we often turn to the research for answers to big questions. Today, the research came to us with this 2-page synopsis of an influential Academy of Management article, which summarizes the findings of 232 articles, 76 books, and 14 reports from governments and think tanks on the topic of inequality, especially in the workplace. The authors (John Amis, Johanna Mair, and Kamal Munir) highlight five common organizational practices and three myths that reinforce inequality. We encourage you to dig deep into this one. It is well worth the effort!
#5: Five Practices and Three Myths that Fuel Inequality
Here is a list from Kyle.
There are lots of voices I think all white people should listen to, not because you will agree with everything they say, but because they will help your heart grow in compassion for the story of others.
Here are three writers you should meet and listen to:
an American author and journalist. Coates gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy.
His book, Between the World and Me, was ranked 7th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.
The Case for Reparations: Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.
This article rocketed him to prominence. Its is essential reading.
Ta-Nehisi Coates Revisits the Case for Reparations.
This is an interview and a podcast you could listen to.
an American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist. One of his novels, If Beale Street Could Talk, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning dramatic film in 2018 directed and produced by filmmaker Barry Jenkins.
The Smithsonian's introduction to Baldwin
I’d recommend reading his essays in The Fire Next Time, then working your way toward novels like Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, and No Name in the Street. Remember This House is an unfinished manuscript, but it inspired I Am Not Your Negro, the wonderful 2016 documentary directed by Raoul Peck, and you definitely need to watch that.
Bryan Stevenson:
an American lawyer, social justice activist, founder/executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Law.
Here is a 4 minute listen that will introduce you to him. He is important to know.
A film, Just Mercy, about him is streaming for free right now and is a must watch.
Here is a great list of movies you could watch that would help you.
I know that some of you will not like some of these films! They will break your heart, they do not all agree with your world view, but if you want to crawl inside someone elses pain you have to take some steps to listen to them.
“When they see us” is especially painful, but good. I cried as I watched.
Books that are trending in the area of race relations.
(Click on the title of the book to go to the Amazon page)