Anti-Racism Resources

Lonnie G. Bunch III, The Smithsonian Institution and discussion with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden

When the son of a Civil Rights Hero dives into the 400 year history of racism in America, he is confronted with the shocking reality that his family was involved from the very beginning. A comprehensive and insightful exploration of the origins and history of racism in America -- from slavery to Jim Crow era, from lynchings to protests -- told through a very personal and honest story.

The story of the struggle during Jim Crow is told through the eyes of those who experienced it. Some are historical figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells and Walter White. Others are everyday local heroes like William Holtzclaw, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Ned Cobb, "Pap" Singleton and Barbara Johns.

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE raises critical issues about race, coalitions and police brutality in minority communities. Beginning in the aftermath of the Watts Rebellion and covering the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest, the film is especially relevant during these times when the nation is at a tipping point in the struggle against racial injustice and police brutality.

Black Feminism remains a foundational theory and practice guiding social justice movements for Black lives.

Psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Washington created "Project Implicit" to develop Hidden Bias Tests—called Implicit Association Tests, or IATs, in the academic world—to measure unconscious bias.

Check out this webpage for definitions of different types of racism, visuals, videos, sample statements to use to address racism in conversation, and questions and activities for discussion.

Racial Equity Tools is designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. This site offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.

Holiday may have popularized "Strange Fruit" and turned it into a work of art, but it was a Jewish communist teacher and civil rights activist from the Bronx, Abel Meeropol, who wrote it, first as a poem, then later as a song. His inspiration? Meeropol came across a 1930 photo that captured the lynching of two Black men in Indiana. The visceral image haunted him for days and prompted him to put pen to paper.

In memory of Eric Garner -- who was killed when an NYPD officer put him in a chokehold in Staten Island in 2014 -- and in dedication to the lives lost to violence over the past week, Garner’s family has recorded a new song titled “I Can’t Breathe.”

There's really no need to update poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron’s radical, 1971 classic “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” unless we wanted to change the names. His voice still speaks directly to the moment we live in.

Bob Marley thinks of equality as a solution to fighting and war. According to Bob Marley in "War", "That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all, without regard to race, dis a war/ And until that day, the African continent will not know peace, we Africans will fight we find it necessary and we know we shall win as we are confident in the victory."

An audio documentary about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Floodlines is told from the perspective of four New Orleanians still living with the consequences of governmental neglect. As COVID-19 disproportionately infects and kills Americans of color, the story feels especially relevant. "As a person of color, you always have it in the back of your mind that the government really doesn't care about you," said self-described Katrina overcomer Alice Craft-Kerney.

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a leading critical race theorist who coined the term "intersectionality," this podcast brings the academic term to life. Each episode brings together lively political organizers, journalists and writers. This recent episode on COVID-19 in prisons and other areas of confinement is a must-listen.

Every week at Throughline, our pals Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei "go back in time to understand the present." To understand the history of systemic racism in America, we recommend "American Police," "Mass Incarceration" and "Milliken v. Bradley."

Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast features movement voices, stories, and strategies for racial justice. Co-hosts Chevon and Hiba give their unique takes on race and pop culture, and uplift narratives of hope, struggle, and joy, as we continue to build the momentum needed to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture. Build on your racial justice lens and get inspired to drive action by learning from organizational leaders and community activists.

Remember when folks used to talk about being "post-racial"? Well, we're definitely not that. We're a multi-racial, multi-generational team of journalists fascinated by the overlapping themes of race, ethnicity and culture, how they play out in our lives and communities, and how all of this is shifting.