In light of the current Black Lives Matter movement ongoing throughout the US and many other countries, including the UK, it is vital that we take responsibility to educate ourselves as much as possible on the history of racial injustices, and how they can be manifested in day-to-day life. Education is powerful in helping us become more aware of our actions, and in helping us to recognise systemic racism, and take steps towards diminishing it, whenever we can. So below are some resources and petitions that we have collated that we encourage our members to use, but this is definitely not exhaustive. It is more a starting point than anything else and there is so much more out there to explore and learn from! 

This article from the National Museum of African American History and Culture defines what it means to be anti racist, and includes some steps individuals can take to ensure they are doing more than just being ‘not racist’. 

Podcasts

• “About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge:A podcast that covers the subject of racism in the UK and British Politics, and takes the conversation a step further. Featuring key voices from the last few decades of anti-racist activism, About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge looks at the recent history that lead to the politics of today.
• Pod Save The People: Activists DeRay Mckesson, Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Sam Sinyangwe, and writer Dr. Clint Smith offer a unique take on the news, with a special focus on overlooked stories and topics that often impact people of color 

TED talks are a great way to introduce yourself to a topic that you may not be entirely familiar with, and they can also motivate you to learn more about it. Watch Phillip Atiba Goff, the director of the Center for Policing Equity, deliver a  TED talk on fighting racism and improving policing here. 

This is also an incredibly important BBC interview that you should take a few minutes to watch: George the Poet discusses Black Lives Matter UK on BBC Newsnight

Reading List

A collection of biographies, non-fiction and personal narratives: 

• ‘The Warmth of Other Suns’ – Isabel Wilkerson
• ‘The Hate U Give’ – Angie Thomas
• ‘The Fire Next Time’ – James Baldwin
• ‘Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire’ – Akala
• ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ – as told to Alex Haley
• ‘Becoming’ – Michelle Obama
• ‘Killing Rage: Ending Racism’ – Bell Hooks
• ‘Between the World and Me’ – Ta-Nehisi Coates
• ‘The Burning house: Jim Crow and the Making of Modern America’ – Anders Walker
• ‘Stamped From the Beginning’ – Ibram X. Kendi
• ‘From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime’ – Elizabeth Hinton
• ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ – Frantz Fanon

This article includes its own, more in depth, reading list of books on race and anti-racism. The article itself addresses an important message with regards to ensuring our support for BLM extends beyond reading a few books, so make sure you have a good read through it. 

Reading books can be a wonderful way of learning more about this subject and taking a step forward in educating yourself, but for those of you who may prefer to learn through a different method, you can take this free Open Yale online course on “African American History: From Emancipation to the Present”. 

Petitions

We have compiled a small list of petitions you can sign in order to help victims of police brutality and racial injustice. It takes less than a minute to sign one, so please do sign as many as you can: 

• Trayvon Martin 
• George Floyd 
• Breonna Taylor 
• David McAtee 
• Tamir Rice 
• Hands Up Act 
• Julius Jones 
• Tony McDade 
• Ahmaud Arbery 
• Alejandro Martinez 
• Willie Simmons
• Pass the Georgia Hate Crime Bill
• Qualified Immunity Needs Legislative Reform 
• Teaching about systemic racism in UK schools 

This link contains many more petitions that you can sign, as there are only a small number here, along with some places that you can give a donation to if possible. 

Charities

Here are some charities that we can all support: 

• Black Lives Matter: We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise.
• Campaign Zero: Funds donated to Campaign Zero support the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.  
• NAACP: The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (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. 
• The National Police Accountability Project:  The central mission of NPAP is to promote the accountability of law enforcement officers and their employers for violations of the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

Donate For Free:

Zoe Amira, among others, created a YouTube fundraiser to offer people a way to donate and financially contribute to Black Lives Matter, without donating any money directly. 100% of the ad revenue that her video makes will be donated to the associations listed at the beginning of her video. For your view to be counted make sure you don’t skip any ads ( ad blocker must be turned off and play the video in the youtube app), have your volume at least at 50% (you can put in headphones), and play 3-5 different videos in between this one if you are donating again. 

We ask you all, to stand with the Movement for Black Lives.