As people march in the streets calling for justice and social change in the wake of yet another black man losing his life at the hands of a white person, I wonder if we have reaching a tipping point after all these years. Four-hundred-plus years in the making, it would seem those who have stayed on the sidelines are now joining others who have been about the work of justice and racial healing. My social media feeds are full of people seeking (and giving) resources for having these important conversations with our children, youth, and yes – with adults. So in order to keep all of these collected in one place, I have placed them here.

This isn’t the first time I’ve compiled a list of resources or written a post regarding white privilege or Becoming Beloved Community through the study of racism and break down systems that continue to benefit some but not others – especially people of color. If anything, I have realized that this is work that cannot stop and needs to start – as obviously so many of us have not truly begun the real work of making change. When I looked back, I see that I’ve been posting on this topic since 2014; you can see my previous posts here:

• More Resources for Dismantling Racism (October 2019)
• Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation (February 2019)
• The Work Ahead (August 2017)
• Violence, Racism, and Hostile Rhetoric (July 2016)
• Sowing a Non-Violent Country (October 2015)
• Evil and the Human Heart – a sermon (August 2015)
• Resources for Discussing Racism (July 2015)
• Enough for All – a sermon (August 2014)

If anything, I hope families begin to have conversations with their children at an early age and continue the dialogue throughout their life and stages. This is not something that can be checked off a list, but needs to be put on the top of our “to do list” every day. By the time a child is three-years-old that have formed prejudices and world views of others by the examples they see around them – especially those views and actions of their parents. White adults need to do the work and not keep asking our siblings of color to “help explain” or “tell us what you need.” WE need to look within ourselves and the systems that have allowed us to be persons of privilege due to the white pigment of our own skin.

The below lists are additional resources and sites that I have not mentioned before. I especially commend the two lists I compiled above in 2019 for specific titles for adults and Episcopal initiatives in dismantling racism and Becoming Beloved Community.

For Parents

• Wendy Claire Barrie’s blog is always a good source for families. Author of Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Parents, she has updated her post: Talking with Children About Race.
• Jenifer Gamber, a chaplain at an Episcopal School, shared resources from St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C. Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Anti-Racist Resource List for Students and Families was compiled by librarians Jamila Felton and Mara Rosenberg (June 2020) providing specific resources that directly teach or promote anti-racist values and actions or that candidly explore the historical context of systemic racism. A few intersectional, social justice books for children have also been added for their connections to systemic racism.
• Julian Best recorded one of her conversation with her son Daniel about justice, Black Lives Matter, and police brutality so that other parents could feel more confident in talking to their young children.
• NPR’s Michel Martin spoke to Jennifer Harvey, author of Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America, about how to talk with white kids about racially-charged events. Listen to How White Parents Can Talk About Race.
• Another blogger I follow is Christine Hides (Bless Each One). One of her recent posts shared a short podcast put together by NPR and the Sesame Street Workshop for understanding how to talk to young children about race. She also shared 4 Things We Should All Teach Kids About Racism Right Now and 100 Race-Conscious things you can say to your child to advance racial justice.
• Wiggles and Wonders is a site by Allison Bird Treacy that I just discovered. Here she offers Growing Anti-Racist Practices in These Green, Growing Days.

For Children

• From Here Wee Read: The Ultimate 2018 List of Diverse Books For Children
• From Books For Littles: No White Saviors: Kids Books About Black Women in US History
• Children’s books by and about underrepresented groups from The Conscious Kid

For Youth

• The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture offers many resources for all ages and roles, but youth may especially enjoy the fresh and interactive way Talking About Race is offered on their site.

• The Evanston (Illinois) Public Library has offered a great list of books for teens:
  • All American Boys by Jason Reynolds (fiction titles listed below)
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
  • Black Boy, White School by Brian F.Walker 
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • Dear Martin by Nic Stone
  • Electric Arches by Eve Ewing
  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  • How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
  • I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Gilly Segal & Kimberly Jones
  • Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
  • Monster by Walter Dean Myers
  • Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
  • The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
  • When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur
  • Discovering Wes Moore by Wes Moore (factual listed below)
  • A Few Drops of Red: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Clare Hartfield 
  • Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly 
  • In The Shadow of Liberty by Kenneth C. Davis
  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
  • March: Book One by Jon Lewis , Andrew Aydin and Illustrated by Nate Powell
  • Obviously, Stories from My Timeline by Akilah Hughes
  • The Self-Love Revolution by Virgie Tovar
  • Stamped; Racism, Anti-Racism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X.Kendi
  • Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery
  • We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
  • White Privilege by M.T. Blakemore
• The Anti-Defamation League offers Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations About Race and Racism
• Teaching Tolerance is one of my go-to sites for youth on any social justice topic. Here is their guide for Let’s Talk: Discussing Race, Racism and Other Difficult Topics with Youth

For Adults

• Esquire Magazine has offered If You Want to Learn About Anti-Racism, These 10 Books Are a Start. From James Baldwin’s 1963 treatise on the “racial nightmare” of life in America to contemporary writers who have taken up his mantle, here’s where to start educating yourself.
• Church Publishing is offering (thru June 30, 2020) Seeing My Skin: A Story of Wrestling with Whiteness by Peter Jarrett Schell via Issu (an online magazine/book format for reading).
• TED Talks offer an article (with a video interview with activist Deray Mckesson) from 2018: How you can be an ally in the fight for racial justice. It includes (1) own your own privilege; (2) talk about what’s uncomfortable and what’s important; (3) be strategic in what you say and how you say it; (4) activism isn’t just about protests and marches — it means voting, too; (5) figure out where and how you can do the most good; (6) start where you are; (7) ask yourself: what do I want the future to look like?; and (8) feel the fear — and act anyway.
• National Indigenous Television (NITV) is a channel made by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Luke Pearson and Sophie Verass write Ten Things You Should Know about White Privilege. How much do we actually know about the concept and history of this sociological term?
• The History of Race in America: Seeing White Series on Scene On Radio

For Faith Communities

• Building Faith offered a webinar, Faith Communities Address Diversity And Racial Justice, in February 2019 that is still helpful today. Learn from this conversation about racial justice and why people of faith should be engaged in working towards an equitable America. Guests James McKim, Liz Miller, and Parker Garrett represent three faith communities addressing diversity and racial injustice. In addition to the webinar there are a number of great resource links.
• The (Episcopal) Office of Government Relations offered this Episcopal Litany for Social Justice in July 2004. It is just as relevant, if not more so now.
• The Episcopal Church’s Framework for Anti-Racism Training
• The Evangelical Church in America (ELCA) offers a guide: Talking Together as Christians about Tough Social Issues
• In 2018 the United Church of Christ began an initiative: Sacred Conversations to End Racism (SC2ER). A Restorative Racial Justice Journey curriculum was created to address and dismantle racism within the Christian Church and society. The study guide and resources offer lessons to dispel myths of white skin and dominant culture supremacy.

Header: Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash