Statement of Commitment
Cover of the 2017-18 Isom Report
Programs like Gender Studies and African American Studies grew out of political movements. Black liberation, women’s liberation, and gay liberation transformed our society more broadly, and these movements also changed universities, insisting that disciplines of knowledge question their assumptions, excise their bigotry, and reimagine the role of the university as a place for radical transformation and the creation of new knowledge, new coalitions, and new comprehension of toxic social and political structures.
Not since the 1960s and 1970s have we seen political liberation movements like the ones we have seen in the last three weeks. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have placed a spotlight on state violence and the tragic human costs of systemic racism. The response of American citizens in the last two weeks, we hope, is a turning point in our nation. Black Lives Matter, a movement with deep queer and feminist roots, has expanded the possible and rejected the status quo as immoral and untenable. This movement will change American society, and it will also change universities as a whole and the specific disciplines of knowledge and programs within it. The movement will challenge those of us within higher education to ask difficult questions about our own complicity with white supremacy and structural racism.
Feminism’s own complicity with white supremacy is fraught; many feminist movements, from suffrage to birth control to the gender wage gap, anti-pornography movements, and domestic and sexual assault, have used racist arguments and been complicit in racist terror. Excluding black women from “women’s issues” has a long history in mainstream feminism. Yet there has always been another strand of feminism, one that insists on intersectional coalitions and anti-racist accountability, one led by women of color. Studying, understanding, and celebrating that intersectional feminism, and the many brilliant scholars and activists today who embody it, from Brittany Cooper to Tarana Burke to Imani Perry, is essential as we continue the struggle for a society that truly provides liberty and justice for all.
We stand with Black Lives Matter, and we are committed to supporting and being transformed by the courageous protestors who are making a better and more just world possible. Below, we list resources for those similarly committed. We will also continue to include the long history of liberation struggles into our courses, our academic and community programs, and our practice.
We consider this to be a work in progress, and we encourage folks to submit additional resources and categories here.
Black Lives Matter Resources
Understanding Current Conversations
Start here to learn about the history and conversations surrounding key issues related to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Death of George Floyd, in Context - Jelani Cobb
Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true - Nikole Hannah-Jones
The Struggle to Abolish the Police Is Not New - Garrett Felber
Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Why People Loot: On who looters are, what they want, and why some protests are more likely to include them - Olga Khazan
The Case for Reparations - Ta-Nehisi Coates
A project from Harvard University about implicit bias
The Law Isn’t Neutral - Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Boston University School of Law dean
Being a Better Ally
Think of these as starter resources to understand how to be an effective ally and how you can continue your work to becoming a stronger ally.
Comprehensive Google Docs:
Anti-racism resources for white people
Articles & Other Resources
10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship
How to Talk to Your Family About Racism: A Guide for White People
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Cognitive Reserve and Racial Privilege in STEM
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
What Is Toxic White Feminism? - When Feminism Is White Supremacy
The realities of being a black birdwatcher
Improving Online Dialogues About Justice And Equity In Climate And Science
White People Must Save Themselves from Whiteness
No White Saviors If you're not uncomfortable, you're not listening. - No White Saviors
Learn about unconscious bias
Protest Resources
If you plan to attend a protest, these resources will help you know your rights and provide advice for staying safe.
How to Safely and Ethically Film Police Misconduct
Others Ways You Can Help - Protests & Petitions
Give to Bail Funds:
Wellness Resources
Taking care of yourself is always important. Please use these resources if needed.
BEAM Black Virtual Therapist Directory
Supporting Black Businesses
One important way to be an ally is to support Black-owned businesses. Check out these businesses for your next purchases.
Black-owned Businesses in Oxford, MS
Find & Support Black-Owned Businesses With These Apps & Websites
Read, Listen, Watch
We recommend adding these to your lists.
Literature
Consider supporting Black-owned bookstores if purchasing books!
An Antiracist Reading List by Ibram X. Kendi
The Limitations of an Anti-Racist Reading List
Podcasts
The Intercept ft. Ruth Wilson Gilmore, a prison abolitionist and prison scholar
Unlocking Us ft. Brené Brown with Ibram X. Kendi, an episode on antiracism
Beyond Prisons Podcast, a podcast on incarceration and prison abolition that elevates people directly impacted by the system
Code Switch Podcast, 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
TV & Film
13th
Just Mercy
If Beale Street Could Talk
I Am Not Your Negro
The Black Power Mixtape, 1967-1975
When They See Us
Do the Right Thing
Fruitvale Station
LA 92
LA Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later
Strong Island
The Hate U Give
Let the Fire BurnWhose Streets?
Charm City
12th and Clairmount
Bush Mama
Spies of Mississippi
Eyes on the Prize
Get Connected
Connect with organizations and activists on Twitter.
@eveewing - Eve L. Ewing, a sociologist, author, poet, and visual artist and assistant professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago
@keishablain - Dr. Keisha N. Blain, current president of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS)@BreeNewsome - Bree Newsome Bass, an American filmmaker, musician, speaker, and activist from Charlotte, North Carolina@prisonculture - Mariame Kaba, an American activist and organizer who advocates for the abolition of the prison industrial complex
@phillyprof03 - Kim Wilson, co-host and Producer of the Beyond Prisons podcast
@dnbrgr - Dan Berger, a professor of comparative ethnic studies at the University of Washington, Bothell, and the author of the award-winning Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era
@MicahHerskind - Micah Herskind, policy associate Southern Center for Human Rights
@sheabutterfemme - organizer with Survived and Punished NY
@dereckapurnell - Dereka Purnell, organizer, writer, and Harvard Law School graduate
@KeeangaYamahtta - Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership
@LoneberryWang - Jackie Wang, a black studies scholar, poet, multimedia artist, and PhD candidate in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University who specializes in race and the political economy of prisons and police in the United States
@avitale - Alex S. Vitale, Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College@studyabolition, network of self-organized prisoner study groups building abolitionist community at SCI-Fayette and across prison walls@BLACKandPINKorg, Black and Pink National, fighting for prison abolition via advocacy, support, & organizing for LGBTQ+ folks & PLWH who are system impacted