Resources on Race That I Have Found Helpful
Hello fine people. Thanks for popping over and clicking on this post!
You know, I have rarely been one to shy away from conversations about race in America and how our avoidance of such topics has only made things worse. However, the last year has opened my eyes to just how much I don’t know or understand.
Earlier in the summer, I was Facetiming with a friend who was processing what the last few months had been like for her as a black woman living in America (specifically in downtown Chicago) seeing protests right outside her door and images of racism all over the news 24-7. She said (and this is not verbatim, but you get the gist), “I feel like white people have been looking at the world through this shaded glass, and someone has taken a hammer and finally cracked the glass, and I am over here going, ‘OMG. Finally! You can see it! Finally!’”
I laughed and then told her that I feel like one of the people on the other side of the glass going, “Holy s***! It’s really this bad! I didn’t realize it was this bad! I’m sorry!!”
For the first time, I’m beginning to understand what people mean when they say race is a construct and that whiteness/white supremacy has fatally infiltrated every aspect of our culture, government and even our faith.
It’s not been an easy road to walk, and I am by no means at the end of it (nor will I ever be). But I’m convinced we have to start somewhere. If anything, something good can still come out of 2020. These disruptions have offered us a chance to take a hard look at the systems in our country — and within ourselves — that are not working for the good of all people, and reimagine a new way forward. But we can only imagine a new way forward if we’re honest about where we are.
And so with that, I’ve made a list of resources that I have found helpful over the last several years in wrapping my head around this thing called race, and seeing the role that I have to play in dismantling it. This is by no means an exhaustive list— mostly, it’s just all the things I could remember in one sitting. Most of my learning has come from listening to podcasts and following people on Instagram, so there’s a lot of those. But I’ve also tried to include a few books, and one documentary that I’ve watched recently.
Be The Bridge
I’d consider starting here. Be The Bridge is an organization founded by Latasha Morrison
Private Facebook Group - When you join, you must complete a self-paced set of learning modules and observe three months of listening (aka…no posting, just listening to what others are saying) before you can post anything.
Be the Bridge Podcast - I actually just recently discovered this podcast and am excited to dive in.
Podcast Episodes
The Liturgists: Black and White, Racism in America
For the Love with Jen Hatmaker: Latasha Morrison: Building Bridges Through Black and White Conversations
For the Love with Jen Hatmaker: Austin Channing: Doing Nothing is No Longer an Option
For the Love with Jen Hatmaker: How to Make a Politics of Love: Lisa Sharon Harper
Brene Brown with Ibram X. Kendi: How to Be An Anti Racist
Arm Chair Expert: Ibram X. Kendi
Pantsuit Politics: Allyship and Justice with Lisa Sharon Harper
Pantsuit Politics: Imagining a World Without Police
The Zeitcast with Jonathan Martin: Prayer, the Powers, and Discipleship Down Under with Jarrod McKenna
The Zeitcast with Jonathan Martin: Decolonizing the Very Good Gospel
Articles by a dear friend
What I hear when someone says ‘I don’t see color’ by Kiara Goodwin
Stop Ignoring My Skin Color: Nude is not a one-size fits all by Kiara Goodwin
My Hair Journey: What I’ve Learned from My Natural Hair by Kiara Goodwin
Instagram Accounts
Danielle Coke: @ohhappydani
Lisa Sharon Harper: @lisasharonharperJemar Tisby: @jemartisby
Brittany Packnett Cummingham: @mspackyetti
Sophie W: @officialmillenialblack
Glo Atanamo: @glographics
Chasing Justice: @chasingjustice
Sandra Maria Van Opstel: @sandravanopstel
Jasmine Lopez: @authenticadventureco
Books
I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper
The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby (currently reading)
White Awake by Daniel Hill (currently reading)
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (I haven’t read this one, but Dan read it earlier this year, and I learned a lot just from listening to him process!)
Middle Grade Novels
While these are books written for elementary schoolers, I’d actually recommend them for adults as well (especially the 3rd one - I learned so much from reading this book last year). Also…they’re all fiction or poetry, which makes them easier to take in than more academic books.
Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
Sia Martinez and Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Dreams From Many Rivers by Margarita Engle
Documentaries
13th - on Netflix
Freedom Road
This is a website and organization founded by Lisa Sharon Harper. There are lots of good resources on here if you’re interested. The primary way I have engaged with this website was through a four-week webinar on decolonizing the Bible that Lisa hosted in May. It was not only very informative, but pretty transformative in the way I read the Bible.
Got any more? Drop them in the comments!