Anti-Racism Dialogue and Action Resources

IMPACT Chicago board members, instructors, staff, and volunteers have been engaging in dialogue about anti-racism. For our first dialogue, we addressed questions about anti-racism, social justice, and organizational priorities based on our varying knowledge of IMPACT Chicago as an organization and our varying activist experiences as part of organizations with explicitly stated anti-racism missions. For our second dialogue after reading, watching, and listening to a common set of materials representing a range of perspectives, we will come together to share what we've learned and to identify and choose specific actions. 

I identified and organized numerous articles, blog posts, videos, and podcasts that I have found compelling and informative. I've organized the material in categories to remind us of the multiple layers of work to do.

• shared vocabulary and language
• dimensions of racism (institutional, structural, interpersonal, and internalized)
• importance of both dialogue and action. 

Board Member and Workshop Leader Tara Brinkman, Board Member Denise Loyd, and Admin Team Co-Leader and Lead Instructor Martha Thompson also suggested content.  Board Co-Chair and former suited instructor Bruce Brio, Board Member and Workshop Leader Deb Mier, and Martha Thompson helped me winnow down the rich number of available materials to a manageable size for pre-work. I hope you find these resources and their organization useful.

Lisa Amoroso, Coordinator for Dialogues 1 and 2

Admin Team Co-Leader and Workshop Leader

Shared Vocabulary & Language 

1. What makes something racist?, Ibrahim X. Kendi, vid 6:14

2. Why you should stop saying All Lives Matter Explained 9 Different Ways, read all or just a few, #3 is hilarious, <15m read/watch

3. Dismantling the 4 Dimensions of Racism (article can be read in full or read the section titled “The Four Dimensions of Racism,” <8m read)

Dimensions of Racism

Four Dimensions of Racism: Dimension 1 - Institutional

1. Let's get to the root of racial injustice, Megan Ming Francis, vid 19:37

2. #OscarsSoWhite and The Legacy of Halle Berry, vid 18:43

3. When Calling the Po-Po is a No-No, Karen Grigsby Bates, podcast 4:37

Four Dimensions of Racism: Dimension 2 - Structural

1. You want a Confederate Monument?, Caroline Randall Williams, <7m read

2. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, Ep. 1, Emmanuel Acho, vid 9:27

Four Dimensions of Racism: Dimension 3 - Interpersonal

1. What’s Up with Chicks in Science? Neil DeGrasse Tyson responds, vid 3:32

2. A trip to the Grocery Store, Joy DeGruy, vid 3:56

Four Dimensions of Racism: Dimension 4 - Internalized 

1. We all have implicit biases. So what can we do about it?, Dushaw Hockett, vid 12:00

2. How to overcome our biases, Verna Myers, vid 17:37

Anti-Racist Work in Empowerment-based Self-Defense

1. Black Lives Matter, Martha Thompson, IMPACT Chicago blog, 2017, <3m read 

2. Addressing Stereotypes and Social Inequality in Self-Defense Priya Nelson, IMPACT Chicago blog, 2020, <7m read

3. Self Defense in a Racist World, Linda Leu, IMPACT Bay Area blog 2020, <3m read 

A Guide on Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans, The Derm Review

Financial Literacy in the Black Community, Rachel Christian/Lee Williams, Annuity.org

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

• We need to talk about an injustice, Bryon Stevenson, vid 23:26

• Intersectionality, Kimberlé Crenshaw, vid 6:41

• Why Color Blindness will NOT end Racism, Franchesca Ramsey, vid 5:36

• Prisoners who can’t vote, NPR podcast 6:06

• Stereotype Threat, Claude Steele, vid 8:18

• Racial bias in pain assessment, Hoffman, Trawalter, Axt, & Oliver, 2016 research abstract, <4m read

• HBR article on African American Inequality in the United States.

• Article about domestic violence and the impact of language - corollary to how language of personal safety might contribute to less funding for SD and prevention. 

• WNYC Interview with Suzanne Plihcik - Offers a more elaborated definition of racism (from 6:41 to 7:20) and then touches on definitions of anti-racism and white beneficiaries within our current system. This entire segment is 23 minutes.

• White Privilege (article)

• Intersectionality (article)

• Uncomfortable Convos with a Black Man, Seeing Color, Ep 3, Emmanuel Acho, vid 9:55

• Uncomfortable Convos with a Black Man, Reverse Racism, Ep. 4, Emmanuel Acho, vid 7:24

• Media Bias

• What kind of Asian are you? 

• How to be Anti-Racist

• https://www.100yearhoodie.com/why

• 97 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice 

• The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States, Jeffery Robinson, vid, 75:00

• Mental Health Issues Facing the Black Community.

• Angry Black Woman & Well-Intentioned White Girl by Amoke Kubat (2 person play available for purchase on Vimeo)  

• Podcasts (edit from original post to add source of podcasts)

• Listen to historical and contemporary podcasts on race (in alphabetical order)*

o    1619 by the New York Times

o    About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

o    All My Relations hosted by Ma

o    Code Switch by NPR

o    The Diversity Gap hosted by Bethaney Wilkinson

o    Intersectionality Matters! Hosted by Kimberle Crenshaw

o    Lynching in America by the Equal Justice Initiative

o    Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast

o    Seeing White by Scene On Radio

o    Still Processing hosted by Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham

o    #TellBlackStories, extension of Color of Change Hollywood

o    The Stoop hosted by Leila Day and Hana Baba 

o    Witness Black History by BBC World

*added source for podcast