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Welcome to the first anti-racism reading list of 2026. This month's articles look at colonialism, inequality, the costs of racism, AI and more. All oppression is linked, so we need to consider a wide range of aspects. Ready to dive in?
1. The Machine That Forgot We Were Human by Terrell Groggins
With AI-powered tools invading every aspect of our lives, online AND offline, it seemed a good idea to share this exploration of some of the issues.
“OpenAI’s content moderation system flags African American Vernacular English as “aggressive” 40% more often than Standard American English saying the same thing. The algorithm learned from decades of HR complaints, news articles, and social media reports that already coded Black speech as threat. Now it automates the bias at scale, confident in its accuracy.”
I felt and feel this deeply, because so many of us are providing freemium education and not earning an income that lets us thrive. Comparisons to those whose starting point is better resourced are invidious:
“the racial reality of this hustler writing model is that in the end it favors white folks. Yeah, I said it. There are virtually no Black women mentioned anywhere near the top earners in any of these people-funded models. Not on Substack or Patreon—remember, Patreon is my OG home outside of my actual blog.”
3. Why it Matters That Your Therapist Looks Like You by Rev. Sheila P. Johnson
As you know, I've personally experienced what happens when people who don't share your identity deny your medical concerns, and I'm far from the only one. The moment described by Rev Johnson below allows us to exhale a little:
“When your therapist looks like you —, or at least has the framework to understand your lived realities, the work changes. Healing feels possible. You don’t waste energy translating or defending your experience. You don’t hold your breath wondering whether your truth will be minimized or doubted. Instead, you can exhale. You can trust that what you carry — the weight of racism, of inequities, of expectations born from culture — is real, and that it will be received with recognition, not dismissal.”
4. Beyond solidarity: five years on, will our sector live its anti-racism values? by Bibusa MusukwaLena Bheeroo
This discussion is long overdue, in my opinion, but needs to move rapidly from talk to action:
“The aid system does not exist outside of history. It is built on the legacies of empire. In the wake of 2020, conversations that had long been pushed to the margins began to move into the centre: calls to decolonise aid, demands for locally led development, and recognition that anti-racism must be more than a statement of solidarity.”
5. Historical images made with AI recycle colonial stereotypes and bias by Olli Hellmann
Yeah, water is wet, but this is still worth paying attention to for the reasons stated here. (P.S. I wanted to be sure to reflect a Māori perspective on this issue, so I found this article which quotes Lynell Tuffery Huria)
“imagery that portrays colonisation as peaceful and consensual can blunt the perceived urgency of Māori claims to political sovereignty and redress through institutions such as the Waitangi Tribunal, as well as calls for cultural revitalisation.”