Anti-Racism Resources

A non-exhaustive list of useful anti-racism tools

Jul 28

Hello friends,

Early on in the life of this newsletter, I shared some resources I’d found useful for talking about and explaining various aspects of anti-racism work. Since then, I’ve been bookmarking stuff as I’ve come across it, and now I’m ready to share again. That’ll make today’s edition a bit different, but I hope still useful.

Understanding Privilege with the Power Wheel

The Power Wheel looks at several categories in which we judge ourselves and others. The closer to the center you are the more power you have. It’s a great tool for easily visualizing where you sit (and it might not be in one place). My favorite version of it is by Sylvia Duckworth.

Wheel of Power and Privilege by Sylvia Duckworth.

Anti-Racism Videos for Kids

I’ve used a few of these myself in the anti-racism and social justice content I’ve created for Omnis Education. I was pleased to find this list from We are Teachers, and this video from Sesame Street (which was the first show I remember watching as a child that had well rounded Black characters).

How to Respond?

As a Black woman, I’ve sometimes found that when I mention incidents of racism to white colleagues they tend to minimize. This illustration by Daniel Edge shows the impact of different responses.

Are You Privileged?

We use an ethnicity privilege test in one of our anti-racism workshops at Omnis. This LinkedIn post by Future Cain is similar - see how you stack up.

If you want to go further, Reader Stephen M reminded me of the male privilege checklist and the white privilege checklist.

Anti-Racism Circle

I facilitate an anti-racism circle for Omnis Education. We meet monthly to discuss all aspects of racism, from how to confront and interrupt it, to continuing education on issues like language use, microaggressions and more. One of our members calls it the best hour of her month. It’s a safe space full of auntie energy (firm but kind). If you want to take the next step in your anti-racism journey, why not join us?

Learn More About Omnis ARC

Inclusive Hiring

A LOT of people are trying to help those people who somehow can’t find qualified Black or Brown people to work with them. Two places you can start are Black Remote She and Diverse Creatives.

Diversify Your Imagery

Similarly, there are a few places where you can find images of Black and Brown people to illustrate your content. My friend Julia Hubbel does this ALL the time, so it’s not that hard. You can start with POC Stock, Nappy.co and Black Illustrations.

Deconstructing “Race”

Race is a construct - a made up fiction with real consequences. So when we talk about race what do we mean? This chart from Holly Dunsworth, published on Equality Includes You really made me think. How does it land with you?

Source: Holly Dunsworth, Equality Includes You

Around the same time, I saw this LinkedIn post and chart from Chris Armstrong:

Let’s Talk About History

I came across a great resource the other day - Speaking While Female. It’s exactly what it says, allowing you to see speeches made by women in all sorts of categories, including anti-slavery speeches and speeches about race.

And while we’re on the subject of history, I’d like to highlight Black to School again, where I recently contributed an article on the subject of “ubuntu”.

Black To School is a weekly newsletter that is curated by a collective of artists, writers, researchers, and other professionals. They are rewriting the story of Black contributions and excellence in every area of our society from business and finance to math, science, and the arts. They’re looking for volunteer writers who are excited to help “set the record straight” and share positive Black stories. If you are interested, please contact them at info@blcktoschool.com and they'll schedule some time to share more about the Black To School collective and issue calendar.

I hope you find these resources helpful. If you have anti-racism resources to share, feel free to drop a link in the comments, or reply to this email.