A mini digital library for anti-racism

Myriam Van Neste

by Myriam Van Neste

A few years ago, a dear friend who lives in London, one of the most multi-ethnic cities in the world, told me that he could never get serious with a white woman, although in love he would never accept the desire to create a family together, because she could never understand what it means to raise a non-white son or daughter in a white country.

My immediate reaction a series of but: But really? But why? But you live in London! But how, even if you love her? But this way you let racism influence your love life… and if everyone thought so, then there would be no chance of hoping for a better society! But later, in our talk, I understood that I knew nothing about it.

No, I don’t know how it feels. I can try to imagine it but I can’t know what it means to be looked at or not to be looked at in a certain way, to be pointed or avoided, excluded, ignored by the colour of my skin. I don’t know all this but I can decide to be aware and contrast the forms and declinations of white supremacy in the society I live in, I can try to get closer to the sense of négritude and to contribute to cultural change starting from myself.

To do this, we need first of all to put ourself in a position of listening, observation, reading. The internet offers infinite resources and here, in this virtual place that I consider a cultural space, I want to share some tools collected in these days of #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd e #BlackLivesMatter, imagining a mini digital library for anti-racism – a page in progress to update also with your contribution and which, given the global theme, collects resources especially but not only in English; a page made of links to information, essays, stories, books, podcasts, videos that help us to see the world from the other point of view. We’ll never know how it feels on the other side but we can learn and do our best to ensure that no other person could ever feel this way again. And may my friend, one day, change his mind.

Mini Digital Library For Antiracism

Documents (with many useful interesting links divided by category):

Anti-racist resource guide
Anti-racism resources for white people
Becoming anti-racist | a graphic by SurgeryRedesign.com
Racism Scale: Where do you fall? Identify your own bias and help others explore theirs with this graduated scale | a graphic by RacismScale.weebly.com

Articles:

For our white friends desiring to be allies | sojo.net

Videos:

How we can make racism a solvable problem – and improve policing | TED Talk
Why Talking to Your White Family About Black People is the Wrong Approach | by Sonya Renee Taylor on IGTV
How “white fragility” reinforces racism – video explainer | The Guardian
Doll test – The effects of racism on children | Fanpage.it

Podcasts:

Loving Colour by Tanaka Mhishi and Imogen Butler-Cole | This is what it looks like when justice starts at home. Two friends, one Black, one White, share a series of tender and uncompromising conversations about how Whiteness and anti-Blackness have shaped their lives. Join us, Tanaka Mhishi and Imogen Butler-Cole, as we attempt our own version of restorative justice through compassion and storytelling. Listen on Spotify or iTunes (Apple) or Google Podcast. Follow on Twitter: @lovingcolourpod and Instagram: @lovingcolourpod

Websites:

BlackLivesMatter.com | #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. You can follow them on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter.

Social media posts: