Social justice is the process of ensuring that all people have the same privileges and personal liberties as well as the possibility of social mobility. Social justice aims to provide safety nets for vulnerable members of society and effect economic justice where disparities exist.
Books to Read on the Experience of Racism
- Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
- The Bridge Called My Back, Writings by Radical Women of Color, Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa (editors)
- Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein
- The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, Khalil Gibran Muhammad
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, Dr. Brittney Cooper
- Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century, Dorothy Roberts
- The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
- From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- Getting Smart about Race: An American Conversation, Margaret Andersen
- The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, Edward E. Baptist
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brown
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Bryan Stevenson
- Locking up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, James Forman
- A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History, Jeanne Theoharis
- My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
- Racism: A Short History, George Frederickson
- Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
- Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, Janet Mock
- Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, Audre Lorde
- Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of of Black Americans From the Civil War to World War II, Douglas A. Blackmon
- Too Heavy A Load: Black Women in Defense of Themselves, 1894-1994, Deborah G. White
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson
- When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America, Paula Giddings
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, Beverly Daniel Tatum
Articles
- 97 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice, Corinne Shutack, Medium
- How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change, Barack Obama, Medium
- It’s exhausting. How many hashtags will it take for all of America to see Black people as more than their skin color?, Rita Omokha, Elle
- Of Course There Are Protests.The State Is Failing Black People, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, New York Times
- The 1619 Project, in particular this essay, Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times.
- The Death of George Floyd, In Context, Jelani Cobb, New Yorker
- The Function of Black Rage, Mychal Denzel Smith, The Nation
- When Silence Is Betrayal – What Must Be Said About The Killing Of George Floyd, Seth Cohen, Forbes
Videos
- 13th, Netflix documentary exposing racial inequality within the criminal justice system
- America is a Tale of Two Cities, Chris Cuomo, CNN
- An ‘Unapologetic’ Black Feminist on Accelerating the Pace of Change, Brittney Cooper
- Do you want to be treated like a Black American?, Jane Elliot
- Equity and Equality, Rising Tide Center, University of Maine
- I Am Not Your Negro, documentary envisioning an unfinished James Baldwin book
- It’s Movement Time Again, Rev. William Barber, Poor People’s Campaign
- Let It Fall, documentary looking at racial tensions in Los Angeles and the 1992 riots over LAPD officers’ brutal assault on Rodney King
- Let’s get to the root of racial injustice | Megan Ming Francis | TEDxRainier
- Re-righting History (on Confederate Statues) Inside Out with Katie Couric
- Selma, film that chronicles the marches of the Civil Rights Movement
- When They See Us, Ava DuVernay, Netflix miniseries about the Central Park Five
- White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation’s Divide, Dr. Carol Anderson
- White Fragility, Dr. Robin DiAngelo
Protection, Policing and Prison Resources
- Black Lives Matter: 25+ Resources for Your Conversations on Police Violence, Editors, Everyday Feminism
- Black Women and a History of Police Violence, Association of Black Women Historians
- Education and Criminalization, Dr. Imani J. Walker (The Rood)
- How Much Do We Need The Police?, National Public Radio
- How to cope with being attacked by police and other assailants, Activist Trauma Support
- Policing Timeline, Critical Resistance
- Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women, The African American Policy Forum
- Resources on Police Abolition, The African American Policy Forum
- Reformist Reforms vs Abolitionist Steps in Policing, Critical Resistance
- Say Her Name Campaign, The African American Policy Forum
- Statement on Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex, INCITE/Critical Resistance
- Survived and Punished (non-profit)
- Tips for Self-Care: When Police Brutality Has You Questioning Humanity and Social Media is Enough
- Transform Harm (non-profit)
- What is Prison Abolition? John Washington
- Who’s Left? Prison Abolition (a graphic/comic interview with Mariame Kaba), Flynn Nichols
- What the Prison-Abolition Movement Wants, Kim Kelly
Legal Resources
- National Lawyers Guild (pro bono services)
The National Lawyers Guild has lawyers (and law students supervised by experienced lawyers) available to represent (pro bono) protesters arrested or charged for participating in demonstrations. - Know Your Rights Camp – Colin Kapernick’s Legal Defense Initiative
The Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative has identified and teamed up with top defense lawyers and civil rights lawyers nationwide to provide legal resources for those in need.
