Black Lives Matter – How to educate yourself

The Black Lives Matter movement strives to eradicate white supremacy and build local power that can intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. Black Lives Matter is a collective of liberators who believe in an inclusive and spacious movement. It is about creating a world where every Black person has the social, economic and political power to thrive.

As a team, we have made sure to take the time to educate ourselves thoroughly about the importance of the movement before we talk about it ourselves and acknowledge that racism is very much still a prominent topic within our world.

A great way of showing support to the cause is by simply learning about the Black Lives Matter movement and that racism still exists in our society that we may not hear about in the mainstream media etc. There are a number of vital and informative resources in many different forms that you can access so you can educate yourself with the most reliable information.

Below we have put together a list of a range of different resources that you can access to help you gain a more complex understanding of racism in our world today.

The Black Lives Matter website is a great place to start to familiarise and educate yourself on what this movement is. There are also a range of downloadable resources to help spread the message further.

Books

We are currently awaiting stock of our own educational books which we will link to when they are available. In the meantime, here are some others you can check out:

• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
• Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire – Akala
• Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World – Layla Saad
• Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging – Afua Hirsch
• The Good Immigrant – Nikesh Shukla
• They Can’t Kill Us All: The Story of Black Lives Matter – Wesley Lowery
• I Can’t Breathe: The Killing that Started a Movement – Matt Taibbi
• How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality – Adam Rutherford
• So You Want to Talk About Race – Ijeoma Oluo

Films and TV shows:

• When They See Us – Netflix
• 13th – Netflix
• Time: The Kalief Browder Story – Netflix
• Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap – Netflix
• American Son – Netflix
• Dear White People – Netflix
• Just Mercy – Available to Rent
• Selma – Available to Rent
• The Hate U Give – Hulu
• Fruitvale Station – Netflix

Podcasts:

• About Race – https://www.showaboutrace.com
• Seeing White – https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/
• Momentum a Race Forward Podcast – https://www.raceforward.org/media/podcast/momentum-race-forward-podcast
• 1619 – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html

Articles:

• 7 Ways You Can Step Up for Racial Justice Right Now – Global Citizen
• How to donate to causes, support black artists and educate yourself in this historic moment – Resident Advisor
• BLACK LIVES MATTER: HOW TO SUPPORT ANTI-RACIST ORGANISATIONS IN THE UK IF YOU CAN’T DONATE – The Independent
• I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet. – The Washington Post
• TO WHITE PEOPLE, ON RACISM – Hope not Hate
• ‘We need to be heard’: the BAME climate activists who won’t be ignored – The Guardian

More:

• One of our suppliers, Ian Snow which sells Fairtrade homeware pieces that are beautiful and sustainable is holding a competition to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. They are looking for 5 pieces of artwork which champion the Black Lives Matter movement. This artwork will then be turned into cushions with 100% of the profits being donated to charities fighting against racism. Find out how you can enter here.

These are just a few of the resources that you can access and what have helped us become more knowledgeable on the subject and truly understand the effects this is having on our people and planet.

Additionally, we want to show our support to Blackout Day that is taking place on Tuesday 7th July 2020. Blackout Day’s mission is to create an international community of economic solidarity and national consciousness.

Blackout Day marks a day of solidarity within the Black community and encourages supporters to only buy from black-owned businesses or not buy at all on this day. The movement aims to reinforce the power that the community has and shed light on the lack of representation. In the words of Blackout Day, ‘it is a global problem that requires global cooperation’. You can find out more on the Blackout Day official website and how you can get involved.