1. Read, educate yourself and understand
If you’re joining the movement make sure you’ve done your homework. Racism goes beyond what you think it is, read about it to expand your mind and understand the whole social structure of discrimination that shapes stereotypes and behaviours.
Books
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo.
- White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son, Tim Wise.
- How To Be An Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi.
- So you want to talk about race, Ijeoma Oluo.
- Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People, Kelsey Blackwell. https://arrow-journal.org/why-people-of-color-need-spaces-without-white-people/
- Why I’m Not Longer Talking To White People, Reni Eddo-Lodge.
- Nothing to add: A Challenge to White Silence in Racial Discussions, Robin DiAngelo.
- Women, Culture and Politics, Angela Davis.
- Identity, Francis Fukuyama.
- Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins.
- Me and White Supremacy, Layla F. Saad.
- Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon.
- I Know Why The Caged Birds Sings, Maya Angelou.
- The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein.
Movies & documentaries
- 13th, Ava DuVernay.
- When They See Us, Ava DuVernay.
- LA 92, Daniel Lindsay.
- Who Killed Malcom X?, Rachel Dretzin.
- I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck.
- Malcom X, Arnold Perl.
- The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, Göran Olsson.
- 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen.
- American History X, Tony Kaye.
- Dear White People, Justin Simien.
2. “I’m not racist” isn’t enough, be antiracist
Listen more to black voices in order to understand the Black Lives Matter movement, whether it’s through art, politics or social media. Try to understand its spirit and expand your empathy so you can be a good ally. Stop sharing content with deaths and violence, doing it shows disrespect and dehumanises the lives of the victims and the lives of the people around them.
Food for thought:
- No White Saviours (@nowhitesaviours)
- Layla Saad (@laylasaad)
- Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargle)
- Check Your Privilege (@ckyourprivilege)
- Rachel Ricketts (@iamrachelricketts)
- The Great Unlearn (@thegreatunlearn)
- Reni Eddo-Lodge (@renieddolodge)
- Ibram X. Kendi (@ibramxk)
- Afrofeminas (@afrofeminas)
3. React less, act more
Ask yourself whether your activism goes beyond your social media channels. We don’t need your signalisation and hypocrisy.
- Black Lives Matter – https://blacklivesmatter.com/
- Black Visions Collective – https://blackvisionsmn.org/
- Minnesota Freedom Fund – https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/
- Charity So White – https://charitysowhite.org/
- Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust – https://stephenlawrence.org.uk/
- Reclaim The Block – https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/
4. Act locally
Racism is everywhere, you don’t have to live in the US to take action. In Spain, these are a few of the things you can do:
- @cajantirracista.bilbo
- @redantirracista
- @hijadeinmigrantes
- @regularizacionya
- @sindicatodemanteros
- @topmanta_bcn
- @sindillar
- @otrassindicato
5. Take care of yourself and your people
Ask your friends and family how are they, because each one of us is experiencing this situation in different ways and some wounds may reopen. Please use your voice and energy wisely. Take care. Love you.