"SIU embraces a unique tradition of access and opportunity, inclusive excellence, innovation in research and creativity, and outstanding teaching focused on nurturing student success. As a nationally-ranked public research university and regional economic catalyst, we create and exchange knowledge to shape future leaders, improve our communities, and transform lives."
“Racism may be intentional or unintentional. It operates at various levels in society. Racism is a driving force of the social determinants of health (like housing, education, and employment) and is a barrier to health equity.”
Read:Racism and Health by the American Public Health Association
How Do We Navigate Experiences of Racism?
Resources:
Watch (5 min) Advice for White People From Anti-Racism Trainer NowThis News
“The principal thing we are asking you to do is show up for yourself and your humanity…examine the ways you interact in the world and how those ways impact the Black communities around you.”
Read (5 min): Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Meditate (daily app) Liberate Meditation-The Daily Meditation App For Us, By Us- “A safe space for the Black community to develop a daily meditation habit”
“One of the ways you begin to address that multigenerational trauma is to work with the people directly impacted… I think the first order of business is to have a conversation and the other is to educate the larger society. You have to stop the assault. So this is not purely a clinical thing, this requires social justice and change. That’s where part of the healing is, not in a clinical setting or a pill. It’s in fairness, justice, safety, and equity. We have to work with some of those clinical things, with panic and anxiety, and we also have to deal with the fact that you have a system that is set up to oppress you.” “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. How is it Different From PTSD?”
by Dr. Joy DeGruy
What Can I Do About Racism?
Resources:
Watch (4 min): Don’t be a Bystander: 6 Tips for Responding to Racist Attacks by the Barnard Center for Research on Women
Read (Book): So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Contact Morris Library and/or the Carbondale Public Library to ask about options for access.
Read (Book): White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Contact Morris Library and/or the Carbondale Public Library to ask about options for access.
“…in order to combat continuing racial injustices today, we must expand our vision and our responsibility to what civil rights actually means. We must include the battle against racist violence in our understanding of civil rights. Instead of education, what if we placed freedom from racist violence at the crux of what it means to be free and equal in the United States?”“Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice”
by Megan Ming Francis
How Can I Learn More About the History of Anti-Black Racism in the US?
Resources:
Listen (Six 30-minute episodes): 1619 Podcast by the New York Times
The 1619 Podcast by the New York Times
Read/Watch: Racial Equity and Anti-Black Racism; from the University of California San Francisco Multicultural Resource Center
“Anti-Blackness [is] a two-part formation that both strips Blackness of value (dehumanizes), and systematically marginalizes Black people. This form of anti-Blackness is overt racism. Society also associates politically incorrect comments with the overt nature of anti-Black racism. Beneath this anti-Black racism is the covert structural and systemic racism which predetermines the socioeconomic status of Blacks in this country and is held in place by anti-Black policies, institutions, and ideologies.”
“Racial Equity and Anti-Black Racism” from the University of California San Francisco Multicultural Resource Center
What Is Anti-Racism?
Resources:
Watch (4 min): Tools for How to be an Anti-Racist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
“Anti-racism is understanding how years of federal, state, and local policies have placed communities of color in the crises they face today, and calling those policies out for what they are: racist. It also requires an understanding of one’s own position in a racist society, many say, an acknowledgment that you can’t simply opt-out of living in white supremacy by saying you’re “not a racist” — you have to actively fight against it.”
“What It Means to Be Anti-Racist” by Anna North
What Are Some Additional Resources for Unlearning Racism?
Resources
Read (10 min): Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
Watch and Work (1hr + work per week) Racial Equity & Liberation Virtual Learning Series a 6-week education series on racial equity and liberation from Move to End Violence.
SIU embraces a unique tradition of access and opportunity, inclusive excellence, innovation in research and creativity, and outstanding teaching focused on nurturing student success. As a nationally-ranked public research university and regional economic catalyst, we create and exchange knowledge to shape future leaders, improve our communities, and transform lives.
SIU Mission Statement
This series was inspired by the “Becoming Anti-Racist: 23 Things you Can Watch, Listen, or Do” toolkit produced by ‘Beyond Chicago’.