- Posted: June 5, 2020
We at the School of Global Environmental Sustainability affirm that Black Lives Matter, and condemn the police brutality and other violence perpetrated against Black bodies around the country. The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, while horrifying, are only a small snapshot of the danger, hate, and violence Black people face every day.
We recognize that racism and the structural violence it perpetuates are not limited to a single sector of society. Racism, particularly anti-Blackness, is built into the foundation of the United States and affects every system in which we operate, including the social, economic, and environmental. It is a fundamental barrier to sustainability, because sustainability requires social justice and economic fairness in addition to healthy environmental conditions. The field of sustainability cannot begin to address social and environmental justice without actively working towards anti-racism.
The School commits to advancing an anti-racist approach to education, research, and engagement. This includes explicitly amplifying the voices of Black members of our University, and all other who are targets of racism and oppression. We commit to creating an environment of learning and research that is equitable, which requires pro-actively and systemically identifying structural biases and racist practices within our organization and changing accordingly to become anti-racist. Finally, we commit to empowering our own staff and students by providing anti-racism resources for action and justice.
Black Lives Matter, and we commit to challenging ourselves and our community to act like it.
Below are some resources that we will be using to educate ourselves as an institution so that we can better fight for Black lives and work towards active anti-racism. We call on all those who support sustainability to do the same.
What We're Reading
Resources from the CSU Office of the Vice President for Diversity
Visit the
Black Lives Matter website.
Articles:
- Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism
- there is no Climate Justice without Racial Justice
- A Decade Of Watching Black People Die
- Privilege 1010: A Quick and Dirty Guide by Sian Ferguson | Everyday Feminism (September 29, 2014)
- Perspective | I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet. by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson | Washington Post (June 3, 2020)
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
- ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
- Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
- “Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?” by Courtney Martin (June 1, 2020)
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
Podcasts:
- 1619 (New York Times)
- About Race
- Code Switch (NPR)
- Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
- Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
- Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
- Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
- Seeing White
Books:
- Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
- Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold
- Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander - The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century
by Grace Lee Boggs - The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
Videos:
- Blackface: A cultural history of a racist art form
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man
- Systemic Racism Explained
- Racism is Real
- 50 Years of Racism-Why Silence Isn’t the Answer
- Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (50:48)
- “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
- 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
- American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
- Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
- Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — Hulu with Cinemax or available to rent
- Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
- Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
- Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
- I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
- If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
- Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent for free in June in the U.S.
- King In The Wilderness — HBO
- See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
- Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
- The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
- When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
More anti-racism resources to check out:
- Equity Toolkit
- Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources
- 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- Anti-Racism Project
- Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow)
- Rachel Ricketts’ anti-racism resources
- Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism
- Save the Tears: White Woman’s Guide by Tatiana Mac
- Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits
- The [White] Shift on Instagram
- “Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
- Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials
Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children:
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: books for children and young adults
- 31 Children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
- Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’
- Fare of the Free Child podcast
- Integrated Schools podcast episode “Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey”
- PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month
- Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup from Pretty Good
- The Conscious Kid: follow them on Instagram and consider signing up for their Patreon
We’d like to say thank you to Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein, for compiling this document from which we drew many resources.