Anti-Racist Resources
Rutgers School of Social Work recognizes the events that have taken place in recent weeks – murder, police brutality, and racial injustice – have caused great suffering across our community.
The loss of Black lives, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, serve as a painful reminder of the systemic and institutionalized racism that have plagued the United States for centuries. They are also a reminder that we, as social workers, have much more work to do in the fight towards injustice. This is a historic moment that we hope can serve as a catalyst to galvanize real and lasting change.
Below is a list of actions, including petitions, numbers to call, and places to donate, as well as anti-racist readings, resources for protecting oneself, and additional information around demanding justice. Many resources were crowd sourced from attendees of the Fourth Annual Challenging Racial Disparities Conference hosted by the SSW on June 2, 2020.
Rutgers University has also developed lists for becoming anti-racist and of anti-racist resources from the Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE) at Rutgers–New Brunswick and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
If you would like to recommend a resource for inclusion on this page, please contact mmolner@ssw.rutgers.edu.
News Updates & Faculty Media Highlights
SSW Updates
- June 1, 2020 | Statement from Dean Cathryn C. Potter
- June 2, 2020 | Statement from the Center on Violence Against Women and Children on Social Injustice
Faculty & Staff in the News
- V. DuWayne Battle, NJ.com | 'I can't breathe', June 3, 2020
Ways to Get Involved & Online Resources
Online Resources
- CSWE Anti-Racist Letter Writing Campaign
- Demand Justice for Black Lives Now (Google Doc)
- Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources (Google Doc)
- Anti-Racism Resources from the Andrew Goodman Foundation
- Let's Fight Racism! from the United Nations
- embracerace.org
- Rutgers University's Scarlet and Black Project Findings
- Race, Racism, and Justice from NASW-NJ
- tolerance.org
- Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance
- Showing Up for Racial Justice
- The Conciliation Project
- Rutgers CITE Learning Communities
- NJ Cultural Competence Training Center
- truthout.org
- Black Youth Project
- United States Department of Arts and Culture
- Undoing Racism: People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
- Anti-Racist Alliance Workshops
- Ways You Can Help
- Anti-Racist Allyship Starter Pack
- Letters for Black Lives
- Anti-Racist Resources for White People
- Black Lives Matter Allyship Resources
- Anti-Racism Resource List
- The 8 R’s of Talking About Race: How to Have Meaningful Conversations
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
- From Privilege to Progress
- 7 Virtual Mental Health Resources Supporting Black People Right Now
- Activity Guide fro Educators
- Rutgers Graduate School of Education: Teaching about Racism, Injustice and Structural Inequality, Resources
Social Media
- Stand Up for Black People Challenge (Facebook)
- South Jersey Women for Progressive Change (Facebook)
- Black Lives Matter NJ (Facebook)
- Educator and Activist: Rachel Cargle on Instagram, @rachel.cargle
- Activist: Brittany Packnett Cunningham on Instagram, @mspackyetii
- Artist: Jammie Holmes on Instagram, @jholmes214
Voting, Laws, & Policy
- Booker Announces Framework for Comprehensive Police Reform Legislation
- Campaign Zero
- Bail Funds/Legal Help by City (Google Doc)
- Help Repeal 50-A to Stop Hiding Police Disciplinary Records from the Public
- Call or Write Congress About H.R. 1195: Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act
- New Jersey Vote by Mail Application
- #8CantWait, a Project by Campaign Zero
- #8toabolish
- Race and the War on Drugs
- upEND Movement
- National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign's Webinar on June 9, 2020 at 11 AM: "Bringing voter engagement to schools of social work."
This is an interactive discussion about ways schools can bring the nonpartisan voter registration and engagement to schools, classroom and field education, to connect voter registration to social justice and systems change, and be successful in the process.
Books for Adults
- White Fragility: Why it's so Hard for White People to Talk About Race, Robin DiAngelo
- How to be an Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi
- Blind Spot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin Banaji
- So You Wanna Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo
- Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, Beverly Daniel Tatum
- The New Jim Crow Laws, Tom Burrell
- The Mis-Education of the Negro, Carter G. Woodson
- The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein
- The Fire Next Time, James Baldwim
- White Rage, Carol Anderson
- Me and White Supremacy, Layla F. Saad
- The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys, Eddie Moore and Ali Michael
- Tears We Cannot Stop, Michael Eric Dyson
- Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Stamped from the Beginning, Ibram X. Kendi
- Race Matters, Cornel West
- White Christian Privilege, Khyati Y. Joshi
- My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, Resmaa Menakem
- Where We Stand: Class Matters, Bell Hooks
- We Want to Do More Than Survive, Bettina Love
- Medical Apartheid, Harriet A. Washington
- Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority, Tom Burrell
- Killing the Black Body, Dorothy Roberts
- Nobody: Casualties of America's War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond by Marc Lammont Hill
- Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, Monique W. Morris
- Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, Joy a Degruy
- Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare by Dorothy Roberts
If looking to purchase any books or resources, consider supporting Black owned bookstores. Lists can be found on AfroTech, Refinery29 and Buzzfeed.
Books for Children
- Happy in Our Skin, Fran Manushkin
- AntiRacist Baby, Ibram X. Kendi
- We're Different, We're All the Same, Bobbi Kates
- Little Heroes of Color: 50 Who Made a BIG Difference, David Heredia
- All the Colors We Are, Katie Kissinger
- Resource: theconsciouskid.org
If looking to purchase any books or resources, consider supporting Black owned bookstores. Lists can be found on AfroTech, Refinery29 and Buzzfeed.
Articles, Publications & Textbooks
Articles
- "Call It What It Is: Anti-Blackness", Kihana Miraya Ross
- "How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change,", Barack Obama
- "Commit to Action: A call for mayors, city councils, and police oversight bodies to address police use of force policies," Barack Obama
- "The 1619 Project" from The New York Times Magazine
- "The Only Solution Is to Defund the Police" from The Nation
- "Why People Loot" from The Atlantic
- The End of Policing, Alex S. Vitale (free download)
- "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'Letter From Birmingham Jail" from The Atlantic
- "Why you should stop saying 'all lives matter,' explained in 9 different ways" from Vox
- "How To Be An Ally During Times Of Tragedy" from Forbes
- "Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not" from Refinery29
- "Maintaining Professionalism In The Age of Black Death Is….A Lot" from Medium
- "Why your black friends and colleagues need your understanding right now..." from LinkedIn
- "Why celebrating Juneteenth is more important now than ever" from Vox
- "First They Came" Poem
- Honoring African American Women Who Have Changed Social Work
- Abolitionist Handbook
Publications & Textbooks
- Art Therapy for Social Justice: Racial Intersections, Savneet K. Talwar
- Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Inequality in America, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
- Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White, William Sturkey
- Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches, Sharell Luckett and Tia M. Shaffer
- "Location of Self: Opening the Door to Dialogue on Intersectionality in the Therapy Process", Thandiwe Dee Watts-Jones
Documentaries, Movies, Radio, Videos & Podcasts
Documentaries, Movies & Videos
- The Color of Fear (1994)
- The Mask You Live In (2015)
- 13th (2016)
- The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)
- What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
- Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap (2018)
- Strong Island (2017)
- I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
- Just Mercy (2020) (free online through June)
- How Can We Win
- Let's Get to the Root of Racial Injustice
- Cultural Humility
- Leading with Intention to Promote Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
- Evidence-Based Policies to End Police Brutality
Radio
- Talking Race With Young Children, NPR
- Free Speech Radio 99.5FM WBAI
Videos
- Cultural Humility (YouTube, 2012)
- Reni Eddo-Lodge: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (YouTube, 2017)
- Network for Social Work Management Webinar: Interview with Alan Detlaff, Dean University of Houston
Podcast
- Doin' the Work: Frontline Stories of Social Change, Black Social Workers Speak Out About Social Work Education - André Marcel Harris, BSW; Dashawna J. Fussell-Ware, MSW; Deana Ayers, BSW; Vivian Taylor, MSW (Podbean, 2020)