Since we shared the Mina Rees Library statement in support of black lives, we heard feedback from a member of our community who urged us to do more. Specifically, they proposed that we use this platform to highlight items from within our collections which focus on anti-racism and Black liberation. With appreciation for this request, we are sharing this list of resources. Included are the initial recommendations from our community member (who sent a great starting list), a number of other resources. We also highlight from the wealth of critical works made by our own scholars at the Graduate Center.
Like our statement, this list is a starting point. For the Mina Rees Library, there is more work to come beyond this post. We are sharing resources here in the hopes that it may be useful to those who, like us, are re-committing to anti-racist thought and action. By no means is this an exhaustive list of materials that confront power and oppression, or Black life in America. Our next steps include using this list for further discussion within the library, and creating a reading group as a staff. We will also review these materials in relationship to our broader collections (cough #FundCUNY).
Improve this list by contributing resources to the shared Graduate Center Library Anti-Racism and #blacklivesmatter Reading List on Zotero, including this sub-collection on the histories of Black communities in Minnesota. (In case you need a refresher see: How to share resources in a Zotero group library or attend an upcoming GC Library Zotero webinar)
[All of the links herein for book titles within copyright are linked to WorldCat as we undergo a transition in our cataloging system which affects our ability to permalink to records locally over time. You may still find access to online GC materials by finding our links on WorldCat, and can still place ILL requests for any items. If you would like special assistance finding an online copy of any of these works, please use our ebook request form]
From the Graduate Center
- 13 Scholars Shedding Light on the Roots of Racial Injustice from the Graduate Center
- Daniels, Jessie. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009. (Ebook Central ebook)
- Davis, Dána-Ain. Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth. New York University Press, 2019. (JSTOR ebook)
- Etoké, Nathalie. Melancholia Africana: The Indispensable Overcoming of the Black Condition. Rowman & Littlefield International, Ltd, 2019. (Ebsco ebook)
- Gilmore, Ruth Wilson. Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California. University of California Press, 2018. (JSTOR ebook)
- Jones, James M., et al. The Psychology of Diversity: Beyond Prejudice and Racism. 2014. (Ebook Central ebook)
- Lott, Eric. Black Mirror: The Cultural Contradictions of American Racism. Harvard University Press, 2017. (Ebsco ebook)
- Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. Cornell University Press, 1999. (JSTOR ebook)
- Shedd, Carla. Unequal City: Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice. Russell Sage Foundation, 2015. (JSTOR ebook)
- Taylor, Clarence. Fight the Power: African Americans and the Long History of Police Brutality in New York City. 2019. (JSTOR ebook)
- Williams, Bianca C. The Pursuit of Happiness: Black Women, Diasporic Dreams, and the Politics of Emotional Transnationalism. Duke University Press, 2018. (JSTOR ebook)
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“Historicizing Black Resistance in the U.S.” American Social History Project Center for Media and Learning, https://ashp.cuny.edu/historicizing-black-resistance-us.
- Many of our students use their time at the Graduate Center to advance anti-racist action and focus on black lives in their scholarship. Among just this year’s graduates, Roxanne Shirazi summarizes:
- “Graduate Center dissertations address today’s urgent concerns on topics like stop and frisk; the Ferguson effect; the Freddie Gray uprising; and the relationship between the police and the democratic state from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.”
- Browse more dissertations and theses in CUNY Academic Works.
Syllabi
- How to be an Antiracist, Ibrahm X. Kendi
- Intro to Critical Race Theory, Adrienne Keene
- Reparations Syllabus, an offshoot of the “Reparations, Repatriation, and Redress” symposium at the University of Minnesota
Library Study Guides
- Carol Grotnes Belk Library: Anti-Racism Resources by Libby Conyner
- University of Southern California: Anti-Racist Pedagogy Guide, a joint effort of the USC Libraries and the Anti-Racist Pedagogy Organizing Committee
- Twitter thread of library libguides on antiracism
Reading Lists
- Anti-Racism: A Starter Booklist from Library Journal
- Anti-Racism Resources list compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein
- Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages a project by the Augusta Baker Chair
- Black Liberation Reading List from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
- Black Lives Matter Reading List by Feminist Press
- Eight Recommended Books by Women to Understand the Uprisings from Ms.
- Haymarket Books Against Policing and Mass Incarceration
- Reading for Racial Justice from Manifold (available free of charge for a short time)
- Reading Towards Abolition: A Reading List on Policing, Rebellion, and the Criminalization of Blackness compiled by the Abusable Past Collective
- Teaching an Uprising: Readings on Race and Democracy by Trish Kahle
Books
- Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New Press, 2010.
- Anderson, Carol. White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Bloomsbury, 2017.
- Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. Modern Library, 1995.
- Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Spiegel & Grau, 2017.
- Cooper, Brittney C. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower. St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
- Davis, Angela Y. Are Prisons Obsolete? Seven Stories Press, 2003.
- Davis, Angela Y., and Frank Barat. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement. Haymarket Books, 2016.
- Davis, Angela Y., and Robin D. G. Kelley. The Meaning of Freedom. City Lights Books, 2012.
- DiAngelo, Robin J. White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. Beacon Press, 2018.
- Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk; Essays and Sketches. A. C. McClurg & Co., 1920.
- Eddo-Lodge, Reni. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
- Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press, 2004.
- Forman, James. Locking up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017.
- hooks, bell. Killing Rage: Ending Racism. Henry Holt and Company, 2006.
- Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. One World, 2019.
- Khan-Cullors, Patrisse. When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir. St. Martin’s Press, 2018.
- Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press, 2007.
- Lowery, Wesley. They Can’t Kill Us All: The Story of the Struggle for Black Lives. Back Bay Books, 2016.
- Muhammad, Khalil Gibran. The Condemnation of Blackness Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America. Harvard University Press, 2019.
- Oluo, Ijeoma. So You Want to Talk about Race. Seal Press, 2019.
- Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: An American Lyric. Graywolf Press, 2014.
- Ritchie, Andrea J. Invisible No More: Police Violence against Black Women and Women of Color. Beacon Press, 2017.
- Ross, Lawrence C. Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses. Griffin, 2017.
- Rothstein, Richard. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017.
- Saad, Layla F. Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor. Sourcebooks, 2020.
- Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. One World, 2020.
- Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. Haymarket Books, 2016.
- Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta, editor. How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective. Haymarket Books, 2017.
- Thompson, Heather Ann. Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. Vintage Books, 2017.
- Vitale, Alex S. The End of Policing. Verso, 2017. (currently available as a free ebook download from Verso)
- Walker, Anders. The Burning House: Jim Crow and the Making of Modern America. Yale University Press, 2018.
- Ward, Jesmyn, ed. The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race. Scribner, 2017.
- Wilkerson, Isabel. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. Vintage Books, 2011.
For further action
- Ways You Can Help from Black Lives Matter
- 10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship
- Antiracist Allyship Starter Pack & How To Be a Better Ally by Tatum Dorrell, Matt Herndon and Jourdan Dorrell
- Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources
- From Beirut To Minneapolis: A Protest Guide in Solidarity
- Joining the Movement for Black Lives, space by and for the CUNY Law community and fellow legal advocates and grassroots organizers is to activate support of the movement for Black lives, a growing list of resources
- The Blackivists’ Five Tips for Organizers, Protestors, and Anyone Documenting Movements
- We here page of suggested actions
- A list of 200+ Black photographers covering the protests to follow (and promote!)
- Graphics:
- The Movement Pack: images to fight racial inequality for use in social media and digital projects by black illustrations
- Justseeds downloadable graphics: These graphics are free for people to use on flyers, posters, banners, t-shirts, and websites–see the top of the page for other requests and restrictions
Image by Nicolas Lampert from Justseeds
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license.
This is a fine compilation. Just shared to my Twitter feed. Will post on Fb, too.