Resources to aid Anti-Racism (in the UK especially)
This document is a synthesis of direct action that can be taken from the UK to support the Black Lives Matter movement, and resources to help anti-racism.
Disclaimer: this is by no means an exhaustive list. I have not personally engaged with every resource on this list, so please if you are unsure double check things yourself. I understand there are many similar google docs circulating but I created this one because I struggled to find a UK based one!
* I do not claim rights on any of these materials.*
Please feel free to contact me if you have any more suggestions, spotted errors, or new important information. edenacbray@gmail.com
George Floyd - How to Help document
Hate Crime
What is hate crime?
To report hate crime:
NOTE: Change.org petitions & UK government petitions often need you to confirm your email before it counts your signature
EDIT: I have just been told that all change.org petitions will not be considered by the government. I am going to replace those links with hopefully the equivalent official petitions. If you have signed the change.org petitions please sign the official ones too!
New, updated official petitions:
Add education on diversity and racism to all school curriculums
Include Black British history in the national education curriculum
Introduce Mandatory Ethnic Pay Gap reporting
Improve Maternal Mortality Rates and Health Care for Black Women in the UK
Suspend future sales of tear gas and other crowd control equipment to the USA
Teach Britain’s colonial past as part of the UK’s compulsory curriculum
Create an independent investigatory commission to help protect ethnic minorities
18 June Update:
Require British Sign Language Interpreters for emergency announcements
Making the UK education curriculum more inclusive of BAME history
Add ethics to the national curriculum for primary schools
Make Anti-Racism training mandatory in all UK workplaces
Require all police officers to take anti-racism education
Mandate regular anti-racist training for all teachers
Introduce Gender and Race equity for GCSE English Literature set texts
Require universities to educate staff and students on unconscious bias
Amend the Equality Act 2010: National curriculum and protected characteristics
Reform the National Curriculum on the basis of equality and BAME representation
Shukri Abdi: a 12 year old Somali girl who drowned after she was bullied in the UK
Investigate BroadoakSports College (Hazel Wood High School) & GMP criminal investigation
This petition is still under review so please check back if it isn’t published yet!
Donate to her family’s GoFundMe here
Write to MPs and demand they fight for justice. Find your local MP here.
List of petitions that I cannot find the equivalent for on petition.parliament.uk:
change.org - Justice for Belly Mujinga
change.org - The UK government must condemn the murder of George Floyd
change.org - Stop the GCSE geography curriculum idolising western ideals
change.org - Make Black British History Compulsory in Schools
change.org - more protection for Black Trans Women UK
change.org - Amend the British School Curriculum to Teach About Racism and British History
change.org - Black British History is British History
change.org - Battle racism by updating GCSE reading lists
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ALSO CHECK OUT THIS DOCUMENT WHICH HAS A MUCH LONGER LIST OF EQUALLY IMPORTANT, BUT NOT UK SPECIFIC PETITIONS.
NOTE: sometimes if the templates are not edited at all the emails will go to spam. Try to make a couple of edits before sending
Contact Gavin Williamson and Local MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Write to your MP via Campaign Against Arms Trades
NOTE: do not donate to any fundraisers hosted by Shaun King - he has an extensive history of collecting funds for pro-Black movements which have disappeared (source)
Legal costs of the Justice for Sheku Bayoh campaign.
Updated list of bail funds in the US
Black UK Racial Justice Organisations
The following come from this Twitter thread - where to donate to if you’re from the UK
The Black Curriculum - social enterprise founded to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum. Working towards changing the national curriculum and building a sense of identity in young people aged 8-16.
Southhall Black Sisters — challenging domestic and gender-related violence, with a particular focus on supporting Black and minority-group women.
Stop Hate UK — tackling hate crime and discrimination, and create reporting channels for those who don't wish to go via the police.
Black Cultural Archives — this is the only national heritage centre focused on preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.
(All credit for this section to this document here)
Books:
Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: books for children and young adults
31 Children's books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
Podcasts:
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”
Articles:
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 Politics of Racial Violence in Britain
Racial Violence: European Perspectives
“Problem Populations” and “Problem Places”
Social Problems - Who Makes Them?
Open Yale course - African American History from Emancipation to the Present
NOTE: the list of where to source is accurate from the UK
Netflix
Amazon Prime
Google Play/Youtube
Netflix
Amazon
Sky
BBC iPlayer
Amazing BLM playlist on how to be an ally in the UK
Black Lives Matter & The Question of Violence
a debate that puts things in perspective
a little girl gives speech on BLM
NOTE: I might try to make a list of UK based non-profit/black owned bookstores to support. If anyone has any good ones please lmk! EDIT - I have a few now but please keep sending me in suggestions!
Anti-racist books for all children and teens
EVERYTHING from ‘Black Revolutionary Texts’
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
Race and Racism in Britain, Third Edition by John Solomos
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
The Heart of the Race by Beverley Bryan
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
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
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
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
Put our colonial history on the curriculum - then we’ll understand who we really are
UK exports of tear gas and rubber bullets
The stark evidence of everyday racial bias in Britain
Ethnicity, Race and Inequality in the UK: State of the Nation
A brief history of police brutality in the UK
“This is how to support Black British people right now - and how not to”
‘Black-on-black’ crime is a myth, and here’s why
(Longer study) Sustaining systemic racism through psychological gaslighting
Dear White British Classmates, You Are Most Likely Racist. This Is Why
Extent of institutional racism in British universities revealed through hidden stories
15 headlines that show how differently the British press treat Meghan Markle vs. Kate Middleton
Why systemic racism is not a US problem
What has really happened since Macpherson’s Report
Legislation that has been proposed/passed to address police brutality
If you truly knew what the N-word meant to our ancestors, you’d never use it
What is qualified immunity, and what does it have to do with police reform?
Cops are almost never prosecuted and convicted for use of force
6 reasons why it’s time to defund the police
Dear anti-racist allies: Here’s how to respond to microaggressions
Understanding the Windrush Scandal
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”
“The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups
“Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?”
”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
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)
Insta accounts to follow: @ukjamii (for discounts for Black British brands) and @blackwomensdirectory (for easy access through a directory)
Black-Owned UK Businesses to Buy From
21 Black-Owned Beauty Brands to Support Now
19 Black-Owned Food and Drink Businesses to Support in the UK
Financially help BLM without leaving your house
How to help BLM - stream to donate
Protest & Civil liberties solicitors for counselling during/after BLMUK protest
UK GOV rights & entitlements in police detention (many languages)
Guide to coronavirus & protest law UK
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
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
(Trigger warning- violence) Dropbox of videos with police responding violently to protesters