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?

  • In the UK, any form of verbal or visual abuse, harassment, name-calling, intimidation, threat, encouraging other to hate, property damage or physical violence against anyone due to their race, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, caste or religion is classes as a hate crime
  • If you are witness or victim of any of these, please report it to the police
  • Last year - 83% of those taken to court for hate crimes in the UK were convicted.

To report hate crime:

  1. Petitions to sign

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

After Grenfell, replace all flammable cladding on buildings in the UK. Housing is a racial justice issue. Majority of victims were BAME and from low-income backgrounds.

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

Justice for Shukri Abdi

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 - Make white privilege and systemic racism a compulsory part of the British education course

change.org - Black British History is British History

change.org - Battle racism by updating GCSE reading lists

Survey - The Impact of Omission: A survey to investigate the extent to which British Imperial history is explored in the curriculum of compulsory education in the UK

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ALSO CHECK OUT THIS DOCUMENT WHICH HAS A MUCH LONGER LIST OF EQUALLY IMPORTANT, BUT NOT UK SPECIFIC PETITIONS.  

  1. Emails

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

Contact John Swinney

Email your MP and the British Transport Police Authority demanding Justice for Belly Mujinga. Email template here.

Email TSSA (Belly Mujinga's union) demanding that collective action be taken to secure robust protections for workers. Email template here.

Email Patrick Verwer (Govia Thameslink CEO) enquiring as to the circumstances of Belly Mujinga's workplace during COVID & the Company's treatment of the criminal investigation Email template here.

Email UK PM, Mayor of London, the Rail Ombudsman, Go-Ahead, the Secretary of State for Transport, the Deputy Mayor for Transport at London City Hall and MOPAC demanding justice for Belly Mujinga.

Write to your MP via Campaign Against Arms Trades

Email your MP demanding that the full, unredacted "Disparities in the risks and outcomes of COVID-19" report by Public Health England be published immediately.

  • The report was intended to present the findings as to why BAME people are dying at disproportionately high rates of COVID-19. It has since been reported that the Minister for Health, Matt Hancock MP, and his office censored the findings.

  1. Organisations to support & donate to

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)

Trevor Belle - British cab driver who died of COVID-19 post assault by a passenger who claimed to have the virus.

Chad Gordon - 27 y/o autistic black man who was killed w/ gunshot to his head on his doorstep in suspected case of mistaken identity. Funds go towards family and the local community in Haringey.

Legal costs of the Justice for Sheku Bayoh campaign.  

Belly Mujinga - assaulted at work, spat on, and later died from COVID-19. Left behind family incl. 11 y/o daughter

Donate to UK Black Pride

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.

  1. Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children

(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

  1. Free Online Courses (most 1-20 hours)

Race, Ethnicity and Crime 

The Politics of Racial Violence in Britain

Racial Violence: European Perspectives 

Modern Slavery 

“Problem Populations” and “Problem Places” 

Social Problems - Who Makes Them? 

Open Yale course - African American History from Emancipation to the Present 

  1. Films/Documentaries to watch

NOTE: the list of where to source is accurate from the UK

Netflix

  • 13th
  • Becoming
  • Strong Island
  • Teach Us All
  • LA 92
  • Mudbound
  • The Sun is Also a Star
  • 12 Years a Slave
  • Blindspotting
  • Fruitvale Station

Amazon Prime

  • I Am Not Your Negro
  • Let The Fire Burn
  • Selma

Google Play/Youtube

  • 16 Shots
  • Crime + Punishment
  • EDIT: Source says ‘The Death & Life of Marsha P. Johnson’ was stolen by David France from a black trans woman, Reina Gossett. Her short film ‘Happy Birthday, Marsha!’ is streaming on Amazon Prime and is a better option!
  • Stay Woke: THe Black Lives Matter Movement
  • The Hate U Give
  • Just Mercy
  • Loving
  • Get Out
  • Moonlight  

  1. TV Shows to watch

Netflix

  • When They See Us
  • Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap
  • Time: The Kalief Browder Story
  • Who Killed Malcolm X?
  • Dear White People
  • Seven Seconds
  • Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker
  • Orange is the New Black
  • BlackAF
  • Pose (Season 1 of 3)

Amazon

  • The Wire

Sky

  • Watchmen
  • Black-Ish

BBC iPlayer

  • Pose (Seasons 1 & 2 of 3)

  1. Youtube videos to watch

Amazing BLM playlist on how to be an ally in the UK

Black Lives Matter & The Question of Violence

a BLM documentary 

a debate that puts things in perspective 

breakdown of all lives matter 

background info of BLM 

a little girl gives speech on BLM 

this is me - can’t breathe

  1. Books to read

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

  1. Articles to read

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

A world without police

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 

How to respond to racism 

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 1619 Project

“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

  1. Podcasts to subscribe to

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

  1. Businesses to support

Insta accounts to follow: @ukjamii (for discounts for Black British brands) and @blackwomensdirectory (for easy access through a directory)

UK Black Owned Businesses

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 

  1. How to donate with no money

Financially help BLM without leaving your house

Stream live to donate

How to help BLM - stream to donate  

  1. Protest resources 

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

  1. Other / more 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

(Trigger warning- violence) Dropbox of videos with police responding violently to protesters