#BlackLivesMatter

#BlackLivesMatter Poetry & Other Resources

Below I offer a compilation of links to poetry and resources I’m turning to and sharing with others right now.

This list is by no means exhaustive.

Its contents have been helpful for me, and may, in turn, be helpful for you.

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POEMS & READING LISTS

Individual Poems

• “Power” by Audre Lorde
• “A Small Needful Fact” by Ross Gay
• “I Imagine Him Small” by Li Yun Alvarado
• “alternate names for black boys” by Danez Smith
• "Ghazal, After Ferguson" by Yusef Komun Yakaa

​Books & Reading Lists

• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• Black Lives Matter: A Roundup of Worthy Reads
• #BlackLivesMatter : A Poetry Reader ​
• Black Lives Matter Book List (children through adult)

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TAKE ACTION

Reflect on Your Role

• Mapping Our Social Change Roles in Times of Crisis (this guide can help you identify what role you can play and what next right action you can take).

Be In the Struggle

• Take to the streets. Find your local #blacklivesmatter or civil rights organization and find out when and where there are protests scheduled. Be sure to know your rights. Also make safety plans in case conditions get dicey since police have been documented escalating tensions nationwide and since there have also been reports of looting and violence.
• 26 Ways to be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets. This amazing guide gives concrete actions you can take. It was co-created by a dear friend with other activists.

Get Political

• Contact your City Council Member & Mayor and tell them to: 
  • View budgets as moral document, and encourage them to #defundthepolice (read this FAQ to learn more about this movement to redistribute funding away from police and towards education, social workers, and other community empowerment, crime prevention, intervention measures, etc.).
  • Take President Obama's Mayor's Pledge 
  • Take immediate action on #8CantWait
  • Work with Campaign Zero who explain: "A comprehensive package of urgent policy solutions - informed by data, research and human rights principles - can change the way police serve our communities."

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DONATE

• Find and give to your local Bail Fund
• Louisville Community Bail Fund​
• Black Visions Collective
• Reclaim the Block
• ACLU (full disclosure: I sit on the ACLU's National Board). 

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SELF CARE for BIPOC

• Download the Liberate Meditation App, a meditation app for people of color. And follow @liberatemeditation
• Follow @thenapministry
• Follow @zenchangeangel
• Follow @alittleawareness

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ANTI-RACIST PARENTING

Anti-Racist parenting is a much larger topic, so I've created a separate post that goes deeper: Resources for Raising Anti-Racist Kids. The resources below focus on #BLM.

Ideas & Resource Guides

• From Christian Cooper to George Floyd: A Letter to White Parents
• Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race
• Anti-Racism 102: Why Not All Racial Discrimination is ‘Racism’

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Booklists
Not all books featuring BIPOC are created equal. While the book lists below all seem promising, I have not read every book on these lists and cannot say they are all quality books. Before choosing which books to share with your own littles, I highly recommend reading: "8 tips for choosing 'good' picture books featuring diverse, BIPOC characters."
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• Black Lives Matter Book List (children through adult)
• Black lives Matter: A Reading List for Children and Families
• Black Books Matter: Children's Books Celebrating Black Boys
• ​31 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance​
• Board Books for Social Justice (Li Yun Alvarado's Bookshop)​

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FOR WHITE ACCOMPLICES ​(& ALLIES)

• Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice

• 5 Racist Anti-Racism Responses “Good” White Women Give to Viral Posts
• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
  
  

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I will continue to update this list.