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Podcasts/Recordings/On-line Videos
Seeing White
Scene on Radio A 14-part documentary series exploring whiteness in America- where it came from, what it means and how it works.
http://podcast.cdsporch.org/seeing-white/
"Voices of the Movement" series
Cape Up podcast by Jonathan Capehart
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/opinions/voices-of-the-movement-podcast/
Imagining a New America
On Being with Ta-Nehisi Coates
https://onbeing.org/programs/ta-nehisi-coates-imagining-a-new-america-nov2017
Where Does it Hurt?
On Being with Ruby Sales
https://onbeing.org/programs/ruby-sales-where-does-it-hurt/
Radical Hope is Our Best Answer
On Being with Juno Diaz
https://onbeing.org/programs/junot-diaz-radical-hope-is-our-best-weapon-sep2017/
Brene Brown talks about Privilege, Perspective and Power
https://www.facebook.com/brenebrown/videos/1778878652127236/
The Actual Voices of Enslaved Black People Recorded from the 1800's (including Fountain Hughes born in Charlottesville, enslaved to Thomas Jefferson; plus a list of African-centered books and movies)
https://www.unitedblackbooks.org/blogs/news/the-actual-voices-of-black-slaves-recorded-now-revealed
Ruby Sales and The Future of Civil Rights Activism
http://virginiahumanities.org/2017/11/ruby-sales-and-the-future-of-civil-rights-activism
Seeing White
Scene on Radio A 14-part documentary series exploring whiteness in America- where it came from, what it means and how it works.
http://podcast.cdsporch.org/seeing-white/
"Voices of the Movement" series
Cape Up podcast by Jonathan Capehart
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/opinions/voices-of-the-movement-podcast/
Imagining a New America
On Being with Ta-Nehisi Coates
https://onbeing.org/programs/ta-nehisi-coates-imagining-a-new-america-nov2017
Where Does it Hurt?
On Being with Ruby Sales
https://onbeing.org/programs/ruby-sales-where-does-it-hurt/
Radical Hope is Our Best Answer
On Being with Juno Diaz
https://onbeing.org/programs/junot-diaz-radical-hope-is-our-best-weapon-sep2017/
Brene Brown talks about Privilege, Perspective and Power
https://www.facebook.com/brenebrown/videos/1778878652127236/
The Actual Voices of Enslaved Black People Recorded from the 1800's (including Fountain Hughes born in Charlottesville, enslaved to Thomas Jefferson; plus a list of African-centered books and movies)
https://www.unitedblackbooks.org/blogs/news/the-actual-voices-of-black-slaves-recorded-now-revealed
Ruby Sales and The Future of Civil Rights Activism
http://virginiahumanities.org/2017/11/ruby-sales-and-the-future-of-civil-rights-activism
Movies
13th
Explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on a link between the 13th amendment which abolished slavery and the fact that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
I Am Not a Racist.. Am I?
A feature documentary about how this next generation is going to confront racism. 12 teenagers from New York City came together for one school year to talk about race and privilege. Paramount Feb. 28
Race: The Power of an Illusion
PBS documentary (a 3-part series), available on
http://newsreel.org/video/race-the-power-of-an-illusion
Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequality
Features moving stories from racial justice leaders
https://crackingthecodes.org
The Abolitionists
PBS documentary highlighting Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Brown.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/abolitionists/
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Biography of a civil rights activist. In 1963, Rustin helped organize the March on Washington, the biggest protest America had ever seen. But his open homosexuality forced him to remain in the background, marking him again and again as a "brother outsider. On August 8, 2013, President Barack Obama named Bayard Rustin a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. http://www.pbs.org/pov/brotheroutsider/
I am Not Your Negro
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, "Remember This House." The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished.
4 Little Girls
A 1997 American historical documentary film about the 15 September 1963 murder of four African-American girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Directed by Spike Lee and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Tell Them We Are Rising
Premiere: 2/19/2018 | Available until 3/22/2018
The rich history of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began before the end of slavery, flourished in the 20th century, and profoundly influenced the course of the nation for over 150 years — yet remains largely unknown. With Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, the latest documentary from Stanley Nelson (Black Panthers, Freedom Riders) and Marco Williams, the powerful story of the rise, influence, and evolution of HBCUs comes to life.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/tell-them-we-are-rising/
13th
Explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on a link between the 13th amendment which abolished slavery and the fact that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
I Am Not a Racist.. Am I?
A feature documentary about how this next generation is going to confront racism. 12 teenagers from New York City came together for one school year to talk about race and privilege. Paramount Feb. 28
Race: The Power of an Illusion
PBS documentary (a 3-part series), available on
http://newsreel.org/video/race-the-power-of-an-illusion
Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequality
Features moving stories from racial justice leaders
https://crackingthecodes.org
The Abolitionists
PBS documentary highlighting Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Brown.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/abolitionists/
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Biography of a civil rights activist. In 1963, Rustin helped organize the March on Washington, the biggest protest America had ever seen. But his open homosexuality forced him to remain in the background, marking him again and again as a "brother outsider. On August 8, 2013, President Barack Obama named Bayard Rustin a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. http://www.pbs.org/pov/brotheroutsider/
I am Not Your Negro
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, "Remember This House." The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished.
4 Little Girls
A 1997 American historical documentary film about the 15 September 1963 murder of four African-American girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Directed by Spike Lee and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Tell Them We Are Rising
Premiere: 2/19/2018 | Available until 3/22/2018
The rich history of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began before the end of slavery, flourished in the 20th century, and profoundly influenced the course of the nation for over 150 years — yet remains largely unknown. With Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, the latest documentary from Stanley Nelson (Black Panthers, Freedom Riders) and Marco Williams, the powerful story of the rise, influence, and evolution of HBCUs comes to life.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/tell-them-we-are-rising/
Articles
Before Charlottesville There Was Jamestown
http://www.publicseminar.org/2017/08/before-charlottesville-there-was-jamestown/#.Wddr8xOPKTf
What I Said When My White Friend Asked For My Black Opinion of White Privilege https://onbeing.org/blog/what-i-said-when-my-white-friend-asked-for-my-black-opinion-on-white-privilege/
Peeling the Whitewash From Our Myths: Susan K. Smith and Bill Moyers talk about the Bible, the Constitution and Race
http://billmoyers.com/story/scraping-whitewash-from-myths-religion-and-politics/
Remove the Real Artifacts of the Confederacy
Opinion piece by Benjamin Campbell, Richmond/VA
http://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/guest-columnists/benjamin-p-campbell-remove-the-real-artifacts-of-the-confederacy/article_01a268b6-9652-5b14-abaa-c7659cfd0615.html
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
Black and White Veterans and the GI Bill
http://sites.dartmouth.edu/censushistory/2016/10/31/black-and-white-veterans-and-the-gi-bill/
Shows the unequal access to higher education from the GI bill from WWII to present. A bit dry and analytical, but an important finding.
How the GI Bill Left Out African Americans
http://www.demos.org/blog/11/11/13/how-gi-bill-left-out-african-americans
Redlining is Alive and Well—and Evolving
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/09/redlining-is-alive-and-welland-evolving/407497
Nine recent, high-profile cases show the discriminatory practice of redlining is not a thing of the past. It’s even spread to your Facebook account.
Are Private Schools Immoral?
www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/12/progressives-are-undermining-public-schools/548084/
A conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones about race, education, and hypocrisy.
Books
Tears We Cannot Stop – Michael Eric Dyson
Dyson argues that if we are to make real racial progress we must face difficult truths, including being honest about how black grievance has been ignored, dismissed, or discounted. Short, emotional, literary, powerful book. As the country grapples with racist division at a level not seen since the 1960s, one man's voice soars above the rest with conviction and compassion.
My First White Friend – Patricia Raybon
Newspaper columnist, writer and NPR commentator Patricia Raybon admits that she hated whites for years. She even tried unsuccessfully to whip up a similar rage in her parents. But anger got her nowhere. Eventually, in the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, she found an alternative: forgiveness
The Blood of Emmett Till – Timothy Tyson
This extraordinary New York Times bestseller reexamines a pivotal event of the civil rights movement—the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till—“and demands that we do the one vital thing we aren’t often enough asked to do with history: learn from it” (The Atlantic).
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City – Matthew Desmond
From Harvard sociologist and MacArthur "Genius" Matthew Desmond, a landmark work of scholarship and reportage that will forever change the way we look at poverty in America. Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize general non-fiction.
I’ve Got the Light of Freedom – Charles M. Payne
This momentous work offers a groundbreaking history of the early civil rights movement in the South with new material that situates the book in the context of subsequent movement literature.
Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice – Shelly Tochluk
For many, spiritual and racial justice principles go hand in hand. Yet, although seemingly compatible, tensions often arise when people try to live out their associated values and strategies. Further, there are those who sit solidly on one side of either spirituality or advocacy and fail to see the connection between the two. The author takes a "both/and" approach, exploring how spirituality and racial justice can co-exist and work together.
America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America – Jim Wallis
“America’s Original Sin is required reading for all who believe in the promises of God, hope for the American democracy, and long to see the power of a justice ethos grounded in love.” - Rev. Wm. Barber
Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehesi Coates
In a powerful book written as a letter to his teenage son, the author narrates his awakening to the truth about his place as a black man in the world and offers a vision of the way forward.
Waking Up White: and Finding Myself in the Story of Race – Debby Irving
The author reveals how waking up to her misguided beliefs about colorblindness and race.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness – Michelle Alexander
The author, a lawyer and professor, argues that by targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control while claiming to be colorblind. She shows how the system has an effect similar to how Jim Crow once operated —relegating millions to a permanent second-class status.
Richmond’s Unhealed History – Rev. Benjamin Campbell
The author traces the legacy of deceit and enslavement from the 1600's to the present. In this detailed look at the history of Richmond, the author examines the contradictions and crises that have formed the city over more than four centuries. Campbell argues that the community of metropolitan Richmond is engaged in a decisive spiritual battle in the coming decade.
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism – Edward Baptist
Traces the pivotal role of slavery in spurring the development of United States into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy.
Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II – Douglas Blackmon
A Pulitzer-prize winning account of the “Age of Neoslavery” that thrived from the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II. The author reveals how thousands of black people were forced into involuntary servitude after the Emancipation Proclamation until the middle of the 20th century, how companies profited from their labor, and how the legacy of racism continues to reverberate today.
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America – Nancy Isenberg
The intersection of class and race. The book traces the history of class in American from the pre-colonial era into the 21st century. History like you’ve never heard it.
The Cross and the Lynching Tree – James H. Cone
Reconciling the gospel message of liberation with the reality of black oppression and suffering during the lynching era.
Autobiography of Malcolm X – Malcolm X and M.S. Handler
In this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement. His message remains relevant today.
Say the Wrong Thing – Amanda Kemp
Part memoir and part social commentary, this short book provides insight and strategies for creating racial justice and a strong sense of shared community. Her voice is vulnerable and personal as she reflects on her own interracial relationship, parenting her Black teen-aged son, and making art in the age of Black Lives Matter.
Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation – Beverly Daniel Tatum.
Reflections by an educationalist on race and schools.
The Warmth of Other Suns; The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration – Isabel Wilkerson
The recipient of multiple awards, the book tells the story of the migration between 1915 and 1970 of six million black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. Deeply researched, movingly told.
Harriett Tubman – Catherine Clinton
Celebrated for her courageous exploits as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman has entered history as one of nineteenth-century America's most enduring and important figures. But just who was this remarkable woman?
The Souls of Black Folk – W.E.B. DuBois
Du Bois’ seminal work of sociology, with searing insights into our complex, corrosive relationship with race and the African-American consciousness. Reconsidered for the era of Obama, Trump, and Black Lives Matter, the new edition includes an incisive introduction from rising cultural critic Vann R. Newkirk II and stunning illustrations by the artist Steve Prince.
Race Men – Hazel Carby
Who are the "race men" standing for black America? It is a question Carby rejects, along with its long-standing assumption: that a particular type of black male can represent the race. A searing critique of definitions of black masculinity at work in American culture, Race Men shows how these defining images play out socially, culturally, and politically for black and white society—and how they exclude women altogether. Carby begins by looking at images of black masculinity in the work of W.E.B. Du Bois. Her analysis of The Souls of Black Folk reveals the narrow and rigid code of masculinity that Du Bois applied to racial achievement and advancement.
Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion - Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
Just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America - Ibram X. Kendi
In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis. As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation's racial inequities.
White Picket Fences: Turning toward Love in a World Divided by Privilege - Amy Julia Becker
White Picket Fences invites us to respond to privilege with generosity, humility, and hope. It opens us to questions we are afraid to ask, so that we can walk further from fear and closer to love, in all its fragile and mysterious possibilities.
The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism - Jemar Tisby
The Color of Compromise details how the American church has helped create and maintain racist ideas and practices. You will be guided in thinking through concrete solutions for improved race relations and a racially inclusive church.
Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice - Eric Mason
Dr. Eric Mason calls the evangelical church to a much-needed reckoning. In a time when many feel confused, complacent, or even angry, he challenges the church to: 1) Be Aware – to understand that the issue of justice is not a black issue, it’s a kingdom issue; 2) Be Redemptive – to grieve and lament what we have lost and to regain our prophetic voice, calling the church to remember our gospel imperative to promote justice and mercy; and 3) Be Active – to move beyond polite, safe conversations about reconciliation and begin to set things aright for our soon-coming King, who will be looking for a WOKE CHURCH.
One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race and Love - John M. Perkins
Dr. Perkins speaks honestly to the church about reconciliation, discipleship, and justice... and what it really takes to live out biblical reconciliation. He offers a call to repentance to both the white church and the black church. He explains how band-aid approaches of the past won't do. And while applauding these starter efforts, he holds that true reconciliation won't happen until we get more intentional and relational. True friendships must happen, and on every level. This will take the whole church, not just the pastors and staff.
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism - Robin DiAngelo
Antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and “allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to ‘bad people’. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue.
Novels
Homegoing - Yas Gyasi
A NY Times best-selling novel about the impact of slavery as traced through the lives of two half-sisters and their descendants. The book vividly spans three hundred years of history, from the days of slavery to its legacy in the present day.
The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
This historical novel inspired by the life of Sarah Grimke, born into a slave owning household in South Carolina who became a Quaker abolitionist.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Young adult book. By the time she’s 16, Starr Carter, the protagonist of the book, has lost two of her childhood friends to gun violence: one by a gang drive-by, and one by a cop.
Homegoing - Yas Gyasi
A NY Times best-selling novel about the impact of slavery as traced through the lives of two half-sisters and their descendants. The book vividly spans three hundred years of history, from the days of slavery to its legacy in the present day.
The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd
This historical novel inspired by the life of Sarah Grimke, born into a slave owning household in South Carolina who became a Quaker abolitionist.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Young adult book. By the time she’s 16, Starr Carter, the protagonist of the book, has lost two of her childhood friends to gun violence: one by a gang drive-by, and one by a cop.
Human Resources
Charlene Green, Manager, Human Rights Commission, City of Charlottesville. Expertise in history of race in Charlottesville, facilitating dialogues on race. Contact: 434-970-3115
Gayle J. White, Community Engagement Officer, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Expertise in building bridges between diverse communities and institutions of historical significance. Contact: [email protected]
Charlene Green, Manager, Human Rights Commission, City of Charlottesville. Expertise in history of race in Charlottesville, facilitating dialogues on race. Contact: 434-970-3115
Gayle J. White, Community Engagement Officer, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Expertise in building bridges between diverse communities and institutions of historical significance. Contact: [email protected]