RACIAL EQUITY MATTERS Resource List

This list is provided in conjunction with SoCoCulture’s September 16, 2020 membership meeting on Racial Equity Matters. Browse through and follow up on the programs, activities and readings that are of most interest to you. SoCo members can use these materials as the basis for discussions within their own organizations, or if you’d like to form a virtual discussion circle with other SoCo members on a certain book, film or program, feel free to contact Barbara McMichael if you’d like help in reaching out to others to set something up! info@sococulture.org 

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MOVIES, TELEVISION, AND VIDEOS

Suggestion provided by Chris Lovings, Neighborhood Programs Coordinator, City of Auburn:

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America
Black food is American food. Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield traces the delicious, moving throughlines from Africa to Texas in this Netflix docuseries.

Details: The link to this series is www.netflix.com/title/81034518

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Western Washington Gets Real
Reportage by KIRO 7 TV on systemic racism in Western Washington.

Details: Find links to past stories at www.kiro7.com/getsreal/

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Two short videos on systemic racism recommended by former SoCoCulture leadership team member, and author Gaylloyd Sissón
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX_Vzl-r8NY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrHIQIO_bdQ

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13th
13th is a 2016 American documentary film by director Ava DuVernay.The film explores the “intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States;” it is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the United States and ended involuntary servitude except as a punishment for conviction of a crime.

Details:

Watch 13th for free on your own schedule at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8&feature=youtu.be

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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 successive 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 thirty completed pages of his manuscript. But in this documentary, master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material.

Details:

Watch I Am Not Your Negro for free online on your own schedule using your KCLS library card – https://www.kanopy.com/product/i-am-not-your-negro

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Jim Crow of the North
Roots of racial disparities are seen through a new lens in this film that explores the origins of housing segregation in the Minneapolis area. But the story also illustrates how African-American families and leaders resisted this insidious practice, and how Black people built community — within and despite — the red lines that these restrictive covenants created.

Details:

Watch Jim Crow of the North for free online on your own schedule at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWQfDbbQv9E

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White Like Me: Race, Racism & White Privilege in America
White Like Me, based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores race and racism in the US through the lens of whiteness and white privilege. In a stunning reassessment of the American ideal of meritocracy and claims that we’ve entered a post-racial society, Wise offers a fascinating look back at the race-based white entitlement programs that built the American middle class, and argues that our failure as a society to come to terms with this legacy of white privilege continues to perpetuate racial inequality and race-driven political resentments today.

Details:

Watch White Like Me for free online on your own schedule using your KCLS library card – https://www.kanopy.com/product/white-me-0

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Whose Streets?
When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest. Whose Streets? is an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising.

Details:

Watch Whose Streets? for free online on your own schedule using your KCLS library card – https://www.kanopy.com/product/whose-streets

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We Are Muckleshoot
Film introduction to the Muckleshoot Tribe, their history and their activities.

Details:

Watch We Are Muckleshoot for free online on your own schedule at http://www.muckleshoot.nsn.us/multimedia/we-are-muckleshoot.aspx

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The Book of Negroes
The Book of Negroes is a miniseries based on a novel of the same name (but published in the U.S. under the title Someone Knows My Name) by Canadian author Lawrence Hill. This was recommended by SoCo leadership team member Gaylloyd Sisson.

Details:

A DVD of The Book of Negroes is available for checkout through KCLS, as is the book.

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Knock Down the House 
At a moment of historic volatility in American politics, four women decide to fight back, setting themselves on a journey that will change their lives and their country. Without political experience or corporate money, they build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. Their efforts result in a legendary upset.

Details:

Watch Knock Down the House for free on your own schedule at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSo2hZRcXk&feature=youtu.be

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Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook – discussion of the documentary
Between 2016 and 2018, over 17 million names were purged from voter rolls across the U.S. As portrayed in the 2019 documentary Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook, voter roll purges are just one of many strategies used to suppress votes.

Details:

Watch Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook on your own schedule at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03DGjnIkTdI

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PROGRAMS AND WEBINARS

Suggestion provided by the Ethnic Heritage Council

Language at the Intersection Insights Interview Series
Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council for Languages and International Studies

With additional sponsorship provided by Vista Higher Learning, this series produced by JNCL-NCLIS showcases the stories of professionals from various fields whose work depends on multilingualism, and explores how language intersects with their abilities to pursue opportunities, build relationships and address needs in the work they do. This series highlights how multilingualism moves our world.

Details:

Access the series at  www.languagepolicy.org

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Suggestion provided by Bookda Gheisar, Senior Director, Port of Seattle Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion:

Freedom to Be We: On Belonging, Beloved Community and the Role of Government
Government Alliance on Race and Equity 
2022 Conference

The keynote speech from the 2022 Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) conference on how we can all support each other and continue to advance equity values like inclusion and belonging.

Details:

View online at: Freedom to Be We: On Belonging, Beloved Community, and the Role of Government

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Disability Justice, Racial Justice, and the ADA
Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium

The Americans with Disabilities Act was a huge step forward for our country and arguably one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in the last century. However, like other groundbreaking legislation throughout American history, the ADA has certain shortcomings that cause harm to BIPOC communities. In this panel discussion amplifying BIPOC voices, we will examine past & current harms and equity vs. equality, as well as exploring the ways Disability Justice builds on the ADA. Originally aired in August 2020.

View here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Bdr9KFEv8

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Restorative Justice in Schools
League of Education Voters

Restorative Justice allows people affected by crime to communicate with the person responsible, often with the aim of a face-to-face meeting. This gives them the chance to talk about the incident. They can explain how it has impacted them, seek assurances that it won’t happen again, and agree on how to put things right. This is what many people affected by crime want, which is why 85% of victims who go through Restorative Justice are satisfied with the experience. Restorative Justice also leads to a significant drop in re-offending, as it helps people who have committed crimes to recognize the harm they have caused. Restorative practice can also be used to address non-criminal harm.

In this free virtual event, Toyia Taylor (Executive Director and Founder – WeAPP), Sean Goode (Executive Director – Choose 180), Saroeum Phoung (Executive Director – Peacemaking Academy), and Dion Schell (Director of Education – Community Passageways) discussed restorative justice in schools, focusing on a healing approach to student behavior versus a penal approach. They talked what brought them to the work, what their programs do, their philosophy, and where they can be found. They also talked about how to expand these programs throughout Washington state and answer your questions.

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Black Lives Matter and (the American) Revolution

The wave of anti-racist protests sweeping across the U.S. since the killing of George Floyd on May 25th has propelled issues of discrimination, police violence, and social justice into the national spotlight with an urgency that echoes the civil rights movement of the 1960s. A diverse cross-section of Americans has taken to the streets, despite the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Demands for the removal of monuments commemorating people and events rooted in the repugnant ideology of white supremacy are again on the rise, and many history institutions are engaged in the painful but essential process of reckoning with the role racism played in their own individual histories. Against this backdrop, preparations for marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution continue. How will this renewed social justice movement impact the way history organizations commemorate this anniversary? How will it impact the ways in which Americans respond?

Details:

Watch online on your own schedule. Cost: $5-$10, but free to anyone by using promo code shared on the website. https://learn.aaslh.org/products/recorded-webinar-aaslh-conversations-black-lives-matter-and-the-american-revolution

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BOOKS AND OTHER READING

Association of State and Local History: 

AASLH’s Reframing History Report and Toolkit provides historians, educators, museum professionals, and history advocates with evidence-backed recommendations to be able to more cohesively and convincingly communicate about history to build a wider understanding of what inclusive history looks like and why it is important for all of us.

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Resources provided by librarian and former SoCo leadership team member José Garcia:

1. Article: Reflections on Cultural Humility – https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2013/08/cultural-humility
2. The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture – https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/white-supremacy-culture-characteristics.html
3. Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture – https://www.equityinthecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Equity-in-Center-Awake-Woke-Work-2019-final-1.pdf
4. Guiding questions for equity task forces – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lOFbjMgs5A3SDqciMj6PJDBP6p4neOuO/view
5. Native land map – https://native-land.ca/

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Librarian Cassandra Harlan compiled a racial equity reading list for your consideration:

https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/list/share/282383257_fw_librarian/1708235869_anti-racism_reading_list

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Because South King County also has such significant immigrant populations, you might also find these KCLS reading lists helpful:

https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/list/show/209743155_kcls_librarians_diversity/216496455_kcls_recommends_diversity_-_the_immigrant_experience
and
https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/list/share/209743155_kcls_librarians_diversity/371029478_the_immigrant_experience_-_fiction

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Additional reading recommendations from Barbara McMichael, SoCoCulture staff:

1. Across That Bridge – John Lewis
2. Things That Make White People Uncomfortable – Michael Bennett
3. Heart Berries – Terese Marie Mailhot
4. All the Real Indians Died Off – Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
5. Bitterroot – Susan Devan Harness
6. “Environmental Justice for All” article – https://view.joomag.com/pr-for-people-monthly-september-2020/0913484001599980992?short&
7. https://www.realrentduwamish.org/determine-rent.html
8. The New York Times 1619 Project – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html
9. Welcome to the New World – Jake Halpern, illustrated by Michael Sloan
10. Proud Shoes – Pauli Murray
11. www.leafandpen.com/blog/what-do-we-do-with-the-normalized-whiteness-of-books-of-yore
12. The Future Is Disabled – Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
13. “What Does It Mean to Us to Be Indigenous?” article – https://www.portseattle.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-us-be-indigenous
14. “How to Make Room for the ‘Waking’ Among the Woke” – column by Naomi Ishisaka, Seattle Times assistant managing editor for diversity, inclusion and staff development  – her column on race, culture, equity and social justice appears every Monday in The Seattle Times
15. Mental Health in the Filipino American Community – a series by the Los Angeles Times

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Additional reading recommendation from artist Olisa Enrico-Johnson:

My Grandmother’s Hands – Resmaa Menakem

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Additional reading recommendation from former SoCoCulture leadership team member Bennyroyce Royon:

The Artist as Citizen – Dr. Joseph Polisi

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Additional reading recommendation from ACLU/Washington:

Just Us: An American Conversation – Claudia Rankine

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Additional reading recommendations from hateisavirus.org:

1. Minor Feelings – Cathy Park Hong
2. America Is In The Heart – Carlos Bulosan
3. No-No Boy – John Okada
4. Freedom Dreams – Robin D.G. Kelley
5. Asian Settler Colonialism – Candace Fujikane
6. The Making of Asian America – Erika Lee

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Additional reading recommendations from former SoCoCulture leadership team member Gaylloyd Sisson:

Books to read by Black authors in 2021, listed at www.purewow.com

Do you have additional recommendations to add to this list? Contact Barbara McMichael at info@sococulture.org or 206-878-6912 with your ideas!

And if you’d like to participate in or organize a discussion group around a particular book or film, let us know and we’ll try to help you coordinate! Again, contact Barbara via phone/e-mail listed above.

And here is the link to the discussion thread that was happening in our Chat Room during the SoCo membership meeting in September 2020:  Zoom Chat_SoCoCulture 9.16.2020-1