Black Lives Matter | Anti-Racism Resources

(Cover image by Reyna Noriega)

Like for so many others, this week for me has been a time to be quiet, to be shocked and uncomfortable. To listen and read about experiences that I’ll never fully understand but that I must do better to understand. Posting anything on this topic now feels hypocritical and vacuous as nothing that is happening to black people and people of colour is new and this isn’t something I’ve talked about online before. But I do feel it’s important as a white person and a small business owner of what I hope to be an inclusive and ethical brand, to acknowledge recent events publicly, and the need to personally be more educated and more actively anti-racist.

With so much information being shared on social media at the moment, it feels overwhelming, which is concerning because I tend to find in my own life, overwhelm can result in inaction or giving up. To prevent this, I’ve put together a plan for my own learning and action with short term, medium term and long term work, using resources that resonate with me most: via artists and creators, books and social media accounts all listed below as a starting point. It’s not an exhaustive list, this is just the beginning of a long-term commitment to educate myself, to listen, to have challenging conversations, to act with empathy and in solidarity with people of colour and the black community.

If you are white, I encourage you to make this a priority in your own life too and to continue to engage with this long after the social media hype has faded. I recognise it is a privilege in itself that I can take the time to learn about racism, rather than experiencing it every day of my life.

My voice in this conversation is not needed, but sharing the voices of others, by using the influence I have, that we all have, amongst friends, family and colleagues, is essential and a good place to begin doing the work.

“In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.”
― Angela Y. Davis