Black Lives Matter - My personal list of resources
When we increase the level of understanding, we increase the level of compassion, which will ultimately lead to change. Like you, I’m educating myself. Here’s my messy notes and resources. This helps me, and I hope it’ll help you too.
Start Here
- Talking About Race - Let’s Talk, Let’s Think, Let’s Act for educators, parents, and persons committed to equality. National Museum of African American History & Culture
Safe Space
- A safe space to ask questions and get answers: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho @themanacho on IGTV
- Here’s a way to teach/learn privilege that brings people together rather than apart: Pedagogy of Privilege by Justin Ford (Apr 11, 2012 - TEDxEMU)
- Breathe through the defensiveness to unpack your privilege, that invisible, unearned, package of benefits - Understanding My Privilege by Sue Borrego(TEDxPasadenaWomen)
- My privilege (a Chinese Canadian who grew up in Hong Kong)
- There is no immaculate perception. We’re hard wired to perform automatic processing. Take the test to find out your implicit bias.
Anti-Racism
- How to build an antiracist world by Ibram X. Kendi TED2020 - You’re either being a racist or an antiracist. To be antiracist, is to admit when we express a racist idea. “Racist” describes what a person is saying or doing at the moment. It’s not an identity.
- Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist - podcast Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
The Power of Language
- The power of language to change stories of trauma into stories of healing: How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time by Baratunde Thurston (Jun 26, 2019 - TED). Highly Recommended⭐
- What if we could all come together by viewing ourselves in a different way? Learn to empower by Recognizing Privilege: Power to All People by Michael Yates (Jan 12, 2018 - TEDxTexasStateUniversity)
Understanding Race
- Book: So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo
- We need to understand race before we can talk about racism - Let’s Talk About Race by Jennifer Chernega (Jul 6, 2015 - TEDxTrondheim)
- How to Talk about Race by Eric Degauss (May 5, 2013 - TEDxBloomington)
Why “All Lives Matter” is missing the point
The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2012 when an unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida.
Two years later, Ferguson happened. Michael Brown was shot six times by police, but he was unarmed. This turned the spark of Black Lives Matter into a flame, igniting protests and rage across the nation to bring awareness that blacks aren’t being treated equally.
This is when the "all lives matter" response was born.
- All Lives Matter (#AllLivesMatter) is a slogan that has come to be associated with criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement (wiki). ‘All Lives Matter' implies that all lives are equally at risk, and they're not.
- Cartoon by Kris Straub illustrating All Lives Matter. Quote: “i have the luxury of getting in my car today, getting pulled over for an expired sticker, and having a reasonable expectation that i’ll only receive a ticket instead of four bullets to the torso. right now, a lot of people don’t have that luxury. “black lives matter” never meant “only black lives matter.” it means they matter as well.”
The Whole Picture. Systematic racism.
TODO - read more
- Malcolm Gladwell’s book Talking to Strangers. Ch. 11 Case Study: The Kansas City Experiments - so timely.
- Also by Malcolm Gladwell - “David and Goliath” - a chapter on policing and legitimacy. http://podcasts.pushkin.fm/rh-david-goliath?sid=fb
For Kids
- Picture books to start conversations about anti-racism - Port Moody Library
- Anti-Racist Reading for Older Elementary and Middle School Students - Port Moody Library (happy to see there’s a book about the Chinese head tax and anti-chines immigration policy.
- Teens - BLM Reading List - Port Moody Library
- What Canadian kids should know about #BlackLivesMatter - a short video on CBC Kids for kids.
Reading List
People on Instagram
Pick one and start there…
- @Ijeomaoluo
- @berniceaking
- @moemotivate
- @blairimani
- @iamrachelricketts
- @ava
- @rachel.cargle
- @ckyourprivilege
- @mspackyetti
- @zebablay
- @austinchanning
- @michellesaahene
- @cleowade
- @indyamoore
- @lpeopleswagner
- @cyndiespiegel
- @themanacho
Other People’s Resource List
- Anti-racism resources compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein in May, 2020 - Google Doc
- Gretchen Rubin blog - With Liberty and Justice for All Jun 1, 2020
Also in Blog

Healthy weekday breakfast for busy mornings
A delicious healthy grab 'n go breakfast shared by a Vancouver-based registered holistic nutritionist!
