Black Lives Matter resources you can access easily at Lancs uni

Full books available on one search – no excuses


Following the tragic murder of George Floyd there been a realisation for many people that their level of education surrounding issues of racism in particular and black culture as a whole is simply not good enough.

Petitions have been signed, donation have been made to help bail protestors out of jail, letters have been sent to MPs, but the work doesn’t stop there. The surface is only just being scratched in terms of education. As students, many of us have found ourselves with more spare time in the past few weeks with lectures coming to a close and deadlines being completed.

So, time is no longer the limitation, the only thing left to do is make students aware of the vast amounts of free resources made available to them. The books, documentaries and podcasts in the list below are by no means a comprehensive list but they are a starting point in learning about privilege, racial inequality and the systemic oppression of black people.

What’s more, many of these books (which are available in full for free on onesearch) are those which are vastly popular to the point that they have sold out in most book shops.

Books

The following are all available in full on Lancaster University library’s onesearch.

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Stemming from a blogpost by the same name written by Eddo-Lodge in Febrary 2014.

It read: “I’m no longer engaging with white people on the topic of race. Not all white people, just the vast majority who refuse to accept the existence of structural racism and its symptoms. I can no longer engage with the gulf of an emotional disconnect that white people display when a person of colour articulates their experience. You can see their eyes shut down and harden. It’s like treacle is poured into their ears, blocking up their ear canals. It’s like they can no longer hear us.”

White Privilege: The Myth of a Post Racial Society by Kalwant Bhopal

This important book examines the impact of race on wider issues of inequality and difference in society.

The souls of Black folk by W. E. B Du Bois

The book contains several essays on race, some of which the magazine Atlantic Monthly had previously published.

The Next American Revolution – Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs and Scott Kurashige

Grace Lee Boggs, a legendary figure in the struggle for justice in America, assesses the current crisis and shows how to create the radical social change we need to confront new realities.

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

Patricia Hill Collins set out to explore the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals and writers, providing an interpretive framework for the work of prominent Black feminist thinkers.

There Ain’t no Black in the Union Jack by Paul Gilroy

In this book Gilroy accuses British intellectuals and politicians on both sides of the political divide of refusing to take race seriously.  The book caused immediate uproar when first published in 1987.

TV and film

The following are all available on Netflix

13th

This Netflix documentary created by Ava DuVernay, who also directed When They See US, is an analysis of the criminalisation of African Americans.

The film involves conversations with scholars, historians, activists and politicians to examine why so many of America’s prisons are disproportionately filled with black people.

When They See Us

Another directorial work of Ava DuVernay, When They See Us is based on a true story. Five teens from Harlem are falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.

Strong Island

This Oscar-nominated provocative and emotional documentary explores the murder of filmmaker Yance Ford’s brother.

Teach Us All

A documentary detailing the journey to desegregate American schools since Brown v. Board of Education. Decades after it took place schools still remained largely segregated as some leader work to change that.

Podcasts

The following are either available on Spotify or youtube

Code Switch

This podcast brings to the forefront the daily issues that black women face in the workplace. Co-hosted by three black female journalists working in corporate America, the podcast offers laughs, advice and experience, with everything from the latest protests, to race and the intersection of coronavirus, to how Dora the Explorer mattered as a way to usher in multicultural children’s TV programmes.

No Country For Young Women

Presented by Sadie Azmat and Monty Onanuga this podcast discuses the experience of being a British woman of colour in the UK. The Spotify bio describes the podcast as “Life, love and work in a man’s world.”

Say Your Mind

The weekly Monday podcast hosted by Kelechi Okafor provides an outlet for her to share her unique and hilarious take on current events and pop culture. The podcast is long form and often runs for an hour and a half.

Recently an episode of the podcast titled “Would you switch places with a black person?” presents a two-hour-long discussion on the death of George Floyd and the recent protests.

Slay In Your Lane: The Podcast

The podcast come from multi award-winning authors Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené. The relatively young podcast began in April 2020 and expands on many of the themes addressed in the Slay in Your Lane book including navigating the workplace, finances, education, health, relationships and dating.

Witness Black History

The BBC’s podcast about black history features interviews with key figures from black and civil rights history.

The episodes cover topics such as the Black Panthers, the Bristol bus boycott and black GI’s in World War Two. Each episode is around 10 minutes long, giving you the chance to learn a lot of black history in a short space of time.

Afua Hirsch Brit(ish): On Race Identity and Belonging Audiobook 

This audiobook can be found on youtube here.

The book, detailing Hirsch’s search for identity, s about the everyday racism that plagues British society. The audiobook is read by Hirsch herself, explains why Britain is “a nation in denial about our past and our present.”

Even though the books are sold out online, and it’s hard to get your hands on content at the minute, there’s plenty of opportunities to educate yourselves. This list is just a starting point, but there’s so many resources online to help you make a start!

Related stories recommended by this writer:

‘You have to be anti-racist’: Lancaster BLM protestors on why they’re protesting

‘First to spell n***** wins hangman’: Uni investigates housemates’ racist chat

I’m black and grew up in the US. This is how it feels to live within racism you see on TV