This is a document that has been compiled with the intention of providing resources and learning opportunities for those who seek to educate themselves on racial oppression, police brutality and the adapted forms of racism that the black community lives with within the United States. This list was created in the interest of encouraging people within positions of inherent power to do your part to make real systematic changes in your city, your state, and ultimately your country. The United States was built on systems of oppression, and by understanding those systems and each of our places within them, we open the door to growth both within ourselves and the world around us. 

 

To be clear, the goal of this document is not to promote political ideologies, but to showcase the power that comes from uplifting black voices in our communities. Remaining silent in times of oppression is siding with the oppressor and ultimately we found we were unable to sit by silently as communities were ravaged by an aggression that is as old as our country itself. It is no longer enough to just not be racist, to incite change we must be both antiracist and pro black. We implore you to use this document not as the end of your education, but as the beginning. A foundation to build from and give to others so that they build from it as well. We hope you will use this opportunity for education to make the world a safer place to live in for black and brown bodies. 

 

In a time that is marked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Philandro Castile, Micheal Brown, John Crawford, and countless others, we must keep in mind that these are not singular incidents but a systematic form of oppression and silencing black bodies in our country. We must ask ourselves, how are we STILL here? How has this continued to be our country's narrative? Why has our country's use of police brutality been on the global stage? Most importantly we must ask ourselves how to change that. 

 

It is time to change the racist culture we live in, but no change can happen until each of us recognize the part we each play in a broken system. No change can happen until nonblack individuals try to understand what black individuals live with on a daily basis. So we challenge you to open your mind and heart to this document and use it to put yourself in an uncomfortable position. These uncomfortable positions are necessary to learn, understand, and grow: There is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone. It is important and essential to admit wrongdoing within oneself, and to quickly follow it by the willingness and drive to understand more and equip oneself with the resources and skills to avoid those wrongdoings and help others do the same. We must be able to understand how our individual positions of power can be used to uplift the powerless, it is only then when true change can be made. 

 

Remember: this document of resources only scrapes the surface of the history of the oppressive system and the perspectives of the black community. Use them as seeds, your drive and will to know and do more will water these seeds so that they will grow.