Part of a commitment to racial justice is a commitment to learning. It’s never too late to unlearn white supremacy and embrace justice. Here are some of our favorite resources to get you started. While the focus of these resources is on the why and how of defunding police, there are also resources to learn about institutional racism more broadly.
Web Resources
- #8toAbolition
- Movement for Black Lives
- Black Lives Matter Portland
- MPD150: Building a Police Free Future FAQ
- Critical Resistance: Abolition v. Reform Chart
- An Anti-Racist Reading List compiled by Professor Ibram X. Kendi
Articles
- Northeaster: What Does it Really Mean: Defund Police?
- The New Yorker: How Do We Change America?
- New York Times: How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts
- New York Times: America, This is Your Chance
- New York Times: Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind
- The Guardian: The Answer to Police Violence is not 'Reform'. It's Defunding. Here's Why
- New York Times list: Read Up on the Links Between Racism and the Environment
Books
- David Correia and Tyler Wall, Police: A Field Guide
- Alex Vitale, The End of Policing (free ebook)
- Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?
- Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow
- Patrisse Cullors-Brignac, When They Call You A Terrorist
- Kimberly Drew, This is What I Know About Art
- Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
- Tressie McMillan Cottom, Thick
- Mark Paul Richard, Not a Catholic Nation: The Ku Klux Klan Confronts New England in the 1920s
-
Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Anti-Racist
Podcasts
- Beyond Prisons podcast
- Intercepted podcast: Ruth Wilson Gilmore Makes the Case for Abolition
- Ear Hustle podcast
- This American Life: Harper High School, Part 1 and Part 2
- 1619 podcast
- Uncivil podcast
- Scene on Radio: Seeing White
- Call Your Girlfriend podcast: Police Abolition
Movies & Music
- Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee
- A Seat at the Table by Solange Knowles
- good kid, m.a.a.d. city by Kendrick Lamar
- 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay
- I Am Not Your Negro, written by James Baldwin / directed by Raoul Peck
