We Must Do Better
Graphic by Faith Spenik, June 2020
Hi all,
Many of us are feeling deep sadness and frustration at the murder Black Americans as a result of the systems built on white supremacy within this country. We must again face the horrific reality of lost Black lives as a consequence of systems of inequality, systematic oppression, white supremacy, explicit racism against Black and brown communities, and police brutality. Despite the world operating at a standstill, violence against Black Americans continues to endure.
We want to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Sean Reed, and countless others who have been murdered by police brutality and both covert and overt racism. We stand in solidarity with Black communities and individuals at UVA and throughout the Charlottesville community, and hope to use our privilege and platform to amplify Black voices and promote resources to educate, inform, and invoke action. As students of a predominantly white institution, built by enslaved Black laborers, a University with buildings named after slave owners and eugenicists, we must do our part in dismantling the racist systems that surround us.
While we are extremely thankful for the work you’ve done as a part of CSSC for your projects, we want to remind you that it is okay and encouraged to take a step back and refocus your energy towards racial equity movements taking place across the country. This is an essential moment in our country and it would be a grave injustice to be silent or passive. You are free to continue fundraising or raising awareness for your own projects, as organizations and vulnerable populations in Charlottesville still are in need of aid, but we also encourage you to donate to organizations serving Black communities if you have the financial means to do so. We further urge you to educate yourself on the deep history of racism in this nation beyond what you were taught in school, and to then educate others. It is not the responsibility of our Black peers to educate us and to continuously bear this burden that we have as a nation. We’ve included organizations across the country that are taking donations at the bottom of this article, and have also included resources for education and further action steps.
Best,
Lauren Xue on behalf of CSSC
RESOURCES
Please remember that this list is non-exhaustive and that there have already been many lists compiled by BIPOC creators, which we encourage you to seek out / are happy to provide. This document will be updated periodically.
FUNDS
NON-MONETARY DONATION
DONATE TO VICTIMS
PETITIONS/STATEMENTS
READINGS
Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
As We Have Always Done by Leanne Beta Simpson
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Critical Race Theory: An Introduction by Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
On Intersectionality: Essential Writings by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Blindspot; Hidden Biases of Good People by Banaji Mahzarin and Anthony Greenwald
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
The Possessive Investment in Whiteness by George Lipicz
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni-Eddo Lodge
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Foreman Jr.
This Birdge Called My Back by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua
How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
A Taste of Power by Elaine Brown
Conversations in Black: On Politics, Power, and Leadership by Ed Gordon
Chokehold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler
An African-American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essay by: Damon Young
Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy MD
PODCASTS
MOVIES/TV SHOWS
13th
Selma
The Hate U Give
Atlanta
Just Mercy
Clemency
I Am Not Your Negro
UVA & CHARLOTTESVILLE HISTORY / ACTIONS
In 1965, the city of Charlottesville Demolished a Thriving Black Neighborhood
10 Insights About the Landscape and culture of Slavery at Thomas Jefferson's University
The Long Shadow of Racism at the University of Virginia: From 1817 to the Charlottesville Riots
OTHER LINKS
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