Black lives matter. It’s hard to imagine that we’re living in a moment where there is any pushback on that thought, any question about why we say it. George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery were murdered while we all watched. Breonna Taylor was killed by police in her own home. Countless other Black and Brown families grieve for the senseless and lawless killings of their daughters, sons, mothers, fathers and siblings. A fundamental belief that human life is sacred seems to only apply to some. This is unacceptable. Enough is enough.

We are proud to be a part of a movement that is now profoundly and loudly demanding change. We stand with protestors and organizers and are committed to the work of dismantling our own and our culture’s white supremacy. 

Until there is accountability, nothing changes. This is the nature of culture work, and is the single greatest point of failure. Leadership can say all the right things but if bad behavior goes unchecked, leadership might as well endorse that behavior because that is what their silence signals. Cultures that encourage fraternalism and codes of silence and in fact punish those who try to speak out against cruel, illegal and immoral behavior cannot be rehabbed. They must be dismantled and something new must be built in their place. 

Our journeys did not start this week - we have done much of the reading, watched many of the movies, listened to the podcasts, made the donations, attended the workshops - but we know we will never be done working to check our own white supremacy and ensure that our actions truly align with our intent to support and elevate our Black colleagues and friends. 

Here are some resources we’ve found valuable or are on our own personal “to read” lists:

Movies

  • The 13th - Netflix

  • American Son - Netflix

  • When They See Us - Netflix

  • Dear White People - Netflix

  • Just Mercy - Free to rent 

  • The Hate You Give - Hulu

  • Say Her Name - The Life And Death of Sandra Bland - HBO

Videos

Podcasts 

  • 1619 by NY Times

  • White Lies

  • Pod Save the People

  • Code Switch

  • About Race with Redi Eddo-Lodge

  • Truth Be Told

  • Higher Learning

  • With Friends like These - Episode: White Fragility 101

Books

  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

  • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

  • White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD

  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

  • When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir - Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Asha Bandele, Angela Y. Davis (Foreword)

  • How to be an Anti-Racist by Ivram X. Kendi

  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

  • So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

  • Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

  • On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope  by DeRay McKesson

Articles

Thought Leaders to Follow

  • Bernice A King

  • Rachel Cargle/The Great Unlearn

  • W Kamau Bell

  • The Conscious Kid

  • Trevor Noah

  • Ava DuVernay

  • Austin Channing

Orgs to Support (and Follow)

  • BLM

  • Standing Up for Racial Justice

  • NAACP

  • ACLU

  • Southern Poverty Law Center