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Black Lives Matter: resources to tackle injustice

9/6/2020

We want to dedicate this post to those fighting for equality and justice by sharing helpful books, resources, and articles.

Throughout history, there have been moments that can be said to have been inflexion points in race relations. These moments shock our core beliefs as a society and force each of us to redefine who we are and who we want to be. The recent killings of Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in America, are such moments.

Like Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream Speech" and his subsequent assassination, the election of Barack Obama and the subsequent election of Donald Trump, we are faced with a series of momentous occurrences that have sent shockwaves through global and local communities forcing each individual to come to terms with the society in which they exist, and perhaps for some, for the first time truly question the values, and belief systems their position in that society depends on.

Bayo Adelaja shares our position.

Books about Race

'Chokehold [Policing Black Men]'. MSNBC legal analyst Paul Butler delivers a disturbing book that illustrates how the justice system in America is 'broke on purpose' with an explosive and radical argument to crash the system.
'So You Want to Talk About Race'. Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all racesthrough subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.
'Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism'. Racism and bigotry have taken on brand new and still largely unexplored forms that thrive in our internet culture. In Algorithms of Oppression, professor of communication Safiya Umoja Noble investigates the many ways in which search engines like Google perpetuate and promote damaging biases that privilege white people and discriminate against people of color, especially women of color.
'Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower' Cosmopolitan columnist and Rutgers University professor Brittney Cooper dismantles the misguided notion that black women's anger is a weakness.Rather, the author draws from history, pop culture, and her personal experiences from childhood and adulthood to position "eloquent rage" as a source of power that grants black women from Serena Williams to Michelle Obama the strength to not only survive but thrive in America.
'When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.' Written by artist, activist, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors and journalist and author Asha Bandele, this powerful and breathtaking memoir reveals what it is like to be black in today's violently racially charged America.

Education on Systemic Racism

People of Color are at Greater Risk of COVID-19. Systemic Racism in the Food System Plays a Role. “Outside of being Black, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension have been identified as the comorbidities that make coronavirus more deadly amongst anyone worldwide,” said Daphene Altema-Johnson the food communities and public health program officer at John Hopkins University’s Center for a Liveable Future. “When you look at the United States, Black people have higher rates of these chronic conditions and the reasons they have those comorbidities are…driven by poverty and by food insecurity.”
Genetics is not why more BAME people die of coronavirus: structural racism is.
There is no clear evidence that higher levels of conditions such as type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and weakened immune systems in disadvantaged communities are because of inherent genetic predispositions, but there is evidence they are the result of structural racism.
Farm subsidies in the United States go predominantly to white farmers, which has led a group of black farmers to sue the U.S. government for discrimination. Food apartheid: the root of the problem with America's groceries: The Guardian interviewed Kerry Washington, co-founder of Black Urban Growers—an organization committed to building networks and community support for Black farmers in both urban and rural settings.
Want to Eradicate Hunger in America? Take on Racism: “You cannot take on poverty and hunger without taking on historical and contemporary discrimination,” Dr. Mariana Chilton, a professor of public health at Drexel University, told The Nation. “If we are just fighting to strengthen SNAP [formerly food stamps], or for better jobs and higher wages—we’ll make little progress. We have to go deeper to the root causes.”
Determined to be Nourished: Food insecurity frequently occurs as less healthy foods—calorie-rich, and nutrient-deficient—are often more affordable and easier to get. The cumulative effect of this can be catastrophic—high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, obesity—all of which occurs at disproportionately higher rates in Black communities, and all of which leaves people with weakened immune systems and more vulnerable to other illnesses and diseases, such as COVID-19.

Online Resources

“It is not enough to be not racist, you must actively be anti-racist” - Angela Davis. A group have created a resource list intended to help white people gain a deeper understanding of racism and the anti-racist work that needs to be done. Accessible to everyone and updated on a regular basis.
Understand your own bias. Read about systems of privilege and dive deep into book, digital media, podcasts, and learn how to engage in protest with this incredibly comprehensive list.

Investors & BLM

Will mostly white investors start to fund black entrepreneurs? Gary Stewart explains in Forbes why he's tired and what he thinks the tech world needs to do to implement real change now in 'Knee On The Neck: What Investors Can Learn From ‘Black Lives Matter’
Venture firms rush to find ways to support Black founders and investors, but robust actions are needed by the venture community, because statements are only as powerful as the checks they write and hires they make. Natasha Mascarenhas, and Jonathan Shieber report for Tech Crunch.

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This is why we centre Black people

2/6/2020

Growing up, I found it difficult to understand why Blackness was considered to be some sort of cultural monolith. The experience of an African immigrant to the UK, being different from those of a 3rd generation Black British person, similarly the African immigrant to the US, being different from those of a 3rd generation Black American person. It seemed odd that the Black American experience should stand as a cultural proxy for all things Black, yet it does. That’s because, despite the nuances between the geographical and cultural experiences of Blackness globally, there are many more similarities that exist between us. I’m referring to the oppression; the subjugation, manipulation, corruption and exploitation of Black communities, bodies, futures and minds.

The common denominator of the Black experience around the world is efficiently described in the Langston Hughes poem, “I, too”. The poem is set in the realities of the Southern slave plantations whose masters were known to habitually rape their slaves resulting in mixed-race children. The children were afforded certain privileges while continuing to be significantly deprived of any of the rights associated with being an heir of the master’s household. In the poem, Hughes meekly argues for equal treatment between the subject of the poem, “the darker brother” and his siblings, completely unexpectant of a positive resolution despite his protests.

Throughout history, there have been moments that can be said to have been inflexion points in race relations. These moments shock our core beliefs as a society and force each of us to redefine who we are and who we want to be. The recent killings of Ahmaud Arbrey, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in America, are such moments. Like Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech and his subsequent assassination, the election of Barack Obama and the subsequent election of Donald Trump, we are faced with a series of momentous occurrences that have sent shockwaves through global and local communities forcing each individual to come to terms with the society in which they exist, and perhaps for some, for the first time truly question the values, and belief systems their position in that society depends on.

We are living through unprecedented times in which the gruesome death of a person can be shared with billions of people around the world. The disgusting, tyrannical and violent behaviour that led to the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbrey and Breonna Taylor have ignited a level of empathy across the world Black people do not usually receive. These are not the first deaths, these are not the first people that have been reduced to the incident in which they died. There have been a lot of hashtags and every time one of them trends, we instinctively consider the hundreds or thousands that didn’t. These unprecedented times have rightly re-ignited conversations concerning proper and effective allyship. However, allyship needs to extend beyond the marching of the masses into seats of power. Until people in power can effectively display their allyship with minority groups, beyond thoughts, prayers and condolences, all efforts to work within the framework that is provided to us by those people will fail to bring transformative change to nations and the globe.

I often think about the murder of 14-year-old Mississippi boy, Emmett Till, who was lynched by an angry mob in 1955 because he was accused of touching a white woman. Emmett was innocent. 1955 wasn’t a long time ago. My mum was born in 1955. 8 years later, Martin Luther King Jr, gave his defining speech and was assassinated in 1969. The 60s saw many African countries gaining independence from their colonisers, the final country gaining independence in 1993. In the 70s, while other American racial groups were feeling “groovy baby”, Black Americans were fighting and dying for the rights to be seen, heard and valued as members of society. The end of South Africa’s Apartheid only began in 1994, before that, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. In 2017, we were reminded that Africans are still being sold into slavery around the world. Black people are currently experiencing extremely harsh discrimination in China, with many of them being forcibly evicted from their homes amid the COVID-19 crisis. Only a few weeks ago, I wrote about the systemic discrimination that significantly reduces opportunities for Black people in the UK to live healthy and satisfying lives. On every front, we are being collectively oppressed. For as long as this history has played out, our society has applauded the verbalisation of allyship without reaping the rewards of action associated with it. Beyond allyship, we need Black activists, entrepreneurs and leaders; Black people who will utilise their resources, access, tools, creativity, skills and lived experiences to fight off the oppression, and succeed through the trials and tribulations so that they can usher other Black people safely to the other side.

Like the main character in the Langston Hughes poem, some individuals and innovators seek to redress the balance and aim to create a world in which the detrimental outcomes of racism no longer exist. Unlike the main character, our meekness has been replaced by righteous fury and passion for the development and empowerment of Black people globally. Until now, we have lived in a world in which the people with the power to change things have been complicit in the continued subjugation of our community by refusing to take opportunities to establish programs that will lead to transformative change and equality in our society. The people that are most in need of key solutions to aid social mobility should be the ones designing, and delivering them. However, with so few Black people being able to access the information, tools and resources needed to create authentic solutions to lived experiences, our future will continue to be held ransom by people who do not have a vested interest in our power and equality.

Bayo Adelaja | Chief Do-er at Do it Now Now | This is how I got here