Anti-Racism Reading List - 27/11/20

“[Africans] don’t become black until they go to America or come to Europe. They become black when they first land into the Western world that chooses to see them that way.”

“By way of white supremacy, colonialists sought to completely erase my history, my culture, my identity. Even my name was changed from Tibbins to Stevens because they couldn’t pronounce the deep guttural sound required to say Tibbins properly.”

“It is not a Black person’s job to tell you how to be anti-racist. But when they do try to explain, a lot of white people either don’t listen or simply do not get it.”

“The more White people in my life began to distance themselves from conversations related to anti-racism work, the more I knew our relationships with each other were never as they seemed. I had been there for their life events and supported causes that mattered to them but when it was my turn, reciprocity was nowhere to be found.”

“We know that the lie. They will stand in our faces flat-footed and lie about slavery. They’ll lie about not understanding racism. They’ll lie about not really understanding what racism truly is.”

“there is a difference between wanting change and working towards change. To propel yourself towards action it’s important to remember: Perfection isn’t a prerequisite for change! It doesn’t have to be perfect, you just have to start”

“When you and I read stories by Black writers, lots of different Black writers, and we begin to see common threads among all of them, after a while it gets obvious that this many people sharing identical experiences in so many different parts of the world means that they can’t be making this stuff up.”