Anti-Racism Reading List August 2024

10+ insightful articles for learning and action

Author

Sharon Hurley Hall
August 28, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Hello friends,

This is a slightly longer edition, with 11 articles plus 4 resources in the "Of Note" section. If I had to pull out themes it would be the impacts of colonialism, past and present, and the experiences of Black and Global Majority people in the workplace (especially but not exclusively women). I'm pleased that some of the articles don't just highlight problems, but also offer potential solutions. Let's goooo....

The title of this short piece grabbed me because I wondered if there could be any such thing as kind colonialism (like "nice" racism, I don't think it exists). And this author makes the point that people could choose to stop colonialism, but instead they used the playbook in the quote below:

““Kind” colonialism rests on three actions:

First, convince the local populations that colonialism is beneficial, necessary, and inevitable.

Second, rapidly and aggressively assimilate them.

Third, recruit local populations to carry out colonial work.”

2. Convenient Cruelty, White Liberal Apathy, and the Enslavement of Congo's Children by Khafre Jay

It's hard to read this as a smartphone user without feeling discomfort about the cost of that device - I don't exclude myself here. My friend Asmara Kazmi mentioned some less extractive alternatives, like the Fairphone, which I've been looking into.

“The cobalt that powers your cherished devices is extracted under conditions that defy humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here, children are forced into labor and modern-day slavery, including sexual slavery, facing horrors unimaginable to those who benefit from their suffering. In the United States, particularly among those of European descent, there is a disturbing comfort—a callous indifference to the plight of African children who risk their lives for mere pennies.”

This is a familiar experience for anyone who's been #BlackInTheIvory. Not only does this article make a powerful case for the importance of mentorship, it reminds us of the difference between having good choices and being able to make good choices in relation to systemic obstacles. Food for thought, definitely.

“they highlight the mental and emotional stress that Black women experience in the workplace due to no fault of their own. Sometimes, it’s Blackness that is seen as the fault and not the individual. In my personal experience, I shared with colleagues how I wouldn’t even be acknowledged on campus unless I wore my name badge and how my voice was silenced in the department..”

From mental health in the workplace, let's turn to mental health in education - racial harassment, exclusion, microaggressions and more can exacerbate mental health issues for Black students, and yet, they are far less likely to get help:

“Although the number of Black students declaring mental health conditions or accessing support may be low, this does not mean that Black students do not experience mental ill health.

It simply means there are more barriers to reporting and seeking help. The consequence of delayed support is that Black people are more likely to receive help when they reach crisis point, thus leading to poorer outcomes.”

In my UK journalism jobs, I was often the only Black person - or one of a few Global Majority people so my experience of journalism has been that it's dominated by people of pallor (thank you, Pharoah Bolding). Now it looks like that trend is increasing:

“There are a few initiatives that strive for media diversity such as Creative Access, The Journalism Diversity Fund, and The Scott Trust Bursary. However, while these initiatives are great for entering the industry, they don’t always help retain Black talent in newsrooms. Many Black journalists feel isolated in their jobs. During my last role, there was one point where I was the only Black person in the whole company. While I didn’t experience any major microaggressions, I often felt misunderstood.”

Coming soon! An anti-racism community led by SARN’s creator, Sharon Hurley Hall.

6. How to spot diversity dishonesty by Dawn Kofie

I've talked before about the dishonesty of having Global Majority folx on the team page but not in the actual team. This author goes deeper, looking at the due diligence that's needed to spot shady practices in the job hunting process:

“It's easy to be misled, because employers are careful to look like they care about DEI, even if they treat it as a tick box exercise. They’d never admit that they wouldn't know what anti-racism was if it came up and gave them an Audre Lorde badge. So all you can do is raise your due diligence level.”

This article presents stark figures about enslavement in Barbados and the Caribbean and the ongoing impacts generations later. They'll be familiar to many CHOSSAs (Children of stolen and sold Africans - thank you Jean-Lud Cadet) no matter where they hail from:

“The historical injustices of chattel enslavement have left ongoing scars on our society, affecting our economic, social, ecological landscape, and the very way we interact with each other – including the largest homicide rate among Caribbean Youth.¹ Understanding the impact of this legacy is crucial for building a just and equitable future.”

This is another one that resonated, having felt inhibited from being myself because of the subtle or overt criticism of my white peers. These days, I wouldn't let it bother me, but it wasn't always that way. Rebecca Stevens Alder shares her own experience:

“But honestly, how does one change the sound and volume of one's laughter? Should I go back to my creator and say: “Actually, I don’t like this laugh, give me another? The whole ridiculousness of this situation is not lost on me, but hey, I did as I was told and laughed lower or less; I wasn’t going to bite the hand that feeds me.”

Homage or cultural appropriation? Some find it hard to decide, so I thought this exploration of the choice to avoid a common phrase was worth a look:

“As a phrase becomes adopted by the masses, it becomes absorbed by other communities who neglect the context and nuances of the phrase, which at times can be devastating to the significance of the culture of origin. Unfortunately, appropriation of black culture for commercial gain is not entirely new, and similarly, the LGBTQIA+ community have also continually faced oppression and ostracisation in the past and present. The line between cultural appropriation and organic linguistic evolution is a tightrope as long as these groups face these challenges.”

10. Exodus’: One in seven young Black and Asian Britons ‘plan to quit UK’ over government failings and racism by Nadine White

This isn't the first time we've heard of a potential "Blaxit", and it probably won't be the last, as Global Majority people seek to better their lives by reducing the inequalities they face while simultaneously improving available opportunities. This quote represents one commonly voiced viewpoint

“I think that Brexit one of the most vindictive, xenophobic things that our government has ever done to young people which denied us the benefits of being in the European Union and the opportunity to move freely across the continent.”

I loved this piece by Sam Chavez about how we heal from the toxicity of the past by getting back to a culture of collective support.

“Before colonialism fundamentally altered society, Native American, Asian, African, and other cultures focused on the collective. (We covered this in our first-ever series). Colonialism was designed to separate so that the European view could be dominant. By stripping indigenous cultures of their more spiritual and community-centered cultures, it made it easier for them to assimilate them into Western cultural and economic practices..”

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Of Note - Things Worth Highlighting

I hope you enjoyed this month's reading list. I'd love to know: what action will you take as a result of what you've read today?

Thanks for reading,

Sharon

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*Note: all articles linked here were free to read when I put together this edition. However, some may be paywalled by the time it is published, because capitalism. There’s not much I can do about that, but I hope the included quotes give you a flavour of the content.

© Sharon Hurley Hall, 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Cover photo courtesy of Canva.

I am an anti-racism educator and activist, the author of “I’m Tired of Racism”, and co-host of The Introvert Sisters podcast. This newsletter is published on beehiiv (affiliate link).

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