“What can I do?”
If you’re asking yourself this question, this resource is for you. Normally, we speak on careers and share career-centered resources. I want to use this platform to share another thing you expect from us—a stand in solidarity with the Black community against racism, hate, and injustice
I want to talk about racism because silence is not an option. Being an ally does not mean being “not racist”—it means being actively anti-racist.
As a white woman running Career Contessa, it’s important for me to acknowledge my privilege, take action, educate myself on an ongoing basis, support, and be in service of Black liberation.
Not using this platform to take action is condoning racism, systematic oppression, and brutality of Black people. If you are a white or non-Black person, I hope you are doing the same and asking your communities to start talking about their white privilege and the actions they will take to be antiracist.
Before cracking the spine of a book or starting a podcast, make sure your friends are okay.
Here are a few resources for the BIPOC community:
- Southeast Addiction Center: 2023's Top 50 resources for Black men who are struggling with substance use and/or their mental health.
- Southeast Detox: An updated resource guide to help Black women rise and thrive in 2023
- Live Another Day: Extensive information on mental health and substance use resources for People of Color. Their mission is equal access to life-saving resources.
- Detox Local: An excellent resource that features abundant information including mental health and substance use resources specifically for the AAPI (American Asian and Pacific Islander) community.
- Financial Literacy in the Black Community: This in-depth guide sheds light on financial literacy, including the impact that this knowledge gap has on the community and the role of Black financial advisors.
At this moment, there are tons of resources being shared across social networks—from illustrated lists to living Google Docs. We wanted to compile a list of anti-racist resources to read, listen to, follow, and donate to.
We also want this to be a living, green resource. If you have resources to share (or if you notice something is woefully missing), please email us at editorial@careercontessa.com so that we can add to this list.
Let this list serve as an imperfect starting point. Hopefully, it's something we can keep building together as a community.
What You Can Read
It’s our belief that lifelong learning enhances every aspect of your life, your humanity, and your growing goodness. Reading texts—both fiction and nonfiction—is a way to place yourself within a perspective you normally would not (or could not) access. The following are books and essays to help you access and begin to understand a Black perspective.
Black-owned Bookstores
Before we present the book list, we want to urge you to support Black-owned businesses. Specifically, these bookstores, where you can pick up these texts and so many more.
- Mahogany Books, Washington, DC
- Semicolon, Chicago, IL
- The Lit Bar, Bronx, NY
- Source Booksellers, Detroit, MI
- Uncle Bobbies, Philadelphia, PA
- Fulton Street Books, Tulsa, OK
- Eye See Me, St. Louis, MO
- Frugal Bookstore, Boston, MA
- Eso Won Books, Los Angeles, CA
- Harriett's Bookshop, Philadelphia, PA
- Sister's Uptown, New York, NY
- Loyalty Books, Silver Springs, MD
- Turning Page Bookshop, Goose Creek, SC
- Wild Fig Books, Lexington, KY
Non-fiction Books
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
- Across That Bridge by John Lewis
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
- Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Letters to the Future: Black Women/Radical Writing by Erica Hunt and Dawn Lundy Martin
- They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, And A New Era In America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
- Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement by Matthew Horace and Ron Harris
- The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism by Joe R. Feagin
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
- My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
- Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- White Rage by Carol Anderon
- This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins
- How to be Antiracist by Ibram x Kendi
- Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? By Beverly Daniel Tatum
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
- The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Fiction Books
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- That Hate U Give by Angie Thompson
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- The Mothers by Brit Bennett
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Some of these books (and many many more) can be found in these extensive book lists that we urge you to check out.
- Unlearning Racism Book List from Skylight Books
- Antiracist Reading from Loyalty Bookstores
- Master List of Black Revolutionary Readings
- An Antiracist Reading List by Ibram X. Kendi
Essays
- Why You Need to Stop Saying “All Lives Matter” by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle
- Black Health Matters by Jenna Wortham
- How to Challenge White Supremacy Through Rest by SHIFT
- How You Can Support Marginalized Communities by Harmeet Kaur
- The Death of George Floyd, In Context by Jelani Cobb
- Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- The 1619 Project by The New York Times Magazine
- What Do White People Think When They See Black People Murdered on the Internet? By Taylor Alarcón
- How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change by Barack Obama
Children’s Books
Maybe you have your own child. Maybe you have a young one in your life in the form of a niece or nephew. Or maybe you want to donate important books to local schools. Here are a few lists of children's books that address race and tolerance for our most impressionable minds.
- 31 Children's Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
- 20 Children’s Books to Spark Important Discussions About Race + Tolerance
- 8 Books on Race and Privilege to Learn How to be a White Ally
What You Should Watch
Here is a selection of movies, documentaries, television shows, debates, and TED Talks that tackle the subject of race and racism in America.
- Let it Fall: Los Angeles
- Selma
- I Am Not Your Negro
- When They See Us
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- LA 92
- Rize
- Watchmen
- Just Mercy
- 13th
- Hale County This Morning This Evening
- The Hate U Give
- Loving
- Dear White People
- Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro? A debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley
- TED Talks to Help You Understand Racism in America
What to Listen To
- Still Processing
- Pod Save The People
- Yo, Is This Racist?
- Invisibilia
- Intersectionality Matters!
- Code Switch
- Pod For The Cause
- Momentum: A Race Forward
- Fare of the Free Child
- About Race
- Ta Nehisi-Coates' The Beautiful Struggle on audiobook
- 1619
Who to Follow on Instagram
The following are publications, organizations, activists, and creators you can follow to enact long-term learning—or unlearning.
DISCLAIMER: While we encourage you to follow these accounts and listen to these voices, recognize that flooding their DMs with your experience (especially if you're white) is precisely what not to do. Click "follow", take a seat, listen, and share these voices with others.
- Black Lives Matter
- NAACP
- Ethel’s Club
- Healing While Black
- Alicia Garza
- Dr. Mariel Buquè
- Cleo Wade
- Amanda Seales
- Danielle Coke
- Mireille Cassandra Harper
- Black Women Radicals
- Feminista Jones
- The Conscious Kid
- Shifting the Culture
- Tamika D. Mallory
- Lucretia Berry, PhD
- Alishia McCullough
- Mogul Millennial
- Monique Melton
- Rachel Cargle
- R29 Unbothered
- Black Visions Collective
- Walela Nehanda
- Ashlee Marie Preston
- Therapy for Black Girls
- The Loveland Foundation
- Well-Read Black Girl
Where to Donate
- Minnesota Freedom Fund
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- Justice for Breonna
- Black and Brown Founders
- Black Voters Matter Fund
- Emergency Release Fund
- Unicorn Riot
- Fair Fight
- Black Girls Code
- Girl Trek
- Data For Black Lives
- Black Lives Matter
- Color of Change
- Reclaim the Block
- Black Visions Collective
- Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
- Bail Fund Resource + Support List (Updated Daily)
- The Bail Project
- How to Support Protestors in Every City
And Finally, How to Put Your Privilege to Work
- Recognize your privilege.
- Pause often to listen and learn.
- Read Black texts.
- Support Black businesses.
- Lean into difficult conversations.
- Donate money.
- Share + lift Black voices.
- Recognize and confront injustice.
- Recognize that there is always space to do better.
- Do better.
- VOTE.
Looking for even more ideas? Here are 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice.
Our humanity calls on us to act and, through Career Contessa, we will donate to nonprofit organizations that fight racial inequality, create resources that teach non-Black people how to apply their privilege to be an antiracist ally at work and life, and continue to educate ourselves.
Take action. Join us.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
