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Many are experiencing a long overdue awakening to the role race, racism and white privilege play in perpetuating an inequitable society in the United States.
In October 2019, our staff of nearly 100 people traveled to Alabama to better understand America’s legacy of slavery, ongoing anti-Black racism and the devastating impact it continues to have today. The journey centered our commitment to racial equity and focused on listening and learning.
We engaged The Equity Lab, led by Michelle Molitor, to guide us on this journey. The Equity Lab seeks to disrupt racial and ethnic inequity by engaging organizations in issues of race, equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI). As part of our work, The Equity Lab created a robust learning curriculum and guided our staff through productive, thoughtful discussions.
In the spirit of listening and learning, we share the following resources from our journey. We hope they help you and your organization engage more deeply in conversations about systemic racism and take more purposeful action toward racial justice.
- Glossary of Commonly Used Words and Ideas by the Equity Lab [PDF]
- Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Agreements by the Equity Lab [PDF]
- The 8 R’s of Talking About Race: How to Have Meaningful Conversations by New Impact
- I Am Not Your Negro by Influence Film Club [PDF]
- White Fragility by Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo [PDF]
- The Newest Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Why it Took a Century to Pass an Anti-Lynching Law by Louis P. Masur
- History of Lynchings in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names by Campbell Robertson
- The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- When Feminism is White Supremacy in Heels by Rachel Cargle
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
- So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise
- Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
- Justice in America a podcast hosted by Josie Duffy Rice and Clint Smith
- True Justice an HBO documentary with Bryan Stevenson
- Bryan Stevenson Reflects on America’s Painful Past an NBC interview with Bryan Stevenson
- We Need to Talk about An Injustice a TED Talk with Bryan Stevenson
- How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time a TED Talk with Baratunde Thurston
- I Am Not Your Negro a film of the book by James Baldwin
In addition to these resources, we invite you to learn more about our Foundation's journey to Alabama, read our statement on recent acts of racism in the U.S., and explore our criminal justice and K12 education grantmaking portfolios.
You can also check out our resource on equitable and inclusive data collection. Download the free guide here.