#BlackLivesMatter is not a trend; it’s a movement. We care deeply about black injustice and that’s why we cannot stay silent.
We’re working on a plan to act, support and amplify the black community in our industry because #BlackLivesMatter. We don’t have the answers yet, but we are starting by learning. We’re listening, reading and sharing so we can act meaningfully.
We wanted to share some of the resources that have resonated with us in this moment to start – and crucially not stop – the work that needs to be done.
How to be Actively Antiracist via @goodgoodgoodco
Racism & the UK: What They Didn’t Teach Us in School via @das.penman
Racism in the UK: Facts + Stats via @98jayda
READ
Articles:
Why You Need to Stop Saying “All Lives Matter” by Rachel Cargle
How the George Floyd Killing Is Just As Relevant in the UK, And What You Can Do About It via Vice
How Workplaces Can Be Better Environments for Black Employees via Stylist
Books:
I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Ain’t no Black in the Union Jack by Paul Gilroy (and this follow-up interview from 2019)
Note, several of these books are selling out in paperback form. The Times has asked black book publishers and booksellers to suggest other crucial reads which you can find here.
If you’re buying books to educate yourself, try and support black-owned bookstores. Here are a few in the UK: Roundtable Books, Ayebia, African Books Collective, New Beacon Books, Seven Oaks Bookshop.
WATCH
Five Netflix series to educate yourself on black oppression:
13th
Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap
Time: The Kalief Browder Story
When They See Us
Who Killed Malcolm X?
LISTEN
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge via The Guardian’s Audio Long Reads podcast
About Race podcast – also by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Pod Save the People podcast – hosted by US organiser and activist DeRay Mckesson
No Country for Young Women – BBC Sounds
WRITE
We encourage you to write to your MP with these demands:
- Suspend UK sales of tear gas, riot shields and rubber bullets to the US
- Condemn Trump’s use of force against his own citizens
- To respond to the report on BAME Covid-19 deaths and demand the govt do more to tackle the death rate
- Action and investigation into the death of Belly Mujinga
Here is a template you can use, though as it mentions, it’s important to edit it to avoid being caught in spam filters. Include your address so they know you’re a constituent who can and will vote them out on these issues. You can find your local MP here.
This list is just a start. We all have a part to play and there’s much more to be done. We encourage you all to listen, learn, share, amplify and act – this is just the beginning.