An anti-racist’s non-comprehensive guide to smashing white supremacy, enacting local change, and celebrating black culture

Hi there! If you’re checking out this guide, you’ve probably committed to be actively anti-racist. Welcome to the newness, the movement of folks who won’t stand for hate. Who actively better themselves and those around them. Who understand that “Black Lives Matter” is a statement and a lifestyle that must be acknowledged, celebrated, and then built upon. If you’re here, you’re wanting to build that new and better world. So here we go!

1.        Texts on how to be an active antiracist & all around better person

FOR CHILDREN (0-16, some won’t be for the youngsters)

  • The Snowy Day by Ezra Keats
  • Saturday by Oge Mora
  • A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
  • Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry
  • Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
  • Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
  • The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls
  • Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woods
  • The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson
  • Resist : 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice by Veronica Chambers
  • Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
  • All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
  • Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  • Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes
  • Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
  • Dear Martin by Nic Stone
  • The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  • This Book Is Anti-racist by Tiffany Jewell
  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
  • Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

FOR TEENS AND ADULTS

  • Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
  • White Fragility : Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
  • Locking up Our Own : Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  • Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
  • Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Fire This Time by Randall Kenan
  • The Half Has Never Been Told : Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward Baptist
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
  • The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
  • The Warmth of Other Suns : The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
  • A More Beautiful and Terrible History : The Uses and Misues of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharris
  • Too Heavy a Load : Black Women in Defense of Themselves, 1894-1994 by Deborah G. White
  • When and Where I Enter : The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America by Paula Giddings
  • Just Mercy : A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
  • North of Slavery : the Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860 by Leon Litwack
  • They Can’t Kill Us All : Ferguson, Baltimore, and A New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
  • From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
  • One Person, No Vote : How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson
  • Antiracism: An Introduction by Alex Zamalin
  • How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
  • The Wellbeing Handbook for Overcoming Everyday Racism: How to Be Resilient in the Face of Discrimination and Microaggressions by Susan Cousins
  • The Black and the Blue : A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement by Matthew Horace
  • Chokehold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler
  • I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in A World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
  • Tears We Cannot Stop : A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
  • Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett
  • This Will Be My Undoing : Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (white) America by Morgan Jenkins
  • What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker : A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young
  • Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
  • No Tea, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies by E. Patrick Johnson
  • Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene A. Carruthers
  • The Tao of Muhammad Ali by Davis Miller
  • Flannery O’Connor : The Complete Stories 

2.        BLACK HISTORY, BLACK PAIN, BLACK JOY, BLACK EXCELLENCE

  • Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
  • Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
  • The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
  • Native Son by Richard Wright
  • A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
  • Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
  • A Mercy by Toni Morrison
  • Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes
  • The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
  • Through the Ivory Gate by Rita Dove
  • A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
  • The Sport of the Gods by Paul Laurence Dunbar
  • Passing by Nella Larsen
  • If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • Amiable with Big Teeth by Claude McKay
  • Cane by Jean Toomer
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • The Living is Easy by Dorothy West
  • Black Boy by Richard Wright
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  • For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  • What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
  • We Cast A Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
  • The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
  • Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
  • Black Is the Body by Emily Barnard
  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Said the Shotgun to the Head by Saul Williams
  • Whatever Happened To Interracial Love? stories by Kathleen Collins
  • The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin
  • How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
  • The playlist “Black Joy, Black Lives” on Spotify- create some stations based off of different songs to start your dive into music

3.        LOCAL ACTION ITEMS FOR GENERAL PUBLIC

(some specific to Salem)

  • VOTE!!!!!!!

  • Contact the superintendent and school board of the district you live in and demand the removal of SRO’s. Encourage a reinvestment into social work, community outreach, after school programs, business mentorships, tutoring, arts, and music.

  • Contact your mayor and city council demanding a defunding of the police. This means defunding the general police fund, defunding the stockpiling of surplus military equipment, and specifically funding sociological training, community involvement initiatives, body cameras, non-lethal training, mental healthcare staff within the police force, and other community focused policing.

  • Contact your mayor and city council and demand a restructuring of police union contracts, to limit their ability to influence local politics and force them to remain accountable and subservient to the public that pays them.

  • Contact your mayor and city council and demand that civil settlements in police brutality cases be paid from the pension and retirement funds of the police unions.

  • Contact your mayor, city council, and chief of police and demand public statements of remorse for police brutality cases that led to convictions of police officers or civil suits against municipalities, following the principles of “truth and reconciliation”.

  • Demand accountability for the words and actions of your elected officials, every single day.

  • Demand a public statement denouncing white supremacy and police brutality, from your city council and mayor. Demand it be renewed every single year.

  • Teach your children to be empathetic, compassionate, and unwavering in their resistance to white supremacy. Teach them that it is necessary to speak against racism and bigotry in all its forms, even if it is an adult being bigoted. Give them the tools to confront these problems morally and with a desire to grow.

  • Be bold in your own stance against white supremacy and police brutality. Do not be silent allies.

  • Display your pride in being inclusive and equitable. Hang a sign in your window or on your front lawn. We must show hate that love is stronger.

  • This is a marathon, not a sprint ; pace yourself, take mental health days off, and know that others will carry the flame for a bit. We are in this together.

  • Encourage progressive candidates to run for local office, and then campaign and vote for them. This is how change is accomplished. Once they are elected, keep them accountable. It’s okay to be insistent.

  • Use your hard-earned dollars to support businesses that are actively anti-racist. Demand a stance be taken ;  silence is violence, and this is not a political moment. This is a human rights moment. Demand that businesses commit to being transparent in their leadership and financial beneficiaries. We must defund white supremacy.

  • Diversify the entertainment you derive joy from. Listen to a genre of music you wouldn’t think of. Read a book outside of your norm. Go to a play or that local poetry reading.

  • Be open to criticism of your actions. We are all learning, and a critique of behavior that has previously not been called out is not a critique of you. It becomes a critique of you when you defend the action. Learning and growth are never clean or easy.

  • Let yourself feel and emote. Seriously, seriously, seriously. Did your neighbor say something horrific? It’s okay to cry in rage. Measure your responses, never lose control, but there is no wrong emotion. Same with joy. Be free, y’all.

  • Join and support at least one local group dedicated to antiracism.

  • Allow yourself to be led by those who are living this reality.  

  • Attend your neighborhood association meetings. Many of the ingrained racist policies, as they relate to housing and policing, are born at these meetings. Attend them and make sure your progressive voice is heard and respected.

  • Donate to these local organizations working to end systemic racism and other forms of oppression:
  • Radical Outreach Coalition
  • Causa Oregon
  • Salem Democratic Socialists of America
  • Salem-Keizer NAACP
  • Latinos Unidos Siempre
  • Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality
  • Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs

  • Recognize and celebrate every small victory you achieve!

4.        LOCAL ACTION ITEMS FOR BUSINESSES

  • Adopt and enforce zero tolerance policies relating to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, and all other forms of discrimination and hate for your customers and clients. This means “jokes”, too. Protect your people.
  • Enable your staff to enforce those policies. Do not force them to be abused or allow the abuse of others. Reject hateful funds. Teach your people.
  • If you donate to politicians or other organizations, be sure of where they stand on police brutality and white supremacy. There is no room for you to be an ally and also support that mindset in any way. This is non-negotiable, and the most important step. We must defund white supremacy.
  • Be transparent about your ownership and leadership. You are our neighbors, show us your faces!
  • Review your diversity policies and ensure that you are in actuality a workplace that encourages and allows diversity.
  • Commit to only supporting and working with other businesses who actively and publicly denounce racism and white supremacy
  • Take an extra beat before calling the police on a trespass or other non-violent confrontation. Remember that, especially if the person is homeless or a minority, that phone call increases their chance of bodily harm more than it increases your business’s safety. If you can, reach out to other resources first.
  • Hold yourself accountable. You have a platform that is bigger than your individual voice; use it for good. Make your town the safer, more inclusive space you want it to be.
  • Diversify your programming, to whatever extent that means. If you have the space, host an open mic, a storytellers night, a book discussion. Hang some art from your minority communities. Pay the artists.
  • Continue your education as it relates to microaggressions and covert racism. Learn to spot them in your establishment and refuse to allow them.
  • Treat all your staff with the compassion and care you would treat your own children and other family. Empathy births empathy, and it is contagious. Be the leaders that your position allows you to be.
  • Make it very well known where you stand. We must shine a light on white supremacy in all its forms and drive it out of our communities.

CONTACT INFO FOR CURRENT CITY OF SALEM OFFICIALS

  • Cara Kaser, ward 1 councilor

        ckaser@cityofsalem.net         503-399-7801

  • Tom Anderson, ward 2 councilor

        tandersen@cityofsalem.net          503-399-7802

  • Brad Nanke, ward 3 councilor

        bnanke@cityofsalem.net          503-399-7803

  • Jackie Leung, ward 4 councilor

        jleung@cityofsalem.net        503-399-7804

  • Matt Ausec, ward 5 councilor

        mausec@cityofsalem.net         503-399-7905

  • Chris Hoy, ward 6 councilor

        choy@cityofsalem.net        503-399-7806

  • Vanessa Nordyke, ward 7 councilor

        vnordyke@cityofsalem.net         503-399-7907

  • Jim Lewis, ward 8 councilor

        jlewis@cityofsalem.net         503-399-7808

  • Chuck Bennett, mayor

        cbennett@cityofsalem.net         503-588-6255

  • Steve Powers, city manager

        manager@cityofsalem.net         503-588-6255

  • Jerry Moore, chief of police

        gmoore@cityofsalem.net         503-588-6080

  • Representative Brian Clem

        rep.brianclem@oregonlegislature.gov    503-986-1421 

  • Senator Peter Courtney

sen.petercourtney@oregonlegislature.gov   503-986-1600

5.         NATIONAL ACTION ITEMS

  • VOTE!!!!
  • Add your name to petitions supporting radical reform in policing and other oppressive policies
  • Call your representation in D.C. and let them know that you support defunding the police, nationalizing healthcare, ending houselessness, creating a national vote-by-mail system, ending gerrymandering, decriminalizing possession of drugs, increasing funding for drug aversion programs, and restoring the voting rights of americans who have served prison time. As a start.
  • Donate, if you can, to organizations involved in the fight for equality. Here are some:
  •         Black Lives Matter
  •   Unicorn Riot
  •   National Bail Fund Network
  •   Color of Change
  •   Reclaim the Block
  •   Campaign Zero
  •   Black Visions Collective
  •   NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
  •   The Bail Project
  •   Black Mamas Bail Outs
  •   Mutual Aid Project
  • The Black Arts Futures Fund
  •   American Civil Liberties Union
  •   Anti Police-Terror Project
  • Human Rights Campaign Foundation
  • Point Foundation
  • Southern Poverty Law Center
  •   Time Out Youth