In the midst of the historic Black Lives Matter movement, many white and non-Black Americans are looking for an answer to the question, “What can I do to help?” Beyond showing up for and amplifying the voices of Black Americans at protests and signing petitions, white Americans can do the work of learning about systemic racism—and learning to be actively anti-racist.
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources to dive into right now. And while this is by no means a comprehensive list, these seven anti-racism resources are a great place to start. Six are developed and offered by Black women (the remaining one is developed by an educational organization).
Rachel Cargle: #dothework free 30-day Course and The Great Unlearn
Rachel Cargle is an academic, writer, and activist who works in “unpacking the racist histories of various American systems and affirming in the Black experience with tools of language, concepts, and cultural systems.” Currently, Cargle is offering both a free 30-day anti-racism course called #dothework (which has a self-paced syllabus sent to your inbox every 10 days for 30 days total) and The Great Unlearn, which offers a monthly self-paced syllabus of readings, video lectures, and even templates for reaching out to your employer, local school districts, and other organizations about racial justice and accountability.
Nova Reid: Anti-Racism & Diversity Matters
Nova Reid is a writer, certified NLP coach, and consultant who has delivered a TedX talk and worked with clients including Change.org and Lufthansa on diversity and anti-racism–and offers her consultancy to businesses and corporations that are looking to improve inclusion and equity from the inside out. But for individuals looking to educate themselves and take self-starter steps in their anti-racism efforts, Reid currently offers an in-depth, Anti-Racism & White Privilege online course. It covers topics such as white fragility, how to use your privilege to effect change, centering and ego, and conscious anti-racist parenting. Reid also offers a free Anti-Racism Guide—which you can sign up for here.
Boukman Academy
The Boukman Academy (named after Haitian revolutionary Dutty Boukman) is a Black-owned school offering free lessons and educational resources for Black history, politics, psychology, and sociology. “Like Boukman, we aim to empower through action, providing education from a Black perspective to people of all ages,” the website reads. The Boukman Academy also offers a podcast called “Red Black Green” that dives into Black history with subjects like Leopold II of Belgium’s genocidal rule and what COVID-19 shows us about racism.
Rachel Ricketts: Spiritual Activism
Rachel Ricketts is an activist, writer, and speaker who offers a carefully curated list of anti-racism and racial justice resources for free on her website, as well as her Spiritual Activism Webinars. Start with Spiritual Activism 101, which focuses on how to “acknowledge our privilege, heal our race-related wounds and actively contribute to lasting and effective racial justice.”
Monique Melton: Unity Over Comfort
Monique Melton, a podcast host and anti-racism educator, offers classes on her website that teach you how to identify and eliminate racism. On Melton’s website you’ll find an Anti-Racism 101 Crash Course, a Unity Over Comfort 10-week anti-racism learning program, and the Unity Over Comfort curriculum—which dives in deeper on anti-racism education on steps to eliminating racism. This curriculum features weekly 90-minute sessions for 12 weeks, weekly assignments, and live Q&A sessions with Melton.
Austin Channing Brown: The ACB Academy
Austin Channing Brown, author of the NYT Bestseller I’m Still Here, offers an educational program called the ACB Academy, which teaches lessons about racial justice and how you can make a difference after reading her book. The I’m Still Here: A Discussion Guide is a six-week course that includes videos offering stories on lived experience of race, a guide on facilitating a group discussion, and a list of 50-plus books, videos, and other additional resources to keep learning. You can also watch her web series, the TNQ Show, which has a full season of episodes on how you can be a part of the anti-racism movement.
Layla F. Saad: Good Ancestor Academy
Layla F. Saad is the author of the best-selling book Me and White Supremacy and is also the host of the Good Ancestor Podcast—making her one of the foremost experts on anti-racism and content for white people looking to educate themselves on the history of white privilege and racism. In her Good Ancestor Academy classes, Saad covers these topics in 60-minute lessons and 90-minute masterclasses:
How to show up in BIPOC-only spaces without white centering
Allyship in the workplace
Dismantling white feminism
Parenting & white supremacy
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