UPDATE: Anti-Racism Resource List

Section: 

GWJ for Color of Change (donate here!)

GWJ for I Need Diverse Games (donate here!)

Gamers with Jobs stands in solidarity with the protesters throughout the United States and the world. We support their demand for justice regarding the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others at the hands of police. We firmly believe that #blacklivesmatter and rally to the public call to fight systemic racism. Silence in these circumstances is an unacceptable response.

Listed below, you will find links to information from reputable sources, collected to encourage everyone to do their own homework. Many of these resources have been circulating on Black Twitter for non-black people to educate themselves. The intent is to listen, learn from, and amplify Black voices and the voices of people of color, without speaking over or speaking for them. We do not have the right to ask Black voices to shoulder the burden of educating white ignorance, nor tokenize them for legitimacy.

Critique of our efforts is openly welcome and anticipated. We will not accept defensiveness on our part if told we're doing something wrong; we will treat it as an opportunity for introspection and growth. Our comments and PMs are open and we are listening.

In addition, we're in the process of putting together a donation drive Twitch stream to fight racial inequality! If you're interested in being a streamer, you will be able to find more details about that here.

We support this moment of change and recognize the desire to help beyond video games by organizing donations towards Color of Change. We're also looking to support I Need Diverse Games, an organization working to bring positive change to the industry that produces the content we love.

GWJ for Color of Change (donate here!)

GWJ for I Need Diverse Games (donate here!)

The following list is an ongoing work-in-progress, and will be consistently added to over the next few weeks. It will include information for combating systemic and internalized racism, crucial reading, community protest support resources, donation portals, and a section of resources dedicated to black creators, streamers, game devs, businesses, and more.

Comments


EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ON SYSTEMIC RACISM
Books:

Dear White People Reading List from The Lit. Bar: Bookstore & Chill
A selection of books from various authors aimed at educating white people on race.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi A historically informed combination of social commentary and memoir seeking to help understand and uproot racism and inequality in society and ourselves.

Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
This New York Times bestseller takes readers on a 28-day journey of how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.

So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
This New York Times bestseller offers a hard-hitting, but user-friendly, examination of race in America. Oluo guides readers through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
An open letter to the author’s 15-year-old son about the realities that face black men in America. Filled with personal anecdotes about the author’s personal development and experiences with racism, his letter tries to prepare young black people for the world.

Antiracist Reading List for Children by Brittany Smith
A pre-kindergarten teacher in the NJ Atlantic City School District's recommended reading materials to teach children about race and racism.

Links:

13TH. By Ava DuVernay. This examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. Content warning for assault, physical violence, rape.

How Can We Win By Kimberly Jones (video)
A moving explanation of systemic oppression.

Lessons in Blackness - Spawn On Me
Creators talk about being Black in America, how the gaming industry is failing Black creators, and the state of the world.

Black AF Roundtable of TTRPG Creators - From Tanya DePass - Creators in the RPG space having a long-overdue conversation about race, racism and being black in the RPG space. Please watch to the end.

The 1619 Project from Nikole Hannah-Jones
An interactive project by New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones about the re-examining of the legacy of slavery in the United States. Winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

Nicole Byer gives guidance for talking to white kids about Black Lives Matter The host of Netflix’s “Nailed It!” explains Black Lives Matters to white children.

Shareable Anti-Racism Resources by Tasha K. Ryals. List of self-education articles, books, movies, podcasts, and more.

Anti-Racism Resources by writer Alyssa Klein and activist/filmmaker Sarah Sophie Flicker. Another excellent list of articles, books, movies, podcasts, and more, including lists for children.

10 Things White People Can Do to Work for Racial Justice - written by a white man, in the right spirit and also includes a large compilation of resources and tips for what we can do locally.


PROTEST AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Ways You Can Help When You’re Done: Educate Yourself. This Doesn’t Go Away Once The Topic Isn’t Trending by @dehydration
Extensive list of links for education, donation, and protest information.

Black Lives Matter Global Network Main site for the BLM movement. More information on what they do and who they are, and why we should support them.

How to Financially Support BLM With No Money from Zoe Amira. (video)
Donations toward BLM-cited resources via ad revenue generated by viewers. Periodically pause or skip around to avoid the browser going idle for maximum effect.

26 Ways to be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets from Listed Contributors
A short guide on different ways you can contribute to protests without being physically present.

List of Bail Funds for Protesters Across the Country from Community Justice Exchange
A list of bail funds for protesters across the USA reviewed by the Community Justice Exchange and National Bail Fund Network.


BLACK CONTENT CREATORS AND BUSINESSES

Content Creators:

Black Game Developers by Arthur Ward, Jr, Catt Small, & Chris Algoo. An extensive, filterable database of black gamedevs, artists, narrative designers, programmers, and more.

Games created by Black Developers by @blackgamedev on twitter. Quick-glance excel list of titles to check out. May have some overlap with above site.

7 Video Games by Black Developers You Can Support Right Now by Just Lunning. A short list with brief game descriptions of a few choice picks to check out!

Businesses:

List of Black-Owned breweries from Official Black Wall Street
A fantastic list of east-coast craft brewers. Many are family run small businesses and artisanal, all good reasons to support.

Cantrip Candles by Christoff Visscher (Bard). Scents to use during tabletop adventures!

List of Black owned makeup, skincare, hair and fashion brands shared by @nyjats. Twitter post with more links in mentions.

Little Kitten by Suria. Black-owned, woman-owned lingerie company (sizes s-xl)

Glamgoth Beauty by Marley. Black-owned makeup/lashes company

10 black-owned fitness apparel brands list by Travel Noire, a digital media company serving millennials of the African Diaspora.

10 geek type business you can support that are owned by folks in the black community via PopInsider.

Dragonfly Hooks - Geeky soap shop. They’re currently also selling geeky pandemic masks!

I have a book to recommend.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Thanks Rawk! Added.

Thanks for these, i am going to buy some books and try and understand more.

Time has a list of antiracist (not just BLM) books for children and young adults here:
https://time.com/5848192/childrens-b...

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

raevenote wrote:

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

I totally would. I have the audiobook of How to Be an Antiracist, but I haven’t started it yet. I would be open to anything though.

What are your thoughts?

I've seen a lot of criticism from people of color about that White Fragility book. I'm having a hard time tracking it down now, but the line I remember is, "it's a book about talking about racism, made for people who don't want to talk about racism".

Thanks, Amoebic.

kazooka wrote:

I've seen a lot of criticism from people of color about that White Fragility book. I'm having a hard time tracking it down now, but the line I remember is, "it's a book about talking about racism, made for people who don't want to talk about racism".

This thread?
https://twitter.com/sedcontra_/statu...

Thanks for compiling this Amoebic.

Tanglebones wrote:
kazooka wrote:

I've seen a lot of criticism from people of color about that White Fragility book. I'm having a hard time tracking it down now, but the line I remember is, "it's a book about talking about racism, made for people who don't want to talk about racism".

This thread?
https://twitter.com/sedcontra_/statu...

Thanks, folks! Removed it for now. There's so much out there that still needs to be added, and there's PLENTY more book resources to look into in other lists found in the Links section.

RawkGWJ wrote:
raevenote wrote:

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

I totally would. I have the audiobook of How to Be an Antiracist, but I haven’t started it yet. I would be open to anything though.

What are your thoughts?

I figured we'd do a book a month - depending on length of book/size of chapters. There could be a forum thread for quick thoughts or desired discussion points, then the group would meet on Discord at the end of the month to have a discussion.

I personally will avoid typing out more than initial reactions because I tend to overthink and excessively edit when I'm typing, and I want to get something out rather than something perfect. The deeper conversation can be held towards the end of the month.

I've never done something like this, but I'd like it to be sustainable past this current moment.

RawkGWJ wrote:
raevenote wrote:

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

I totally would. I have the audiobook of How to Be an Antiracist, but I haven’t started it yet. I would be open to anything though.

What are your thoughts?

I'd love to do this. I have Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk About Race and How to Be Less Stupid About Race by Crystal Marie Fleming on audio. I've got one more audible credit available if there's another one on people's radar that we agree to read. I could pick up How to Be Antiracist, but I feel that may be very similar to the other two I've already gotten, and was thinking for the last one to regard incarceration historical angles, so was thinking The New Jim Crow or Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong?

I’ve started How to Be an Antiracist and it seems like it’s part memoir, part history, and a bigger part of defining what racism is and isn’t, and a logic based approach to how to become an antiracist. I’m really loving the writing style as well.

But I’m still open to any book that the group would like to read. And I’m still very enthusiastic about moving forward with the book club.

Amoebic wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
kazooka wrote:

I've seen a lot of criticism from people of color about that White Fragility book. I'm having a hard time tracking it down now, but the line I remember is, "it's a book about talking about racism, made for people who don't want to talk about racism".

This thread?
https://twitter.com/sedcontra_/statu...

Thanks, folks! Removed it for now. There's so much out there that still needs to be added, and there's PLENTY more book resources to look into in other lists found in the Links section.

Just to stress, I haven't read it, but the general consensus seems to be that it doesn't have much applicability outside of upper middle class conference rooms. The more negative (and credible) stuff that I've seen suggest that it reads more like an HR manual than anything a human being would want to follow.

That said, Between the World and Me is excellent. Coates is a really great writer. Be forewarned, this isn't a book about solutions. It's more about the emotional weight of blackness in America.

This is hyper-local, but for Hennepin County residents (Minneapolis area) our local library has made a number of the titles recommend above available for checkout/download without the normal waiting lists. They've funded unlimited access to these titles to help us all learn more.

Unlimited access: eBooks and audiobooks to learn about racism

raevenote wrote:

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

Count me in. Thanks!

I'd be interested too.

raevenote wrote:

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

Alright. We have enough folks to start, I think. What’s the next move? Probably someone should create a new thread and link it here.

RawkGWJ wrote:
raevenote wrote:

Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a book club? While I'm finding it hard to read/engage with the stuff I know I enjoy, I'm hoping that creating a social/conversational group would be a good way to maintain momentum on the important stuff.

Alright. We have enough folks to start, I think. What’s the next move? Probably someone should create a new thread and link it here.

I'd be happy to do so, but don't want to steal raevenote's thunder since it was her idea, initially. raevenote, any preference? I'm fine either way.

Here is the GWJ Antiracism Book Discussion thread. Please consider joining us!

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