District Guide: Activism, Anti-Racism, Dissent and Peaceful Protest: Introduction

Activism, Anti-racism, Dissent and Peaceful Protest Introduction

Resources compiled by Elizabeth Jean Brumfield, Distance Services Librarian, Prairie View A&M University, John B. Coleman Library

This guide is intended to provide information on activism, anti-racism, dissent and peaceful protest. It is not exhaustive of resources on any of these topics nor does it encompass all facets of the discussion on these subjects. The guide is meant to be a starting point for general information and finding basic resources.

Activism

Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct, or intervene in social, political, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society. Activism is defined as the rational and acceptable democratic option of protest or appeal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activism

Anti-racism

Anti-racism is an active way of seeing and being in the world, in order to transform it. Because racism occurs at all levels and spheres of society (and can function to produce and maintain exclusionary "levels" and "spheres"), anti-racism education/activism is necessary in all aspects of society. In other words, it does not happen exclusively in the workplace, in the classroom, or in selected aspects of our lives. http://www.aclrc.com/antiracism-defined

Dissent and Peaceful Protest

Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Dissent can take the form peaceful protest and is regarded in the U.S. Constitution as a fundamental right of American citizens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_dissent

Please Read-- Books on Activism, Anti-Racism and Peaceful Protest

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas—from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilites—that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their posionous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism.
Race by Alan H. Goodman; Yolanda T. Moses; Joseph L. Jones
The second edition of the bestselling title on modern notions of race, providing timely examination of perspectives on race, racism, and human biological variation In this fully updated second edition of this popular text on the study of race, Alan Goodman, Yolanda Moses, and Joseph Jones take a timely look at modern ideas surrounding race, racism, and human diversity, and consider the ways that ideas about race have changed over time
Undermining Racial Justice by Matthew Johnson
Over the last sixty years, administrators on college campuses nationwide have responded to black campus activists by making racial inclusion and inequality compatible. This bold argument is at the center of Matthew Johnson's powerful and controversial book. Focusing on the University of Michigan, often a key talking point in national debates about racial justice thanks to the contentious Gratz v. Bollinger 2003 Supreme Court case, Johnson argues that UM leaders incorporated black student dissent selectively into the institution's policies, practices, and values.

Internet Resources on Activism, Protest and Civil Dissent

African Activist Archive Project

This project preserves records and memories of activism in the United States that supported the struggles of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Baltimore 68: Riots and Rebirth

Offers oral histories, newspaper clippings, local government documents and photographs related to Baltimore's riots following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Black Panther Chronology

Embedded within this chronology are links to texts, photos and media clips. (archived copy)

Civil Rights History Project

Oral histories (with interview transcripts) and digital photographs of people who participated in the civil rights movement.

Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement

This site documents various aspects of the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States, focusing specifically on the radical origins of this movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Items range from radical theoretical writings to humourous plays to the minutes of an actual grassroots group.

Emma Goldman Papers

Sampling of photographs and primary historical documents from the Emma Goldman Papers, plus finding aids and links to other resources. Goldman (1869-1940) was a major figure in the history of radical movements in the U.S.

Free Speech Movement Digital Archive

UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library maintains a large digital collection of documents from Berkeley's 1964-65 Free Speech Movement. Bibliograpies and other historical background is also included.

Roz Payne Sixties Archive

Collection of "political artifacts from the 1960s-era, collected and saved over the years by activist, photographer and filmmaker, Roz Payne." Collections include underground press, small press publications, leaflets/flyers/broadsides/article reprints, posters/graphic design, buttons, photographs, objects, and newsreel films.

Sixties Project: Primary Document Archive

Includes documents from Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Black Panther Party, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and several similar groups.

We Raise Our Voices

Small collection of items documenting Boston's African American, Latino, feminist, and LGBT community histories.

Please view --Videos on Anti-racism, Activism and Peaceful Protest

Author Toni Morrison discusses the construct of Race.

Wrestling with Race in America

NBC documentary following George Floyd protest--Wrestling with Race in America.

It Stops with Me

What you can do to prevent racism--It Stops with you.