Anti-Racism Resources

As community tensions rise in the wake of multiple acts of police violence, the veil of how racism is embedded in our society is removed.

The Y is an organization focused on addressing the most critical needs of our community and dedicated to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion for all. As such, we must begin to address how to undo racism and become “anti-racists” at an individual, organizational, and societal level. We seek to more effectively lead as an anti-racist, multi-cultural organization, yet as we embark on this journey together, we do so with humility, fully cognizant that as a local and national institution we have so much more work to do.

Anti-racism is the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti- racism tends to be an individualized approach and set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts.

— Definition by Race Forward

Begin Your Individual Anti-Racism Journey

We invite all Y communities to take this journey with us and begin to unpack what it means to be an anti-racist. We know that the first step includes unlearning previous notions and educating ourselves as individuals committed to this journey. We encourage you to begin your individual anti-racism educational journey with us by diving deep into understanding racism from its origins to its impact on society today.

Take Harvard’s Implicit Association Test to assess where you are at in your anti-racist journey and begin taking courses around diversity, inclusion, and equity. This can include personal learning (books, movies, podcasts, etc.) or formal training spaces. We suggest the following opportunities to get started.

Formal Trainings

Undoing Institutionalized Racism Workshop: The People’s Institute Undoing Racism Workshop is an intensive workshop designed to educate, challenge and empower people to “undo” the racist structures that hinder effective social change. The training is based on the premise that racism has been systematically erected and that it can be “undone” if people understand where it comes from, how it functions and why it is perpetuated.

Videos to Watch

• Break the Silence by the YMCA APILN Steering Committee
• Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (50:48)
• Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses ‘White Fragility’ (1:23:30)
• “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
• The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Organizations to Follow & Additional Resources

• Resources and Tools by the National YMCA APILN Steering Committee
• Anguish and Action - Obama Foundation
• People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
• Race Forward
• Talking About Race - National Museum of African American History & Culture
• Teaching Tolerance
• White Awake Resources

YMCA Sponsored Events

• Mission Forum: Health Equity & Social Responsibility
  • ​​​​​​​Watch Recorded Video
  • Presentation Deck

Books

• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (For Young People)
• Antiracist Baby
• Between the World and Me
• Latinx - The New Force in American Politics and Culture
• Phillis Wheatley, Complete Writings
• Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
• So You Want to Talk About Race
• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
• Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
• The 1619 Book List
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• The Color of Law
• The Fire Next Time
• We Were Eight Years in Power
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

Anti-racist in faith traditions

Christian resources

• Disunity in Christ (Christena Cleveland)
• Divided by Faith (Michael Emerson and Christian Smith)
• I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation (Chanequa Walker-Barnes)
• Reconciliation Blues (Edward Gilbreath)
• The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism (Jemar Tisby)

Jewish resources

• Jewish Racial Justice Resources

Islamic resources

• Anti-Racism Guide for White Muslims
• Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative
• Race & Racism (Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative)

Buddhist resources

• Angel Kyodo Williams
• Lama Rod Owens
• Radical Dharma

Click to download a PDF of anti-racism resources.