25 Reads, Podcasts & Learning Resources That Teach Us About Antiracism

Black Lives Matter. We at Food52 are devastated by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Dreasjon Reed, and so many others. We stand in solidarity with the Black community, and hope that this coverage will serve as a helpful and important resource to further antiracism work in our community.

“I have this pet theory about book recommendations,” author and professor Lauren Michele Jackson writes in a recent piece for Vulture, “What Is an Anti-Racist Reading List For?"

“They feel good to solicit, good to mete out, but someone at some point has to get down to the business of reading.”

In the past few days, the country has focused its collective grief and anger over the death of George Floyd—and countless injustices and acts of violence toward the Black community—into action, from protesting and donating to amplifying Black voices and supporting Black-owned businesses. As part of our commitment to making systemic change here at Food52, we recognize that we must also be learning and listening as a community, now and always.

These book lists, articles, podcasts, and more are just the beginning of the work that we’re doing to be better allies, and it is by no means exhaustive. There is an abundance of writing from Black voices, across genres and mediums, beyond the topics of race and antiracism—and we urge you to seek them out, too. “But,” Jackson reminds us, “it is unfair to beg other literature and other authors, many of them dead, to do this sort of work for someone."

If there are other resources you’ve read, listened to, or watched that you’d like to see included here, please add them to the comments below, and our editors will make updates accordingly.

Reading Lists & Articles

• An Antiracist Reading List: A collection of essential reads from author, historian, and scholar, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. “Think of it as a stepladder to antiracism,” he writes in the introduction, “each step addressing a different stage of the journey toward destroying racism’s insidious hold on all of us.” More recently, The New York Times also published an antiracism reading list for children (broken down by age) as a resource for parents.

• 43 of the Best Books by Black Authors You Should Read in Your Lifetime: “You should always celebrate Black voices (not just during Black history month, y'all), and literature is one of the best ways to honor some of the community's most illuminating stories,” OprahMag.com Editorial Assistant McKenzie Jean-Philippe writes in her roundup of Black-authored books, from bestselling memoirs to debut novels.

• 21 Black-Authored Cookbooks to Add to Your Shelf: This list of Black-authored cookbooks from the Food52 editors is a starting point for our community of home cooks and beyond. For those planning to purchase, check out these Black-owned bookstores to support.

• A Critic for All Seasons: In this longform essay, food writer and podcast host Korsha Wilson poses the thought-provoking question: “What would restaurant criticism look like if it represented diners like me?” We also recommend Korsha's piece, “Dear White Chefs: Stop Talking, Start Listening.”

• Why We Can’t Talk About Race in Food: A 2017 piece from Civil Eats, in which five writers “weigh in about the increasing and seemingly coordinated efforts to silence their voices.”

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice: If you’re still unsure of what you can do for racial justice—right now and in the future—this list of 75 actionable items is a good place to start.

• This Is A Very Strange Time To Be A Black-Owned Business: “I’m empathetic to the reality that this has been a wake-up call for a lot of folks, but it can be challenging to separate the profound from the performative, says Trinity Mouzon Wofford—co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn-based superfood health and beauty brand, Golde—in this HuffPost piece.

• How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change: Here, President Barack Obama shares “some basic lessons to draw from past efforts that are worth remembering” in order to bring about effective, lasting change. He writes: “We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform.”

• How to Make Sure You’re Donating Effectively: These useful tips and resources from The Cut help make sure the dollars you donate are going to the right places. Here’s a list of organizations to support, but per The Cut’s article, check to make sure they are still accepting donations (if not, they may be directing funds to smaller organizations).

• 9 Movies and Shows That Explain How America’s Justice System Got This Way: “If you are looking to better understand the history that led to what you see on the news today,” writes Vox film critic, Alissa Wilkinson, start by watching these films and television shows. “Through fiction and nonfiction, they help show how complex the interlocking problems are and point toward where true change might begin.”

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Podcasts

• 1619: 1619 is the year that enslaved Africans first arrived in what would become the United States over 150 years later. This New York Times series, hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and creator of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, studies how slavery transformed America.

• In Black America: “A long-running, nationally syndicated program dedicated to all facets of the African American experience,” produced at Austin’s NPR station, KUT. Another NPR podcast to check out: Code Switch, which explores how race “impacts every part of society—from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between.”

• A Hungry Society: Produced and hosted by Korsha Wilson, this podcast—with 76 episodes and counting—seeks “to foster more diverse and inclusive conversations about the culinary world.”

• Intersectionality Matters!: Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate, each episode explores a different topic through an intersectional lens, ranging from #MeToo and #SayHerName to the preexisting equalities that shape the impact of COVID-19.

• America Did What?!: This one is brand new—out July 4 on Patreon. But before it comes out, the creators of the podcast, Blair Imani and Kate Robards, will first offer a 10-week hands-on course to shepherd you through your antiracism work; this will be released on June 18. It is, no doubt, one of many podcasts, websites, and social media platforms that we’ll be seeing emerge from our collective anger directed at structural injustice.

• The Nod: If there was ever a joyful way to dissect the complicated, rich beauty of Black lives, this would be it. “Blackness’ biggest fans,” Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings, have been missed ever since they ran the podcast’s final episode back in January—but they did come back for one more this week to “process their feelings and memorialize the lives lost.”

• Good Ancestor Podcast: A series of interviews with change agents on what it means to be a “good ancestor,” hosted by Layla F. Saad, a globally respected writer on the topics of race and identity. Saad also just put together this antiracist reading list for The Guardian, to last you beyond the news cycle.

• Still Processing: Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris, two Black culture writers for The New York Times, devour TV, movies, art, music, and the internet to find the things that move them. Smart, insightful, and a lot of fun, we can’t wait for its next season.

Black Lives Matter. These Organizations Need Our Support.

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Other Educational Resources

• Black Lives Matter: Ways You Can Help: Compiled by 17-year-old Nico, this set of resources aims to make it easier for you to do your part. Find petitions to sign, organizations to donate to, and maps of protests. Notably, there are also resources included on here for other critical protest movements around the world—Palestine, Hong Kong, and more.

• The Great Unlearn: Activist, writer, and public academic, Rachel Cargle, provides syllabi and supporting resources geared towards helping us unlearn what we know about race; her work supports our critical discourse on “our collective pursuit of knowledge and justice in our world.”

• Systemic Racism Explained: An animated explainer, via act.tv, that approaches the issue of systemic racism from every angle (think: predatory loans, incarceration rates) and every area of life it affects.

• The Movement for Black Lives: The Movement For Black Lives seeks to mobilize a week of action in defense of Black lives from June 1st to 7th. Each day for the week of action represents one demand, with ideas for how to take action in the community and resources to learn how.

• Antiracism Resources for White People: A list of resources for people interested in “getting more intentional about deepening anti-racism work,” plus ideas for how to use available platforms to highlight Black artists, entrepreneurs, and change agents.

• Racial Equity Tools: All the tools, research, tips, and curricula for people who want to educate themselves and to help those working toward racial justice—in systems, organizations, communities, and our culture at large.

• 5 Ways to Set Healthy Boundaries Around News and Social Media: Camesha L. Jones, a therapist and founder of Sista Afya, a Chicago-based community wellness initiative, lays out her strategies for confronting the inundation of negative news—from COVID-19 to racial violence—and how to step away. Her advice: “Consume the minimum amount of news you need to feel informed, then follow it up immediately with something that gives you hope.”

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