Social Justice Reading Lists
- Structural Racism and Police ViolenceFree resources to support research and teaching about structural racism and police violence. Contains articles, podcasts, archived webinars, and resources for instructors.
- #FergusonSyllabusCurated by Dr. Marcia Chatelain, the #FergusonSyllabus features readings by authors that analyze and contextualize the place and role of police in black and brown communities, police violence, and the hyper-criminalization of marginalized individuals.
Attributed to Shawn Semmler via Creative Commons and Flickr
- #CharlestonSyllabus"Here is a list of readings that educators can use to broach conversations in the classroom about the horrendous events that unfolded in Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17, 2015. These readings provide valuable information about the history of racial violence in this country and contextualize the history of race relations in South Carolina and the United States in general. They also offer insights on race, racial identities, global white supremacy and black resistance."
- #CharlestonSyllabus and the Work of African American HistoryRead a guest post at the African American Intellectual History Society by Dr. Chad Williams, curator of the #CharlestonSyllabus. He discusses his reaction to the Charleston shooting, his appreciation for the #FergusonSyllabus, the engagement of African American history, and crowd-sourcing using the "conscientious" hashtag.
Activist Bree Newsome removing the Confederate Flag from the South Carolina state capital. Photo from Heavy.com
- #LemonadeSyllabusWith the help of over 70 black women, Candace Benbow, doctoral student of Religion and Society at Princeton Theological Seminary created the #LemonadeSyllabus to explore and support the complex interrelated themes of black womanhood, spirituality, resistance, place, and identity in Beyonce's lush visual album Lemonade.
- Beyonce's LemonadeMade by Maryland librarian Jenny Ferretti, this gorgeous guide explores the cultural, literary, political, and visual world of Lemonade. Do not miss!
image from Idolator.com
- #BlackpanthersyllabusAnother essential reading list via the African American Intellectual History Society, curated by historian Dr. Keshia N. Blain. Inspired by Beyonce's politically-motivated visual choices in video and fashion and the PBS documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution.
- #BlackLivesMatter Syllabus"This Gallatin [via Prof. Frank Leon Roberts at NYU] seminar links the #blacklivesmatter” movement to four broader phenomena: 1) the rise of the U.S. prison industrial complex and its relationship to the increasing militarization of inner city communities 2) the role of the media industry in influencing national conversations about race and racism and 3) the state of racial justice activism in the context of a neoliberal Obama Presidency and 4) the increasingly populist nature of decentralized protest movements in the contemporary United States."
- The Black ListSuggested Readings in African-American History. Popular reading list provided by Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald reporter.
- Making The American Syllabus: Hashtag Syllabi In Historical PerspectiveLisa A. Monroe investigates the historical background of the hashtag syllabi.
African Americans
What is Black Studies? Episode 1. Darius Spearman. January 12, 2012. In this episode, we look at the origins of a relatively new academic discipline. How did Black Studies come about and how is it distinct from other academic disciplines? Also, what are the challenges faced by scholars, academics and students of Black Studies in higher education?
Why Pursue Black Studies? Episode 2. Darius Spearman. January 20, 2012. In this episode, why pursue Black Studies? What is the significance of Black Studies in higher education? How has the Black Studies pioneered and developed theories and approaches to problems in ways that have added to academia and society as a whole? Is Black Studies solely for the consumption of Black students? Why should Asian, Latino, or White students have an interest in pursuing Black Studies?
Africa in Historical Context. Episode 3. Darius Spearman. In this episode, we look at Africa in historical context and the events leading up to the Atlantic slave trade. What does an alternative context look like? We will explore rise and fall of powerful and wealthy African kingdoms as well as the fateful path they took that ultimately led to the Atlantic slave trade -the trafficking of millions of human beings from West Africa to the Americas. Note subsequent episodes in this series are listed under the African American Online Courses and Lectures series.
Black Studies Matter : How one of the nation's biggest—and most violent—campus protests brought diversity to the rest of America. Kristina Rizga, Mother Jones, May 19, 2016
African American History Month Portal by the Library of Congress. February is African American History Month. The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.
Association of Black Women Historians.
National Association for African American Studies
National Council for Black Studies
Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. The report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice draws on a wide array of historical documents, from the records of slaving voyages to personal correspondence to student commencement orations. Working in collaboration with Brown's Center for Digital Initiatives and the Scholarly Technology Group, the committee was able to create a digital archive of these materials.
Civil Rights since the 1960s
- 2015 Protests at MURead more about the structural and administrative changes at MU in the Columbia Missourian’s database of articles related to the protests. Compiled by Sandy Schiefer, Journalism Librarian at the University of Missouri.
- Civil Rights Act of 1964: How Far Have We Come?This research guide provides access to books, newspaper articles, archival photographs, and other materials to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It's beautifully curated, has lots of great images, and features a special section on women activists of the 1960s. Must see.
- Documenting FergusonA freely available resource that seeks to preserve and make accessible the digital media captured and created by community members following the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014.
- Events in Ferguson, MissouriFrom Becky Helbling, St. Louis Community College Library.
- Ferguson ResourcesFrom Niamh Wallace, University of Arizona Libraries.
- A History of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement (2014)by Alicia Garza
- Learning from FergusonFrom Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Special thanks to Erik Ponder, African American Studies Librarian at Michigan State University. Many of the links and images came from his research guide at https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/africanamericans.