Children’s Literature
Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners for Children & Young Adults
Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
Overdrive Titles about Racism & Social Justice for Kids
This specially curated list contains a mixture of picture books and chapter books about racism and social justice. All of these titles are available in Overdrive as either ebooks or eAudiobooks. For the full list, click the link above. For more information on how to get started with Overdrive, visit our ebooks & more page.
Remembering John Lewis: A Reading List for All Ages
In honor of Civil Rights Leader and American Politician John Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020), we have compiled a special list of materials dedicated to his legacy. Materials range from children’s books to adult biographies, and include a variety of formats such as print books and DVDs.
Websites
“Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages” Padlet
This compilation of anti-racism resources is put together by Dr. Nicole A. Cooke, Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and an Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, at the University of South Carolina.
Black Freedom Struggle Website
Explore a variety of open Primary Source Documents from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom. This resource supports a wide range of students, from middle and high school to college, as well independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the ongoing Black Freedom Struggle. These reliable, easily discoverable materials may be used for homework assignments, personal inquiry, research papers and National History Day type-projects focused on African American history in the U.S.
Embrace Race: Where to find “Diverse” Books for Children
A compilation of useful websites, children’s book sites, and blogs to help you diversify your reading collection for you and your child. Consider their 8 Tips for choosing ‘Good’ Picture Books featuring diverse, BIPOC characters.
Empowering Adopted Children of Color in the Face of Racism and Discrimination
This article from Pepperdine University offers advice to transracial adoptive parents on how to best empower their children when faced with discrimination and racism.
How to be Anti-Racist: A Social Worker’s Perspective
A useful guide for understanding Anti-Racism and how to practice Anti-Racism every day.
How White Parents Can Talk to their Kids About Race
The recent unrest sparked by anger over police brutality against African Americans has parents who aren’t black thinking more about how they talk to their kids about race. Michel Martin, weekend host of All Things Considered, spoke with Jennifer Harvey, author of Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America.
Resources for Talking About Race, Racism, and Racialized Violence with Kids
This document was compiled by Center for Racial Justice in Education. Includes interviews, other resource lists, and articles to help in guiding youth to better understand racism.
Talking About Racism and Violence: Resources for Educators and Families
The following resources can help promote deeper understanding around the issues of racism and violence. They also can contribute to discussion of these topics with colleagues and students during this difficult time, even at a distance.
Teaching Your Child About Black History Month (PBS)
In an article for PBS, children’s book author Cheryl Willis Hudson offers these suggestions to help you connect your kids with Black history. PBS Learning Media has a great lineup of short history lessons featuring former slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, scholar Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, and others.
Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup
So you’ve realized your kids aren’t too young to talk about race, so now what? Pretty Good has rounded up some resources for you to start. Pretty Good’s purpose is to make good information easier to understand and share on social media.
Zinn Education Project – Explore by Theme
The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in classrooms across the country. For more than ten years, the Zinn Education Project has introduced students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. Their website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and grade level.
Black Freedom Struggles in the U.S.
This resource supports a wide range of students, from middle and high school to college, as well independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the ongoing Black Freedom Struggle. These reliable, easily discoverable materials may be used for homework assignments, personal inquiry, research papers and National History Day type-projects focused on African American history in the U.S.
Podcasts
8 Podcasts That Help You Talk To Kids About Race
Plus, 10 racially diverse podcasts your kids will enjoy.
Fare of the Free Child Podcast
Fare of the Free Child is a weekly-published podcast community centering Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color in liberatory living and learning practices. With a particular interest in unschooling and the Self-Directed Education movement, Akilah S. Richards and guests discuss the fears and the fares (costs) of raising free black and brown children in a world that tends to diminish, dehumanize, and disappear them.
Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt
In this special pandemic-related podcast, Cindy Wang Brandt discusses various parenting lessons learned so far, including the importance of teaching children empathy.
Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey
What is a healthy racial identity for a White person, and how do we help our White children develop one? In this “Integrated Schools Podcast” episode, Dr. Jennifer Harvey discusses her book, Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America, as well her personal journey towards anti-racist organizing, educating, and child rearing.
Let’s Talk About Race with The Tutu Teacher.
Young Adult Literature
YA Book List: American Pacific Islander Reads
Borrow or reserve any of these books written by AAPI authors and/or featuring AAPI characters and stories through our Library Catalog.
YA Book List: Black Authors, Characters, and Experiences
Borrow or reserve any of these books written by Black authors and/or featuring Black characters and stories through our Library Catalog.
Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners for Children & Young Adults
Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
hoopla YA Titles: Conversations on Race
Visit hoopla’s digital collection of ebooks for young adults discussing race and social justice. CHPL cardholders can borrow up to 4 items per month. For more information on how to get started with hoopla, visit our ebooks & more page.
Overdrive Titles about Racism & Social Justice for Teens
We have curated a special list of YA books that are appropriate for students in grades 6-12, all of which focus on racism and social justice and many of which earned awards. Click the link above for the full list. For more information on how to get started with Overdrive, visit our ebooks & more page.
Remembering John Lewis: A Reading List for All Ages
In honor of Civil Rights Leader and American Politician John Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020), we have compiled a special list of materials dedicated to his legacy. Materials range from children’s books to adult biographies, and include a variety of formats such as print books and DVDs.
Websites
A Guide to Culturally Conscious Identifiers and Emojis
This article helps clear up some important differences in vocabulary when discussing diversity and race. Learn about the differences between POC, BIPOC, and BAME, Arab vs. Arabian vs. Middle East, and more.
“Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages” Padlet
This compilation of anti-racism resources is put together by Dr. Nicole A. Cooke, Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and an Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, at the University of South Carolina.
Black Freedom Struggle Website
Explore a variety of open Primary Source Documents from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom. This resource supports a wide range of students, from middle and high school to college, as well independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the ongoing Black Freedom Struggle. These reliable, easily discoverable materials may be used for homework assignments, personal inquiry, research papers and National History Day type-projects focused on African American history in the U.S.
Empowering Adopted Children of Color in the Face of Racism and Discrimination
This article from Pepperdine University offers advice to transracial adoptive parents on how to best empower their children when faced with discrimination and racism.
How to be Anti-Racist: A Social Worker’s Perspective
A useful guide for understanding Anti-Racism and how to practice Anti-Racism every day.
Issuelab: Race & Policing
This special collection includes research from nonprofits, foundations, and university based research centers, who have not only described and documented the issue of race and policing, but who also provide much-needed recommendations for addressing this chronic and tragic problem.
Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism
This is a great article written for Educators, but it can also be useful for teens who want to take action in their own social circles and learning communities. Share this with your teachers and classmates.
Racial Equity Tools: Glossary
Words and their multiple uses reflect the tremendous diversity that characterizes our society. Reference this glossary for important definitions of vocabulary related to racism, equity, and social justice.
Research Databases
Access any of our research databases with your library card. Useful databases for research on racism & social justice include African-American History Online and Points of View Reference Center.
Zinn Education Project – Explore by Theme
The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in classrooms across the country. For more than ten years, the Zinn Education Project has introduced students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. Their website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and grade level.
Digital Media
“Black Girl Magic” by Poet Mahogany L. Browne
An illustrated book of Browne’s poem, “Black Girl Magic,” can be checked out from the library!
Boston Teens Speak Out About Racism
Teen Empowerment Youth Organizers Kendra Gerald and Dante Omorogbe participated in Boston Mayor Walsh’s November speak-out, “Boston Talks About Racism”. Addressing a full house in the Cutler Majestic Theater, both teens offered first-person accounts of their own encounters with racism, reinforcing the need for the Mayor’s plan to initiate a year-long series of conversations about racism, healing and policy work in all of the neighborhoods of Boston.
New York Times: A Conversation on Race (Short Films)
A series of short films about identity in America. To access the New York Times for free from home, click HERE to redeem the code provided. You will have access for 3 days. When redeeming your code, you may create new account or use an existing account, as this process can be repeated every time your 3 days expires. Need assistance? Just email us at chplref@chplnj.org.
Racial & Social Justice Podcasts For Teens
The following is a list of current podcasts, podcasts that have teen appeal, that we can all be listening to that explore racial and social justice in the United States, and especially during a time where politics are front and center.
TED Talks about Racism
Provide yourself some food for thought with any of these thought-provoking TED Talks about racism and social justice.
Literature
hoopla Titles: Conversations on Race
Visit hoopla’s digital collection of ebooks discussing race and social justice. CHPL cardholders can borrow up to 4 items per month. For more information on how to get started with hoopla, visit our ebooks & more page.
Overdrive Titles about Racism & Social Justice for Adults
A specially curated collection of Overdrive titles centering on anti-racism and social justice. Click the link above for the full list of both eBooks and eAudiobooks. For more information on how to get started with Overdrive, visit our ebooks & more page.
Remembering John Lewis: A Reading List for All Ages
In honor of Civil Rights Leader and American Politician John Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020), we have compiled a special list of materials dedicated to his legacy. Materials range from children’s books to adult biographies, and include a variety of formats such as print books and DVDs.
Websites
The 1619 Project
The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative. To access the New York Times for free from home, click HERE to redeem the code provided. You will have access for 3 days. When redeeming your code, you may create new account or use an existing account, as this process can be repeated every time your 3 days expires. Need assistance? Just email us at chplref@chplnj.org
African American Museum in Philadelphia
The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is the first institution built by a major United States city to house and interpret the life and work of African Americans. Visit and experience the richness and vibrancy of African American heritage and culture come alive in four magnificent exhibition galleries filled with exciting history and fascinating art. CHPL is proud to have the AAMP as a partner in our museum pass program.
“Anti-Racism Resources for All Ages” Padlet
This compilation of anti-racism resources is put together by Dr. Nicole A. Cooke, Augusta Baker Endowed Chair and an Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, at the University of South Carolina.
Black Freedom Struggle Website
Explore a variety of open Primary Source Documents from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom. This resource supports a wide range of students, from middle and high school to college, as well independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the ongoing Black Freedom Struggle. These reliable, easily discoverable materials may be used for homework assignments, personal inquiry, research papers and National History Day type-projects focused on African American history in the U.S.
Empowering Adopted Children of Color in the Face of Racism and Discrimination
This article from Pepperdine University offers advice to transracial adoptive parents on how to best empower their children when faced with discrimination and racism.
How to be Anti-Racist: A Social Worker’s Perspective
A useful guide for understanding Anti-Racism and how to practice Anti-Racism every day.
Issuelab: Race & Policing
This special collection includes research from nonprofits, foundations, and university based research centers, who have not only described and documented the issue of race and policing, but who also provide much-needed recommendations for addressing this chronic and tragic problem.
NAACP: Criminal Justice Fact Sheet
Includes information about trends and disparities in incarceration, drug sentencing, and effects of incarceration.
Racial Equity Tools
Racial Equity Tools is designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. This site offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.
Talking About Race
From the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture. Talking about race, although hard, is necessary. Find tools and guidance to empower your journey and inspire conversation.
Anti-Racism Daily
This website is a collection of content from a diverse team of contributors. Founded by Nicole Cardoza, it includes articles, a daily e-newsletter and a podcast. Anti-Racism Daily also hosted the virtual exhibition, 28 Days of Black History, which you can sign up for in order to receive daily in your inbox.
Podcasts
Listen to these podcasts via various online streaming services including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more.
1619
Four hundred years ago, in August 1619, a ship carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived in the English colony of Virginia. No aspect of the country that would be formed here has been untouched by the 250 years of slavery that followed. “1619,” a New York Times audio series hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, examines the long shadow of that fateful moment.
About Race
From the author behind the bestselling Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, comes a podcast that takes the conversation a step further. Featuring key voices from the last few decades of anti-racist activism, About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge looks at the recent history that lead to the politics of today.
Code Switch
Code Switch is a multi-racial, multi-generational team of NPR journalists who cover race and identity. Our work appears on-air and online, across NPR’s shows, and on the weekly Code Switch podcast.
The History of American Slavery
With the help of acclaimed historians and writers, Rebecca Onion and Jamelle Bouie explore the history of American slavery and examine how the institution came to shape our country’s politics, economy, and culture.
Intersectionality Matters!
Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.
Little Known Truths regarding African Enslavement in the State of New Jersey 1695-1866
This presentation is given by Award-winning author, historian and performance poet, Sandra Turner-Barnes. Barnes is a direct descendant of the Sadler and Still Families, the founders of two separate historical African American Settlements within Southern New Jersey, dating back to the 1700’s. The program is the result of 15 years of research regarding the history of slavery within the State of New Jersey.
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast features movement voices, stories, and strategies for racial justice. Co-hosts Chevon and Hiba give their unique takes on race and pop culture, and uplift narratives of hope, struggle, and joy, as we continue to build the momentum needed to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture.
Pod for the Cause
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights launched “Pod for the Cause” to expand the conversation on the critical civil and human rights challenges of our day: census, justice reform, policing, education, fighting hate & bias, judicial nominations, fair courts, voting rights, media & tech, economic security, immigration, and human rights.
Pod Save the People
On Pod Save the People, organizer and activist DeRay Mckesson explores news, culture, social justice, and politics with fellow activists Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Sam Sinyangwe, and writer Dr. Clint Smith. They offer a unique take on the news, with a special focus on overlooked stories and topics that often impact people of color.
Seeing White
Unending racial inequity in schools, housing, criminal justice, and hiring. Some of this feels new, but in truth it’s an old story. Why? Where did the notion of “whiteness” come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for? Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen took a deep dive into these questions, along with an array of leading scholars and regular guest Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, in this fourteen-part documentary series, released between February and August 2017. The series editor is Loretta Williams.
The Anti-Racism Daily Podcast
Hosted by Nicole Cardoza, this weekly podcast discusses current events with actionable ideas to follow up on in your own life. Listen to this podcast in conjunction with subsribing to Cardoza’s daily newsletter, Anti-Racism Daily.
Films & Documentaries
The following films can be accessed via various online platforms including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, and more.
13TH (Now available on YouTube)
Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay’s 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. This piercing, Oscar-nominated film won Best Documentary at the Emmys, the BAFTAs and the NAACP Image Awards.
Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise (PBS)
In his new four-hour series, BLACK AMERICA SINCE MLK: AND STILL I RISE, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. embarks on a deeply personal journey through the last fifty years of African American history. Joined by leading scholars, celebrities, and a dynamic cast of people who shaped these years, Gates travels from the victories of the civil rights movement up to today, asking profound questions about the state of black America—and our nation as a whole.
I Am Not Your Negro
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, “Remember This House.” The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished.
LA 92 (Netflix)
Stark footage traces decades of police brutality and public uprising leading up to the 1992 acquittal of four LAPD officers filmed beating Rodney King.
Teach Us All (Netflix)
A documentary film and curriculum that addresses the need for ALL students in America to have equal access to quality education.
Whose Streets?
An account of the Ferguson uprising as told by the people who lived it. The filmmakers look at how the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown inspired a community to fight back and sparked a global movement.