Solidarity + Resources For Racial Justice

Dear Dragons Community,

On Monday, May 25th—Memorial Day—George Floyd was murdered under the knee of a Minnesota police officer. In a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, Floyd’s death compounded the pain of another open wound: the wound of American racism, an infection that has festered for 400 years. It oozes hatred and rage and violence. It blinds so many to the full, sacred humanity of Blackness.

We write to you today to fight that infection. We know that Black Lives Matter. And in the words of instructor Caleb Brooks, “we know that George mattered, that he was imbued with the life force that every poet and theologian and artist and shaman has lived and died trying to translate into the broken languages by which we express our love and also our hate.”

We write to grieve with you, and to join hands with you against the systems that killed George Floyd.

We condemn the racist policies, white supremacy, and police brutality that killed George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and innumerable others. White people and white-run organizations must actively work against the legacies of white supremacy, racism, settler colonialism, patriarchy and structural inequality upon which this country was built and that pervade the lives of Black and Brown people in the US every day.  

As an administrative team, we regret that it has taken us until now to make this statement publicly. We acknowledge that we benefit from these heinous legacies and have a responsibility to dismantle them. Our mission to build a just and equitable world requires sustained anti-racist action. We stand in solidarity with those demanding racial justice. We invite you, our community, to join us in the movement for sustainable transformation. 

Today, Dragons donated to Black Lives Matter 5280, a small organization on the front lines of the protest in Denver, near our headquarters. You can find more organizations to which our staff are donating, and more ways to get educated and involved below.

The work of liberation is hard and at times may feel impossible. But, to echo James Baldwin, “in our time, as in every time, the impossible is the least that one can demand.”

In solidarity, 

The Where There Be Dragons Administrative Team

RESOURCES TO GET EDUCATED AND INVOLVED

Thank you to Black-led activists who have created these resources, which we have pulled from various locations. 

READ

We encourage you to purchase your books from black-owned and African American-focused bookstores. You can find a list here. 

• ain’t i a woman by bell hooks
• Ally Resource Guide
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 
• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Black Lives Matter Syllabus 
• Choke Hold by Paul Butler
• Divided Sisters by Midge Wilson and Kathy Russell
• Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper 
• Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall 
• How to be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• How We Get Free edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor 
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson 
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat White Supremacy, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
• Native Son by Richard Wright 
• POC Online Classroom  
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde 
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Stamped from the Beginning by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi 
• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein 
• The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
• What to do Instead of Calling the Police 
• When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Kahn-Cullors & asha bandele
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo 
• Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect edited by Joe Macaré, Maya Schenwar, and Alana Yu-lan Price
• Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis 

LISTEN

• 1619 (New York Times)
• About Race
• Code Switch (NPR)
• Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
• Let’s Talk About Whiteness by Eula Biss
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
• Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
• Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
• Seeing White

WATCH

• 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
• American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
• BlacKKKlansman (Spike Lee) — HBO
• Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
• Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — HBO
• Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
• Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
• Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
• I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
• Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to watch FREE for the month of June
• King In The Wilderness  — HBO
• Rachel Cargle’s Address on the Revolution 
• See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
• Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
• Systematic Racism Explained
• Tamika Mallory’s Speech on George Floyd Protests
• The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
• The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
• When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix

DONATE

• A Directory of Community Bail Funds – Find Your Local One
• Ahmaud Arbery Memorial Fund
• BIPOC Healthcare co-op
• Black Lives Matter
• Black Lives Matter 5280 Denver Chapter. (Find your local chapter)
• Black Visions Collective
• Campaign Zero
• George Floyd Memorial Fund
• Justice for Breonna Taylor
• Minnesota Freedom Fund
• Minnesota Healing Justice Network
• The Audre Lorde Project
• The Equal Justice initiative
• Reclaim the Block + Reclaim the Block’s suggested alternatives 
• Support Black Owned Businesses in Your Area. There are many resources floating around locally on social media, we encourage you to seek them out on your channels. 

GET INVOLVED

• #AmplifyMelanatedVoices when sharing content
• Click for a pre-made email draft to demand justice for Breonna Taylor
• Click for a pre-made email draft to demand justice for George Floyd
• Click for a pre-made email draft to demand justice for James Scurlock
• Click for a pre-made email draft to demand justice for Tony McDade
• CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO VOTE
• Get involved with your local government to end police brutality 
• Join Local Black Lives Matter Chapters
• Join Local allyship organizations such as SURJ

SUPPORT/FOLLOW

• @aaron_philip
• @camreapher
• Color Of Change: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• @gabrielleglitters (an alum doing great activism work)
• @laylasaad | Website
• @munroebergdorf
• NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• National Lawyers Guild
• @rachelcargle | Website
• @sa.liine
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• The Movement For Black Lives
• @unitedwedream | Website

MORE

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
• Ally Resources Guide
• An Antiracist Reading List by Ibram X. Kendi (New York Times)
• Anti-Racism Cheat Sheet
• Anti-Racism Project
• Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow)
• Rachel Ricketts’ anti-racism resources
• Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism
• Save the Tears: White Woman’s Guide by Tatiana Mac
• Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits
• The [White] Shift on Instagram
• White Accomplices Steps to Get Involved
• “Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
• Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials

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