100+ Free Anti-Racism Resources for Children and Adults

George Floyd was killed on May 25. His death awakened most of the US to police brutality and the harsh racial injustices Black people face every day. The Black Lives Matter movement quickly expanded to tens of thousands of new white voices. Going to protests and sharing on social media is a great first step, but we also need to educate ourselves so we can fight racism in every part of our lives. Here are hundreds of anti-racism resources to get you started.

Anti-racist vocabulary 

Racial Equality Tools has a glossary of words and terms it’s important to know and understand, such as:

• Institutional racism
• Internalized racism
• Nonracist
• Antiracist 
• Bigotry
• Colonization 
• Implicit bias
• POC
• BIPOC
• Microaggressions
• White fragility 
• Ally
• Black Lives Matter

Resources for talking to kids about race

• Embrace Race is dedicated to raising a generation of children who are “thoughtful, informed, and brave about race.” Articles, interviews, and webinars include topics, such as “How Do I Make Sure I’m Not Raising the Next ‘Amy Cooper’?” and “Supporting Kids of Color Amidst Racial Violence.”
• Pretty Good has put together a Your Children Aren’t Too Young to Learn About Race guide. 
• Raising Race Conscious Children is a resource for adults who want to talk about race with children. It offers a blog, webinars, workshops, and personal stories. 
• Teaching Tolerance has hundreds of articles, as well as interviews, webinars, podcasts, and more. 
• The printable “talking to kids about race” from Denver Library is a great resource to print for discussing in groups.
• 100 Race-Conscious Thing to Say to Children is a list of a hundred talking points about subjects including inequality, racism, activism, multi-racial families, police violence, and Black Lives Matters with suggested language appropriate for children.
• Safe Schools has diversity lesson plans, materials, book lists, and more to help kids feel safe at school.
• Kidmap puts out a newsletter every Sunday discussing the latest in diversity in children’s media. 
• Racism No Way offers anti-racism activities and lesson plans.
• What to Say to Kids When the News Is Scary from NPR offers great tips for explaining tough topics.
• Zinn Education Project offers teaching resources on racism, Black history, and a wide range of social justice issues.

Importance of representation

• Studies showing children’s TV lacks diversity still in 2020.
• Jbrary discusses how to chose racially diverse books for children and how to spot racist literature.
• The Conversation explains how representation in movies is also important. 

Anti-racism resources for adults

• Racial Equality Tools offers resources, education, and a Facebook page to connect with others fighting racism.
• The Smithsonian has put together a comprehensive resource for anyone committed to being antiracist. It’s broken into sections for teachers, parents, and those dedicated to equality.
• White Awake has journal assignments, reflections, study groups, and more designed to help white people see their biases and work to change them.
• This list gives ways to show up as anti-racist because we all need to step up.
• Fractured Atlas gives tools and tips for talking about race to other adults. 
• Everyday Feminism has put together a list of over 30 resources for white people to learn about racism.

Booklists for kids

• The Denver library has put together printable lists of children’s books on race. There’s one for younger kids and one for older kids. 
• Books for Littles has a list of books featuring powerful black woman in history.
• Books for Littles also has a list of children’s books by black authors.
• Diverse Book Finder offers a search tool to find books with characters of all ethnicities and races. 
• This list of 50 books about race for children and young adults features must-reads for kids of all ages.
• Here Wee Read features hundreds of diverse books for kids. 

Reading lists for adults

• The Oakland Library has had a Black Lives Matter resource section on their website since 2014. It lists books, poems, articles, and other resources for both adults and children. 
• The Center for Racial Justice in Education has put together a list of anti-racism articles for teachers and a booklist for adults. 
• Viva has an essential anti-racism reading guide for adults.
• The anti-racism resource for white people includes lists of books to read and movies to watch.
• NPR has a starter list of anti-racism books, movies, and more.
• This shareable Google doc offers a list of dozens of books for learning about race issues.

Podcasts

• Diversity Sauce talks about inclusion, diversity, and equality in all children’s media.
• Integrated Schools discusses all issues related to race, including “raising white kids in a racially unjust America.”
• The Daily is a 20-minute update Monday-Friday from the New York Times on the latest in Black Lives Matter.
• Code Switch features blunt conversations bout race.
• Teaching Tolerance has a variety of podcasts on diversity and equality. 
• Still Processing discusses how current events impact the Black community.
• Raising Free People is a weekly podcast devoted to the lives and challenges of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
• Pod Save the People interviews important players on race, culture, and social justice issues. 

Get Involved 

• The Center for Racial Justice in Education offers extensive educational resources and information for getting involved in the fight for equality.
• Medium put together a list of 75 things white people can do for social justice. 
• Sarafina Nance put together a comprehensive anti-racism resource of ways to donate Black Lives Matter, petitions to sign, projects to get involved in, and conversation starters.

This is just a starting point. There is so much information out there on the impact of racism and what you can do to change it. Remember, part of being anti-racist is putting in the work to educate yourself. Don’t rely on your Black friends or Black people sharing their experiences on social media to feed it to you. They are tired, hurting, and need the rest of us to step up.