You will have seen in the news and social media about the brutal murder of George Floyd, protests around the world, and the Black Lives Matter movement coming to the forefront. This goes much deeper than the recent news stories, many people face racism as part of their everyday life, it is this injustice that we need to stand up to, we need to amplify black, Asian, and minority ethnic voices and make a real change.
Our University community is made up of a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds, and it is not enough that we keep quiet. We must learn, talk, ask questions, and do something about it.
Today the Vice-Chancellor released a statement about the Black Lives Matters movement, and the steps that the University of Reading will take going forward, you can read about this in full here.
As part of our community, we would like to invite your thoughts, asking you to share useful links on our social media or in the comments. which we can add to this blog post.
Below you will find a list of resources, charities, University links and petitions.
Black Lives Matter.
How can I help?
University Links
- Message from the Vice Chancellor
- BAME Network: Help us Breathe
- Educating Ourselves: actively opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance
- Connected Alumni magazine
- The BAME Network
- Never OK Campaign
- The Student Welfare Team
- A guide to being an Ally RUSU
- Power to the People! Webinar exploring #allyship and activism in 2020, and providing information on how we can all become better allies to marginalised groups. Topics: Black Lives Matter, privilege, taking action & allyship.
Resources & Funds
- Free Black Lives Matter poster – by Designer Joanna McLeod
- Black Lives Matter: Mental health support resources
- Black Lives Matter
- Campaign Zero
- Unicorn Riot
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Stand Up To Racism UK
- Black Lives Matters.carrd
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Stop Hate UK
- The Liberty Fund
- I Run With Maud
- The Black student influencers you should be following
- Causes you can support to help the Black Lives Matter movement
Petitions to sign
Podcasts to listen to
- About Race
- Code Switch
- The Diversity Gap
- Intersectionality Matters
- Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
- Pod for the Cause
- Pod Save the People
- 1619: A podcast from The New York Times
Books to Read
- Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race
- Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
- So You Want to Talk About Race Hardcover
- Race Matters, 25th Anniversary: With a New Introduction