#BlackLivesMatter

#BlackLivesMatter each and every day. For so long, Black people in the United States and throughout the rest of the world have been the brunt of policies and systems designed to negatively impact us through financial, political, and social means. This is systemic and change has been due, but has not come fast enough. I’m extremely proud of those stepping up and out by protesting, donating their time and money, and organizing within their respective communities. Slowly, but surely, we will make a change!

Over the past month, the weight of this movement has weighed heavily on my mind. I’ve been extremely active on social media and within my department working to enact change and speak up about the injustices Black people face throughout our daily lives. For this blog post, I’ve compiled a list of resources both in and out of academia to help you support social movements and educate yourself on the history of structural racism and anti-Blackness in the United States.

Please take the time to go through these resources and visit any of them that may be useful to you!

You can’t play ignorance, justified by feeling uncomfortable, when Black people have been made to feel uncomfortable their entire lives in a white privileged, systematically racist and unfair society that is more than happy to benefit from Black culture, but isn’t so happy in adhering to the ideals of equality and basic human rights.

Jade Thirwall

Cornell Resources

These resources are specific to Cornell, but they may be helpful to all graduate students irrespective of your institution.

• Cornell Graduate School Resources: http://gradschool.cornell.edu/resources
• Cornell Caring Community: https://caringcommunity.cornell.edu/get-help/
• Cornell Health Counseling Services (for students): https://health.cornell.edu/services/counseling-psychiatry
• Cornell Faculty & Staff Assistance Program (for postdocs): https://fsap.cornell.edu/
• Bias Reporting: https://diversity.cornell.edu/our-commitments/bias-reporting-cornell
• Anti-racism Resources from the Office for Faculty Development and Diversity

Academic Efforts and Resources

Resources for those looking to engage and learn more through an academic context. A big thank you to the #ShutdownAcademia movement for compiling a lot of these resources.

• #ShutdownAcademia #ShutdownSTEM
• How does anti-Black racism show up in academia?
• Already done some reading about race and want to learn more?
• Cognitive Reserve and Racial Privilege in STEM
• Resources compiled by Particles for Justice as part of the #Strike4BlackLives
• Anti-racism resources for white people, compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker & Alyssa Klein
• A US/Canadian Race and Racism Reading List, by Prof. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
• Shareable Anti-Racism Resource Guide
• BlackLight, a compilation about the Black experience in the US, co-curated by Brian Nord, Lauren Biron, Renée Hložek, & Lucianne Walkowicz. New content is added every year during Black History Month.
• Equal Opportunity Astronomy: Articles & Resources by Astrobetter
• A learning list on race in America, by Lauren M. Chambers
• Justice in June
• Teaching Tolerance
• Racial Equity Tools

Academic/Professional Organizations and Initiatives

• American Association of Black in Energy
• Association of Black Psychologists
• BlackAFinSTEM
• BlackAndSTEM
• Blacks in Technology
• The Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS)
• National Black Justice Coalition
• National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
• National Council of Negro Women
• National Coalition of Black Women
• National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers
• National Science and Technology News
• National Society of Black Engineers
• National Society of Blacks in Computing
• National Society of Black Physicists
• National Association of Black Geoscientists
• Society of Black Academic Surgeons
• VanguardSTEM

Political and Legal Resources

For those interested in writing to legislators and participating in protesting efforts.

• Template for writing to legislators on police brutality
• Identify your state representatives
• Register to vote (or check your registration)
• Document on how to protest safely

Petitions

Petitions are important ways to make your voice heard and lend support to the creation of policies.

• Breonna Taylor Petition
• #WeCantBreathe Petition
• Justice for George Floyd Petition
• Color of Change Petition
• We Are Done Dying Petition

Funds to support recent victims and protests throughout the country.

• Official GoFundMe for George Floyd
• Black Vision Collective for Black, Trans, and Queer folks in Minnesota
• Minnesota Freedom Fund pays for the bonds for those jailed especially those that are protestors
• Ahmaud Arbery Fund organized by CPAC
• Louisville, Kentucky Bail Fund for protestors of Breonna Taylor
• Missouri Black Protester Relief Fund
• Black Voters Matter Fund
• Free Them All
• Black Lives Matter
• NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Learn more about organizations fighting for inequality and support them!

• Black Lives Matter
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Reclaim The Block

Podcasts

• ‘1619,’ a A Podcast from the New York Times
• About Race
• Code Switch (NPR)
• Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé 
• 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

Thanks for reading! You can catch up on my previous posts here. Feel free to share this post and follow me on all social media platforms @CollegeSista! Have questions about applying to grad school, life as a graduate student, or Cornell in particular? You’re welcome to contact me on LinkedIn or through email!