INTERRUPTER Toolkit

Jump to specific section: First Steps, Personal Growth / Healing, Organizational Change, Allyship

First Steps

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”

— Dr. Angela Davis

These resources are for those who are new to learning about racial equity, systemic racism, and white privilege.

Glossary of Equity and Justice Terms

Videos

Personal Growth & Healing

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”

— Ijeoma Oluo

These more intermediate resources focus on the difficult, individual work necessary to develop toward internal positive change and to heal from trauma within a racist society.

Articles

“Healing from Internalized Oppression” (Community Tool Box)
“What Is Internalized Racism?” (from Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building) by Donna K. Bivens
“Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People” by Kelsey Blackwell
“Healing the Hidden Wounds of Racial Trauma” by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy
“My White Friend Asked Me on Facebook to Explain White Privilege. I Decided to Be Honest.” by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
“White People: I Don’t Want You to Understand Me Better, I Want You to Understand Yourselves” by Ijeoma Oluo
“What Is Internalized Racial Oppression and Why Don’t We Study It?: Acknowledging Racism’s Hidden Injuries” by Dr. Karen D. Pyke
“Notes on Confronting My Own Racism” by Mischa Byruck
“The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston
“Race Through a Trauma Lens” (from Promoting Cultural Sensitivity in Supervision: A Manual for Practitioners) by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy
“Racial Identity Development” by Beverley Daniel Tatum
“Counteracting Devaluation” (from Teens Who Hurt: Clinical Interventions to Break the Cycle of Adolescent Violence) by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy & Dr. Tracey A. Laszloffy
“Demystifying Internalized Oppression: What We’ve Learned” by Brittany J. Harris
“Internalized Oppression: We Need to Stop Hating Ourselves” by Dr. E.J.R. David
“Internalized Oppression and Latinos” by Laura M. Padilla

Books

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittany Cooper
Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Joy DeGruy
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love, and So Much More by Janet Mock
You Will Never Amount to Sht!: An Autoethnography of Transforming Trauma to Triumph* by Kiah Nyame
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward
Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit by Mary-Frances Winters
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young

Online Resources

The Harvard Implicit Association Test
Seeing White (podcast)
Black Mental Health Resources (Mashable)
"Family-Care, Community-Care and Self-Care Tool Kit: Healing in the Face of Cultural Trauma" (Community Healing Network)
Stages of Racial Identity Development: People of Color (from Shades of Color: Diversity in African American Identity) by William Cross
Unlocking Us: Brené with Sonya Renee Taylor on "The Body is Not an Apology" (podcast)
Internalized Racism Inventory (Cultural Bridges to Justice)
The Race Card Project
BGD: Amplifying the Voices of Queer and Trans People of Color
The Inclusion Solution Live: My Black Fatigue (podcast)
Resources for Black Healing by Micalah Webster
Understanding Internalized Racial Oppression and Internalized Racialized Superiority: A Cognitive Behavioral Approach (Ramsey County Human Services Anti Racism Leadership Team)
Mental Health Issues Facing the Black Community (Sunshine Behavioral Health)

Videos

Organizational Change

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

These resources can guide Change Teams and others to understand historical and present-day racism and to advocate for racial equity and justice within systems—namely, government, education, law, and the workplace.

Articles

“Driving Racial Equity Outcomes in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration” (Black Coalition Against COVID)
“How Rochester’s Growing City and Suburbs Excluded Black Residents” by Justin Murphy
"The Case for Reparations" by Ta-Nahisi Coates
“Abolition And Reparations: Histories of Resistance, Transformative Justice, And Accountability” by Patrice Cullors (Harvard Law Review)
“The Children’s Agenda Strategic Plan” (The Children’s Agenda)
“Why More and More Executive Directors of Color Are Leaving Their Positions and What We Need to Do About It” by Vu Le
“Cultural Humility versus Cultural Competence: A Critical Distinction in Defining Physician Training Outcomes in Multicultural Education” by Dr. Melanie Tervon & Dr. Jann Murray-García
“8 Ways People of Color Are Tokenized in Nonprofits” by Helen Kim Ho
“Collective Impact” by John Kania & Mark Kramer
“Anti-racist Approaches for Shaping Theoretical and Practice Paradigms” (excerpt from Anti-racist Strategies for the Health and Human Services) by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy
“Seeing and Naming Racism in Nonprofit and Public Organizations” by Laurin Mayeno
“Diversifying Boards Means Ceding Control—Are White Nonprofit Leaders Ready?” by Martin Levine
“Progress Report for StriveTogether’s Racial Equity Planning Team” (StriveTogether)
“Towards an Anti-Racist Workplace: Tools and Strategies to Support Black Employees” by Akinyi Ochieng
“Solutions Privilege: How Privilege Shapes the Expectations of Solutions, and Why It’s Bad for Our Work Addressing Systemic Injustice” by Vu Le
“Systems Thinking and Race” by Stephen Menendian & Caitlin Watt
“14 Characteristics of an Intersectional Mass Movement” by Drew Serres

Books

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror by Moustafa Bayoumi
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum
For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education by Christopher Emdin
The Hidden Rules of Race: Barriers to an Inclusive Economy by Andrea Flynn et al.
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman
White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones
When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth Century America by Ira Katznelson
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & Asha Bandele
Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble
An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz
Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea J. Ritchie
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century by Dorothy Roberts
Dreamers: An Immigrant Generation’s Fight for Their American Dream by Eileen Truax
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Inclusive Conversations: Fostering Equity, Empathy, and Belonging Across Differences by Mary-Frances Winters
We Can’t Talk About That at Work!: How to Talk About Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics by Mary-Frances Winters
The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority by Ellen D. Wu

Online Resources

“History of Segregation and Racist Policy in Greater Rochester” by Shane Weigand
Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture
Racial Equity Tools
Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training
Six Phases of Racial Equity Practice (dR Works)
Trauma-Informed / Racial Equity Policy Review Preliminary Checklist (Catholic Family Center)
“Some potential interview questions to screen for racial equity” (The Management Center)
Organizational Assessment by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy
Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization (Crossroads Ministry)
“Thinking About Race: Towards a Transformative Agenda” (Kirwan Institute)
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? (NACCHO)
Zinn Education Project
Movement to End Violence
"Characteristics of an Emerging Anti-racist Organization" by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy
The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
The Privilege Institute
Movement for Black Lives
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Reading List (University of Missouri-Kansas City)
Racial Justice Resource Guide (The Winters Group, Inc.)
“Challenging Racialized Structures and Moving Toward Social Justice” by John A. Powell
Systems Change and Deep Equity: Pathways Toward Sustainable Impact, Beyond ‘Eureka!,’ Unawareness, and Unwitting Harm by Sheryl Petty & Mark Leach
Strengthening Native American Communities & Economies
10 Principles of Disability Justice (Sins Invalid)
Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice (The Opportunity Agenda)

Videos

Allyship

“Racism is a white problem. It was constructed and created by white people and the ultimate responsibility lies with white people. For too long we’ve looked at it as if it were someone else’s problem, as if it was created in a vacuum.”

— Dr. Robin DiAngelo