Black Lives Matter and anti-racism resources
Explore resources to help you get involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, and educated about the history of black oppression.
In 2020, protests erupted across the globe in response to the killing of George Floyd by four police officers in Minneapolis, USA. The death of Floyd acted as a tipping point for centuries of pent-up anger at systemic injustice and racism to boil over, not just in America but across the world.
What started as a movement protesting police brutality in the States has evolved into a global reckoning with white privilege, racism, and colonialism.
FutureLearn stands with our black colleagues and learners. We are striving to make ourselves more inclusive and diverse, as well as to host more courses on black liberation, and improve black access to education.
For black people globally, this has been yet another emotional and traumatic time – both due to systemic oppression finally being recognised on a wide scale, and seeing institutions and colleagues trying (and often failing) to belatedly grapple with the issue.
There are resources out there that can help black learners feel supported – and non-black learners to become better allies. We’ve collected some of the most useful ones below.
Support your mental health
According to the Mental Health Foundation, black people are more likely to suffer mental health issues than their white counterparts, and also more likely to face discrimination in mental health services.
This is largely due to a legacy of institutional racism and oppression that leaves many black people not only locked out of economic systems – but also adequate healthcare.
- MIND has local groups, some of which are BAME specific
- Black Thrive is a South London-based group aiming to address mental health inequalities experienced by London’s black communities
- Sharing Voices is a charity dedicated to reducing mental health inequalities in BAME communities
- The National Alliance on Mental Health has a list of organisations designed to help black mental health in North America
- The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) offers advice on aboriginal mental health issues
- The Black Health Alliance is a community-led charity working to improve the health and well-being of black communities in Canada.
Donate
Donating to causes fighting to help improve the lives of black people in the community – as well as in the penal system – is a good way to contribute.
- Bail Project: paying bail for low-income Americans
- Black Curriculum: re-imagining the future of education through Black British history
- American Civil Liberties Union: fighting for every American’s rights in courts, statehouses, and nationwide
- Stop Hate UK: challenging hate crime and discrimination in the UK
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund: fighting for legal justice in America
- Black Minds Matter: making therapy and mental health resources accessible for black people in the UK
- Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation: inspiring a more equal, inclusive society, and fostering opportunities for marginalised young people in the UK.
Educate yourself
Whether you want to learn more about the rich history and culture of black people, or you’re looking to learn more about the history of oppression black people have suffered – and the inspirational opposition to it through the ages – there’s a wealth of books, films, and courses that can expand your understanding.
Books
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
This book on the reality of structural racism in Britain has shot to the top of the best-seller charts – making Eddo-Lodge the first black author to top the charts in the UK.
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
Musician, activist, and academic Akala charts the historical legacy of British racism and colonial oppression.
Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Author Coates explores American racism in the form of a letter to his 14-year-old son.
Women, Race & Class by Angela Davis
A groundbreaking exploration of the intersection of related oppressions – how the system works to keep down women, blacks, and workers, all at once.
Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers
Exploring the history of black liberation back to the Haitian Revolution, Carruthers appeals to her readers to make black liberation more queer, more feminist, and more radical.
Films
13th by Ava DuVernay
In this documentary, director DuVernay contends that slavery in the United States was replaced by systemic oppression of black people – through the prison system, the war on drugs, and longstanding police and public violence.
The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 by Göran Olsson
A collection of news footage – shot in the late 1960s and early 70s by Swedish national television – that acts as a unique portrait of the black activists at the forefront of the radical civil rights movement. Featuring interviews with Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Huey P. Newton.
I Am Not Your Negro by Raoul Peck
This documentary collects author James Baldwin’s observations on American history and racial injustice, including his thoughts on civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Online courses
- U.S. Anti-Black Racism by the University of Connecticut
- Black Agency: Resistance and Resilience by the University of Connecticut
- Black Tudors: The Untold Story by FutureLearn
- Teaching Black British History: A Teacher Training Guide by the Black Curriculum
- Cultural Diversity and the City from the European University Institute
- Empire: the Controversies of British Imperialism from the University of Exeter
- Decolonising Education: From Theory to Practice by the University of Bristol.
