Anti-Racism Resources

On this page, I have curated materials to support individuals and organizations who want to deepen their anti-racism work and/or understanding. Check back often since this page will be dynamic, and I’ve continued to add links:

Resources that Dr. Helen thinks are great:

Podcast Episodes & Social Media

• Every Day Is Juneteenth – on Instagram
• Parents for Diversity on Instagram plus their website with a rich set of resources (Ottawa-based parents and allies committed to every child’s right to quality education free from discrimination)
• The Trapdoor of Friendship episode of the “Call Your Girlfriend” podcast
• Code Switch Podcast by National Public Radio (NPR)
• Black Physicians of Canada on Instagram and Twitter/X
• Michael Eric Dyson’s episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (white privilege, the Capitol protestors, and why the 2020 election was so close, how race is shaped by the environment and context of the culture)
• Robert Livingston’s episode of The Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (the science behind racism, how to synthesize and assemble it into something people can digest, and the ways to make profound and sustainable change around it)
• Quirks and Quarks with Bob McDonald: Black in Science Special - this episode examines the invention of the notion of race by European scientists and the way science has been misused to justify racism, slavery, segregation, and the mistreatment of generations of people.
• The Indigenous connection to the Underground Railroad (Podcast episode from Unreserved, CBC)
• “Psychology Works” Fact Sheet: Racism (3 min video)

Videos/Films/TV/Documentaries

• The difference between being “not racist” and antiracist (YouTube video) - by author and historian Ibram X. Kendi; other Kendi resources are available on his website
• How ‘white fragility’ reinforces racism (5 min video)
• Treating racial trauma – presentation by Dr. Jude Mary Cenat, an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa.
• The Desecration of Priceville, Ontario’s History (30-min film; Canadian town settled by Black pioneers in the 1700s and 1800s)
• Black on campus: Students, staff and faculty say universities are failing them (The Fifth Estate, CBC)
• Films and documentaries by Ava Duvernay: Selma, When They See Us, 13th, and Colin in Black and White (all available on Netflix)
• “Deconstructing Karen” chronicles women speaking up and being heard; 12-min interview clip. Regina Jackson and Saira Rao confront 10 white women about their privilege over dinner. The full documentary (1 hr 15 min) is now available on Apple TV.
• Stamped from the Beginning – Using a combination of live action, animation, and expert insights, this documentary, based on Ibram X. Kendi’s bestselling book of the same title, explores the history of racist ideas in America (1h 32m, on Netflix).
• United Shades of America – a weekly TV series on CNN
• Teenagers Discuss Microaggressions and Racism (2015)
• Origin – a film adaptation of the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents directed by Ava DuVernay (available on Netflix)
• Black-ish follows an upper-middle-class African-American family led by Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross). It tackles many historical and contemporary issues that Black people face (ABC; streaming services).
• Rumble – The Indians Who Rocked the World (feature documentary; Sundance Winner)
• The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes/A Class Divided applied social psychology experiment (Frontline PBS documentary)
• Follow-up to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment from the Oprah Winfrey Show
• Homecoming (stylized as HΘMΣCΘMING; subtitled: “A Film by Beyoncé”) is available on Netflix. It’s full of countless layers of meaning that may be hidden to some viewers. This article explains many of the hidden meanings.
• How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion (25-minute TEDTalk by Peggy McIntosh)
• Black on the Prairies (CBC)
• Profile of Joe Buffalo (5 min), Indigenous Skateboarder, Actor, and Residential School survivor; and a 45-min interview with Joe Buffalo
• The Time is Now for Black Canadians in the Public Service – This powerful keynote and panel discussion examines the evolution of the application of merit criteria and its impact on different groups of employees in the context of equity, with a focus on Black public servants.

Books and Articles

• Is a Non-Culturally Safe Therapist Better Than No Therapist?
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents – a nonfiction book by the American journalist Isabel Wilkerson. The book describes racism in the United States as an aspect of a caste system—a society-wide system of social stratification characterized by notions such as hierarchy, inclusion and exclusion, and purity.
• Race-based Trauma: the impact of racism and colonialism on children and families
• Why Is It Hard to Speak Up for Racial Justice?
• The Book of Negroes, an extraordinary work of historical fiction by Lawrence Hill
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) – Calls to Action
• Indigenous Canada (free online course offered by Coursera)
• Obasan by Joy Kogawa (the story of the evacuation, relocation, and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War.)
• Critique about common approaches to anti-racism training
• Anti-racism & anti-oppression resources from the University of Victoria
• UK government follows US with ban on unconscious bias training
• Me and White Supremacy (Layla F. Saad)
• 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
• Reconciliation Toolkit from the Anglican Church of Canada (history, resources, building relationships, practicing reconciliation)
• The Pervasive Reality of Anti-Black Racism in Canada
• How to be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)
• One is the Loneliest Number – what it’s like to be the only BIPOC person in an organization
• ‘I didn’t want to be ridiculed’: The emotional toll of microaggressions at work (Out in the Open, CBC Radio)
• So You Want to Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
• The Micropedia (shared by Zulu Alpha Kilo)
• Alberta University’s free online Indigenous Canada course
• This is What Racial Trauma Does to the Body and Brain
• Racism at My Job Literally Gave Me PTSD
• Racism causes PTSD-like effects in Black women
• What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
• After 400 years of racism, Black Mental Health Day is way overdue
• Why BIPOC Is An Inadequate Acronym
• The value of working with a therapist or advisor of colour (Teen Vogue)
• 9 Terms to Avoid in Communications with Indigenous Peoples
• I’m Still Here – Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness (Austin Channing Brown)
• Black Women Less Likely to be Promoted, Receive Recognition for Accomplishments
• The dark history of Canada’s Food Guide: How experiments on Indigenous children shaped nutrition policy
• Workplace Diversity Goes Far Past Hiring. How Leaders Can Support Employees Of Color
• Microaggressions Are A Big Deal: How To Talk Them Out And When To Walk Away
• Born a Crime (Trevor Noah)
• White Supremacy Culture in Organizations (2019) – Created by the Centre for Community Organizations (COCo), this resource helps name the unsaid, unwritten, unstated expectations in organizational cultures that create harm, especially for racialized people.
• Policing Black Lives – State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present
• Can I be a Black mother in a world so dangerous to Black children? (This provides insights about the additional layers of challenges that Black parents are dealing with)
• Racism’s Effects on Black Mental Health
• These best friends created a wildly popular Google doc about how to be an ally to the black community (this includes learning plans for people who have 10, 25, or 45 minutes per day
• White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao, the team behind Race2Dinner and the documentary film, Deconstructing Karen
• Goodminds.com – a First Nations family-owned business, specializing in First Nations, Metis, Inuit and Native American educational resources and products
• Professionalism Is a Relic of White Supremacist Work Culture
• The legacy of trauma (emerging research is exploring how historical and cultural traumas affect survivors’ children for generations to come)
• Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian – a resource for understanding and refuting common stereotypes
• Rethink your next big hire: Black people face very real bias and unfair standards
• Indigenous people can now reclaim traditional names on their passports and other ID (CBC, June 14, 2021)
• Black employees slam Ontario Public Service for rampant, systemic racism
• Indigenous Writes – A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada
• What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?
• A Tale of Two Actuaries: The Origin Story (an excellent and simple case study that shows two very different career paths for white vs. BIPOC professionals)
• Slavery’s Ghosts – Canada remains haunted by a past it hardly acknowledges (Esi Edugyan, The Walrus, Sept 1, 2021)
• How Ottawa psychologists are trying to treat the trauma of racism
• Racial Gaslighting Is Real, and for BIPOC Women, It’s Thoroughly Toxic
• The Micropedia – this is an encyclopedic website that features everyday microaggressions that those from various marginalized groups face
• Signs you could be suffering from racial trauma, and tools for healing, according to therapists (Taylor & Francis, April 2023)
• White supremacy culture – an 8-page PDF written by Tema Okun, dRWorks

 

From the I/O Advisory Services Inc. Career Development, Leadership and HR Blog:

• Coded Language and Dog Whistle Expressions
• Values and Organizational Climate
• Racism … Is it at Your Place of Work?
• The Glass Cliff (more dangerous and painful than the glass ceiling)
• “Covering” at Work (inclusion and corporate culture)
• The Superwoman Syndrome, Even Harder Than It Looks …
• Feel Like an Impostor? Maybe You’re Just an Outlier …
• Hiring for Best Fit, Without Bias
• Is Workplace Authenticity Practical or a Myth?
  

  If you’re curious about this bestselling book, please visit https://theresilientcareer.com/

• The value BIPOC leaders bring to corporate risk management
• Systemic Racism and the Public Service: Moving the Dial Forward
• What is Allyship (Part 1)? and Part 2
• Why Your Organization Needs a BIPOC Mentorship Program
• Inadequate Inclusion – A Barrier to Returning to Work

There are additional blogs related to anti-racism, inclusion, and their impact on leadership and careers on the I/O Advisory Services Inc. blog. You can read or listen to these articles, and the search feature makes it easy to browse about 300 articles.

In addition to blogs, I have developed and delivered several online workshops, talks, and a playlist of AudioBlog articles that you can listen to (see bottom right corner of blog homepage)