The following is a list of resources on allyship and anti-racism. It's a section of On being white in today's America, which is, in turn, Part 3 of On microaggressions and racial issues, particularly in the lifestyle: A resource for white people.

Take direct action

• Filming hate, a page of the Witness website. ("The majority of the world’s population now has a camera in their pocket. People everywhere are turning to video to document and tell stories of abuse. But all too often, they are not filming safely or effectively, and their videos don’t make a difference. WITNESS helps people use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. We identify critical situations and teach those affected by them the basics of video production, safe and ethical filming techniques, and advocacy strategies.")

How to be a better ally

• White Friends, You Can't Be Woke and Silent, by John Pavlovitz, The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz, May 26, 2025. ("Despite the desperate state of this nation and how dire the moment is, I still see a disturbing widespread white procrastination right now: too many people seemingly waiting for a future moment they will step fully into the fray, take ownership of their convictions, and sustain the collateral damage of pushing back against the wall-builders and the book-banners.")
  RELATED: In one of the comments, you'll find a recommendation for "The Myths of Coalition," which is chapter three of Black Power: The politics of Liberation in America, by Kawame Ture and Charles V. Hamilton, Vintage Books, NY, 1967, reprinted in 1992. i will also be adding this book to Part 7 - Reading and resource lists, under "Highly-recommended books."

• White People: Cutting Off People Who Aren't 'Woke' Enough For You Only Creates More Work For BIPOC, by Nia Tipton, Your Tango, Feb. 02, 2021. ("{A}voiding ... difficult conversations by 'cutting someone off' is only further perpetuating white privilege. Because you’re not directly affected by the grasp of racism, not speaking up when something racist is said is a prime example of your white privilege.")

• Unite Against Book Bans Toolkit, from the Unite Against Book Bans website. (This website doesn't focus on the banning of books that feature Black characters or were written by Black authors. However, “authors of color wrote 39% of banned [children’s] books, though they represent only 10% of U.S. authors.“ That's enough to make Unite Against Book Bans an important part of any ally's arsenal.)

• How to find and support Black-owned businesses — and why it's important, by Dylan Haas, Mashable, Jun. 18, 2020. (Includes websites, apps, and databases that you can use to find Black-owned businesses.)

• Holy shit, being an ally isn’t about me!, Medium, Jun. 10, 2017. ("How I learned being a white liberal doesn’t make me a good ally." "This [article] is the collective product of women of color and allies. This piece specifically comes from the voices of a group of allies.")

• 31 Resources That Will Help You Become a Better White Ally, by Anna Borges, Self, Jun. 5, 2020. (This list includes resources for allyship, self-education, suggestions for how to take action, and other roundup articles about allyship.)

• 18 Helpful Links for White People to Drop in Our Group Chats, by Carolyn L. Todd, Self, Jun. 4, 2020. (Links to information you can share with family and friends.)

• 13 Approaches I’m Using to Talk to My White Family About Anti-Blackness and White Supremacy, by Aubrey Gordon, Self, Jun. 24, 2020. (The author presents a step-by-step plan for discussing race and white supremacy with your loved ones. "[T]he existence of racism isn’t up for debate, and we shouldn’t treat it like it is. The key questions here aren’t about facts and figures, though those can help. The key questions here are about who gets to live and die and whose deaths we will simply permit. Stating your values is enough.")

• What would you do? (An answer), by Kat. (Includes practical steps you can take if you witness a racist incident in progress.)

• How to Easily be a White Ally to Marginalized Communities, by Christopher Keelty, medium.com, Nov. 12, 2016. (Symbolic gestures — like the safety pin movement of 2016 — are not enough. INstead, Keelty offers a list of meaningful, doable anti-racist actions.)

• Can a White Person Understand the Black Experience?, by Monnica T. Williams Ph.D., Psychology Today, Aug. 8, 2014. (In part, the author explains why it's so difficult for Black people to "teach" white people about the impact of racism on their lives. In other words, if you want to be an ally, don't do this....)

• 6 Ways A Black Person Can Tell A White Person Isn’t Racist, by Rebecca Stevens A., Medium.com, Jan. 23, 2022. ("It’s not that complicated.")

• Real Talk white women were asked if they have real friendships with WOC, Medium.com, Jun. 1, 2019. (The most useful part of this article is a set of bullet points under "The Impact of Race on Friendships." In that section, you'll find such real-life tips as 'When our friend tells is that they have no interest in going out to a St. Patrick’s Day parade, we don’t pressure them. We know exactly why a street filled with drunk white people is something best avoided.'")

• From Slacktivism to Activism! How Allies Can Step Up to the Moment., a 59-minute video uploaded Jun. 3, 2020 to The Dialogue Company, LLC channel on YouTube. (Suggestions for how to talk about race with people who don't think race is a problem.)

• Ally Conversation Toolkit Explanatory Video, uploaded Apr. 3, 2018 to The Dialogue Company, LLC channel on YouTube. (This short video is a "description of the Ally Conversation Toolkit, a project focused on helping white anti-racism allies have more effective conversations with people in their circle of influence who doubt that racism is real." The Toolkit is a Dialogue Company seminar. I haven't been able to find more details about it, but the promotion itself contains useful information.)

• When white women practice the politics of polite, the violence of nice, WOC & Allies, Aug. 11, 2019. (Includes a challenging list of ways white women can support Black Americans — and how we can take action when necessary.)

  This article includes information about the ACLU Mobile Justice app. Unfortunately, the ACLU has discontinued the app (as of Feb. 28, 2025), for reasons out lined here. Instead, see Filming Hate, a page of the Witness website.

• White allies, no more excuses for the systemic racism killing of Black people, Medium.com's Real Talk: WOC & Allies, Jun. 11, 2020. ("...white people must stop putting white feelings, white fears, and white perspective in the center of conversations about race.")

• Anti-Racism Allies: Here Are 5 Specific Ways To Learn About Race And Racism and Anti-Racism Allies: Here Are 5 More Ways To Increase Your Racial Literacy by Dana Brownlee, Forbes, Oct. 5-6, 2021. (Together, these articles offer 10 strong recommendations for reading and viewing that will help you increase your understanding of racism as a lived experience.)

• Be a Better Ally by Tsedale M. Melaku, Angie Beeman, David G. Smith, and W. Brad Johnson, Harvard Business Review, from the Magazine (November–December 2020. This is an important, nuts-and-bolts discussion of ways that management professionals can be an ally in the workplace.

• "I Can Fix it!"by damali ayo, damaliayo.com, ca. 2005. ("Volume 1" of this downloadable PDF is "White People", a five-step plan of practical steps for changing our own approaches to race and racism, plus a reading list. "Part 2" is a parallel plan of action for people of color. While less extensive than "Volume 1", "Part 2" provides white readers with a worthwhile view from the other side.)

• "How to Be an Ally to the Black Lives Matter Movement, Now and Moving Forward: What does allyship really mean? Here's how you can lend support in the fight against racial injustice," by Hannah Jeon, Good Housekeeping, Jun. 23, 2020. (This article includes an extensive list of practical steps white Americans can take to help bring about change.)

  "One of the most important steps to being an ally — and to better understand the realities of marginalized groups — is to listen to what BIPOC are saying.... Beyond just listening, find ways to amplify the voices you're hearing, so that their words can reach more ears. This means using your privilege and platform to extend and uplift marginalized voices — which may have been silenced or muffled on their own — into communities and areas that they may not have reached otherwise." [emphasis mine]

• How White Americans Lose When They Don’t Stand Up for Racial Justice (and 4 Ways They Can Counter Racism Instead), by Jon Greenberg, Everyday Feminism, Jan. 18, 2015.

• Was your town a sundown town?, by James Loewen, UU World, Feb. 18, 2008. "How to find out if your community intentionally excluded African Americans."

• Sundown Towns in the United States, "Welcome to the world's only registry of sundown towns," a site created by Matt Cheney; copyrighted by James W. Loewen and heirs (Nick Loewen); hosted by Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS; and maintained by Phil Huckelberry and Stephen Berrey.

• How To Confirm Sundown Towns. For bibliographical details, see "Sundown Towns in the United States" (above).

• Being a white ally of African Americans means more than just protesting, by Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, Jun. 6, 2020.

• 103 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice, by Corinne Shutack, Medium, Aug. 13, 2017.

Tips for talking about racism

• How to tell someone you love they’re being racist, by Kim Gillan, a blog from the Amnesty International Australia website.

• 10 steps to take when talking politics with someone you disagree with this holiday season, by Elizabeth Beier, The Lily, Dec. 23, 2018.

• The LARA Method for Managing Tense Talks, a page from the Stanford University website. ("LARA stands for Listen, Affirm, Respond, and Ask Questions. LARA is especially useful when people are feeling that their hot buttons have been triggered.")

• The Are You Ready to Talk? Toolkit, a page from the Stanford University website. (This is a carefully-designed information source, including worksheets. Its goal is to help people understand their own reactions during difficult discussions, and to make the psychological and behavioral changes necessary to facilitate producive discussions.)

• Writing about Slavery/Teaching About Slavery: This Might Help, a community-sourced document by P. Gabrielle Foreman, et al., NAACP Culpeper #7058 website. (Semantics matter. This article suggests language that we should consider adopting — as well as terms to avoid — in order to more accurately describe slavery and the condition of enslaved people.)

Recommendations for combating racism in institutions

These documents are a good source of ideas and inspiration.

• Anti-Black Racism in Education: Compendium of Recommendations, a "compendium of recommendations through a thorough canvassing of reports addressing anti-racism and anti-Black racism in education," produced by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. (This detailed examination of racism in Ontario's public education system includes 190 recommendations.)
  RELATED: Also from the OHRC, Dreams Delayed: Addressing Systemic Anti-Black Racism and Discrimination in Ontario’s Public Education System. Especially, see "Chapter 6: Actions for Implementation." (For an overview, see ‘Dreams delayed’ no longer: Report identifies key changes needed around Black students’ education, by Tanitiã Munroe, The Conversation, Apr. 23, 2025.)

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