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Racial Justice Resource Library

This library of resources, created in collaboration with many areas across The Met, was recently shared with Museum staff. The list is intended to support our staff's individual and personal efforts to address systemic racism and injustice, which will help advance our institution's work to dismantle inequalities through our diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility plans. We share these resources here, so that we can continue to learn from and listen to all of our communities. The Museum understands that action is integral to creating real change. We are committed to listening to our staff and community, and to amplifying the work of Black artists, organizations, and communities, to ensure real progress and accountability. This library is, of course, not exhaustive, so if there are resources that you recommend be included, please e-mail audience.development@metmuseum.org

Resources compiled from activists, museums, libraries and social media to learn about the history of racism, how to be actively anti-racist and promote dialogue as a tool for change.

Educate yourself and others:

Resources for museums, research, cultural institutions, and their employees:

Resources for parents, caregivers, and educators:

 

Organizations and resources that provide mental health and wellness support.

A selected list of books, articles, film and video, and podcasts for you to learn about systemic racism and injustice and to inform and inspire you.

Books for adults:

  • Anti-Racist Reading List from Ibram X. Kendi
  • Black Liberation Reading List (Schomburg Shop)
  • Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  • Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittany Cooper
  • The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale (Free E-book)
  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  • The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, essays gathered by Jesmyn Ward
  • Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman
  • Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy by Andrea Smith
  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  • How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi • How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong
  • If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
  • I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
  • My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
  • Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth by Dana Ain-Davis
  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
  • Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
  • This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Asha Bandele, Angela Y. Davis (Foreword)
  • White Fragility by Robin Dianglo
  • Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis

Books for kids:

  • A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
  • An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing and illustrated by Paulina Morgan
  • The ABCs of Diversity: Helping Kids (and Ourselves!) Embrace Our Differences by Carolyn B. Helsel, Y. Joy Harris-Smith
  • Antiracist Baby by Ibram X Kendi and illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
  • Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
  • The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael López
  • Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jamey Christoph
  • Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills by Renée Watson, illustrated by Christian Robinson
  • I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes
  • The Legendary Miss Lena Horne by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
  • Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
  • March trilogy by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated and lettered by Nate Powell
  • The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
  • My Hair is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera
  • One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis by Jabari Asim, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
  • Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier
  • Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
  • Say Her Name by Zetta Elliot
  • Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez
  • Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
  • Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
  • Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard; Illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
  • Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
  • The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson
  • Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner and Richard Rudnicki
  • Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes
  • We March by Shane Evans

Articles:

Films and video:

Podcasts:

Amplify Black voices by choosing to support Black-led institutions and artists.

Support these organizations as they continue their work to combat racism and support the Black community.

Here are concrete ways that you can make a difference and take action to support racial justice and address racial inequities.

The Met is providing these third-party links as a convenient resource and for informational purposes only. The Met's inclusion of these websites does not constitute an endorsement or an approval by The Met of any of the services or opinions of the third-party content provider. The Met is not responsible for the accuracy or content of these external sites or for that of subsequent links. Please note that by clicking on any of the website links we have included, you will leave The Met's website and enter a website not operated by The Met. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of every third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our website.