Books
Book Title | Author(s) | Blurb | Bookshop link | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Frank B. Wilderson III | Wilderson argues that anti-Black violence is not a social problem to be solved but the structural foundation upon which all other human relations are built. Blending memoir with theory drawn from Fanon and Saidiya Hartman, this National Book Award longlisted work refuses consolation. | Black Philosophy / Critical Theory | ||
Ibram X. Kendi | Kendi combines memoir with rigorous scholarship to argue that neutrality on racism is impossible — you are either actively antiracist or complicit. Working through categories from biology to culture to class, he uses his own evolving journey to examine how racist ideas operate at every level of American society, and what equitable policy could actually look like. | Anti-racism / Political Theory | ||
Adam Hochschild | The definitive account of Belgium's colonial plunder of the Congo under King Leopold II — a regime that killed an estimated ten million people while Leopold cultivated a global reputation as a humanitarian. Hochschild also traces the first modern international human rights movement that rose to expose it. | African History / Colonialism | ||
Ijeoma Oluo | Oluo traces 150 years of American history to examine how white male mediocrity became enshrined as the default standard of excellence. From post-Reconstruction to the NFL anthem protests, she shows how maintaining that standard has damaged women, people of color — and white men themselves. | Anti-racism / American History | ||
Ijeoma Oluo | A practical guide to the conversations most Americans avoid. Oluo tackles specific questions — about privilege, police brutality, cultural appropriation, and microaggressions — with directness and actionable frameworks. Essential for anyone moving beyond awareness into real dialogue. | Anti-racism / Social Justice | ||
Ibram X. Kendi | The National Book Award–winning history of how racist ideas were invented — not inherited. Kendi traces five centuries of anti-Black thought through five American intellectuals, from Cotton Mather to Angela Davis, revealing that racist ideas were designed to justify racist policy — not the other way around. | Black History / Political Theory | ||
Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi | Reynolds reimagines Kendi's National Book Award–winning Stamped from the Beginning for teen readers without compromising on substance. A fast-paced remix covering centuries of racist ideology, the systems that built it, and the activists who fought back — genuinely essential at any age. | Black History / YA / Anti-racism | ||
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. | Race & JusticeHealthBlack History / American History | |||
Robin DiAngelo | DiAngelo examines the defensive patterns — anger, silence, denial — that white people deploy when race is raised, and argues these responses reinforce racial inequality rather than challenging it. A widely read and debated foundational text in antiracism education. | Anti-racism / Whiteness Studies |
Documentaries
Name | Blurb | Category | Home URL |
|---|---|---|---|
Marlon Riggs's Emmy-winning 1987 documentary exposes the racist caricatures — Mammy, Sambo, Coon, Pickaninny, Brute — that permeated American popular culture from the 1820s through the Civil Rights era, showing how these images were deliberately constructed to justify slavery and segregation. Narrated by Esther Rolle. Available on Criterion Channel. | Other | ||
The definitive 20-episode documentary on America's civil rights movement, produced by Henry Hampton's Blackside Inc. and narrated by Julian Bond. Told from the ground up through participants' own voices, it spans Montgomery to present-day racial justice. Series 3 premiered on HBO in February 2025. | Other | ||
Spike Lee's first feature documentary honors the four Black girls — Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley — murdered in the 1963 KKK bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church. Intimate family interviews and archival footage mourn individual lives while exposing the white supremacist culture that made the attack possible. | Other | ||
A two-part 2025 HBO documentary tracing Black representation on television from early stereotypes to today's golden age of Black storytelling. Executive produced by Issa Rae, it features Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes, Tyler Perry, and Ava DuVernay reflecting on the decades-long battle to own their own narratives. Stream on Max. | Other | ||
Emmy-winning 2023 six-part Hulu docuseries hosted by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. Expands her landmark New York Times project by examining how slavery's legacy shapes contemporary democracy, capitalism, policing, and culture. Executive produced with Oprah Winfrey. | Other | ||
A four-part 2021 CNN/HBO docuseries about Beulah Mae Donald, the Alabama mother who successfully sued the Ku Klux Klan into bankruptcy after they lynched her teenage son Michael in 1981. Co-executive produced by Harvard's Cornell William Brooks. One of the great unsung stories of civil rights resistance. | Other |
Podcasts
Name | Blurb | Category | Home URL |
|---|---|---|---|
Robert Evans delivers deep-dive biographies of history's worst people — dictators, grifters, cult leaders — with a rotating guest reacting in real time to his research. Also on Apple Podcasts and now streaming on Netflix. NOTE: The December 2025 three-part Christmas special 'The Heroes Who Ended the Slave Trade' (Parts 1–3) is a reverse episode within this feed honoring the abolition movement. | History / Politics / True Crime | ||
Fiercely and unapologetically progressive, and definitely NSFW. 'The Professional Left' features award-winning bloggers Driftglass and Blue Gal as they skewer right-wing absurdities and dismantle mainstream media mealy-mouths with razor-sharp wit and zero filter. From mercilessly mocking partisan hacks to elevating stories the media ignores, it's the profane, unflinching political commentary you didn't know you needed. | PoliticsHumor |
Socials
Name | Platform | Blurb | Category | Home URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
InstagramPatreon | Accurate, clear, inspiring talks on voting, culture, history | Race & JusticePoliticsCulture | ||
PatreonTikTok | Excellent teacher on Black American history and its effects | Race & JusticePoliticsCulture |
Streamers
Name | Platform | Blurb | Category | Home URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
TikTok, Youtube, Twitch | My online ‘godbrother’. (2.1M + on TikTok) Former professional cyclist, current professional joker-rounder. Snarkitect | PoliticsRace & JusticeHumor | ||
Twitch | American leftist debate creator and Twitch Partner who livestreams political debates on social justice, trans rights, economic policy, and resistance to fascism — with a mutual-aid ethos throughout. Also highly active on Instagram (336K followers: @jovan_bradley) and TikTok (4.7M likes: @jovan_bradley). | Politics / Debates / Leftist Commentary |
Substack
Name | Blurb | Category | Home URL |
|---|---|---|---|
Written by former historian and higher education professional Letitia D. Tajuba, this Substack covers American history, constitutional law, and current political events with an academic's precision and an activist's urgency. Recent posts tackle Obergefell v. Hodges, the McKinley tariff legacy, and the ongoing attack on universities. | History / Politics / Education |
YouTube
Name | Blurb | Category | Home URL |
|---|---|---|---|
Amazing, educational, provocative long form video essays on black movies and media | Race & JusticeCulturePolitics | ||
Ian Danskin's video essay channel is best known for 'The Alt-Right Playbook,' a now-complete series analyzing how the far right gains rhetorical legitimacy, manipulates debate, and radicalizes online communities. Meticulous and essential media literacy content. Part of the BreadTube ecosystem. | Politics / Media Literacy / Anti-fascism | ||
Canadian anarchist-left commentary and video essays including the standout 'Fascists Will Waste Your Time' — a clear breakdown of why engaging fascists in debate on their own terms is always a losing strategy. Mildred blends genuine political analysis with a chaotic, self-aware comedic sensibility. | Politics / Anti-fascism / Anarchism | ||
Want to go deeper? The Commons is my Patreon community — $5/month. Original art from Tokyo, deep live discussions, and the Joy Distribution System.
fueled by Harlem DNA, stamped by Tokyo, and kept aloft by science.