This section of Call & Response started as Read in Place, a weekly (or bi weekly) reading list to inform and inspire through the months of shelter in place as the Coronavirus shook our world. While the virus has not gone away yet (socially distance and wear your masks, folks!) it has also exposed something that has long been with us: the inequality and systemic violence and discrimination rampant in the U.S. and beyond. And with the massive protests resulting from the murder by of George Floyd, and the state repression that followed nationwide, it is clear we are entering a key moment as an anti-racist uprising and a deadly pandemic coincide. So Read in Place will henceforth be known as Read to Resist. That is because we believe cultural resistance to the profound violence around us (economic, military, racial, sexual etc) is imperative. Context, analysis and critical thinking are key elements to resisting injustice, as is art that inspires, delights and pushes us towards empathy and the creation of new, more humane and sustainable models for our communities and environment. So whether you’re sheltering in place or marching in the streets; creating art or teaching; parenting or healing, we urge you to read up and spread knowledge and solidarity to those around you.
-C&R
Weeks 14 & 15:
Intercepted Podcast: The Rebellion Against Racial Capitalism A look into 45’s incompetent and dangerous presidency as it pertains to the US economy
What Did Cedric Robinson Mean by Racial Capitalism? Examining the meaning of the term Racial Capitalism and the scholar who popularized it.
Abolition Isn’t Only About Police What Abolition looks like beyond defunding the police state
Zapatistas: Lessons in community self-organisation in Mexico As the first attempt to abolish police are under way in the US, the Zapatistas in Mexico have been experimenting with self-organisation for years.
Seeing Future Plagues A story about the indigenous Communities who predicted the pandemic
Poet Eve Ewing Connects 1919 Chicago To Today’s Racial Unrest Eve Ewing, a poet, draws connections between the 1919 Chicago uprisings to the present
Collection: Black Liberation List for Young Readers A reading list for Young Readers centered on Black Liberation
When France extorted Haiti – the greatest heist in history What France did to the Haitian people after the Haitian Revolution is a particularly notorious examples of colonial theft and a prime case for reparations.
The Second Amendment was ratified to preserve slavery A look at the real reasons behind the Second Amendment and its connection to the enduring legacy of white supremacy.
Intercepted Podcast: Confederacy Inc. A wide-ranging interview with the great Robin D.G. Kelley
Examining the Wreckage The United States is on fire—the historic movements for Black lives have raised class consciousness to levels that we simply have not experienced in previous generations.
‘Our ideology is our pain’: Notes of an Israeli Black Panther A look at civil rights struggles of Israel’s second-class Mizrahi citizens
On the Defensive: Navigating White Advantage and White Fragility A 2015 review by the eminent historian David Roediger of the book White Fragility
‘If you take the land, you must give people citizenship’ A Palestinian response to Israel’s annexation plans..
Policing the World Since World War II, the United States has spread its style of policing—and police technology—around the world as a way to exert control.
Eugene V. Debs and the Endurance of Socialism Debs ran for President five times, captivating crowds by the tens of thousands and leaving behind a legacy of speaking truth to power.
Black AfterLives Matter A moving reflection on cultivating ‘Kinfulness’ as Reproductive Justice
Leo Tolstoy vs. the Police Why the great Russian novelist’s critique of state-sponsored violence bears thinking about now.
Correcting ‘Hamilton’ – Harvard Gazette A critique of the problematic racial politics and historical oversights of the hit musical Hamilton.
On John Coltrane’s “Alabama” The John Coltrane Quartet’s “Alabama” is a strange song, incongruous with the rest of the album on which it appears
Opinion | Trump Exploits the Pandemic to Deport Immigrant Children A searing critique of Trump’s inhumane immigration policies during the pandemic.
The Importance of Black Cinema and Supporting BIPOC Films – Arts + Culture
It’s no secret that the film industry is notoriously, overwhelmingly white.
Review + Interview: The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo “A little bit Studs Terkel, a little bit Zora Neale Hurston, and a whole lotta Nirvana, Karla Cornejo belongs to the chorus of voices that compose The Undocumented Americans.”
You Should Have Been Listening to Octavia Butler This Whole Time The great Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” isn’t just a prescient dystopia—it’s a monument to the wisdom of Black women and girls.
Hold Prosecutors Accountable, Too In order to achieve lasting change, we must focus on systemic problems across the criminal justice system. That includes holding prosecutors accountable.
Billions of children are being punished by the pandemic Historian Vijay Prashad turns to the hardships endured by children around the world during the Covid crisis.
Resistance Against Erasure: Talking With Marianne Chan Marianne Chan discusses her debut poetry collection, All The Heathens
American Fascism: It Has Happened Here | by Sarah Churchwell “When Americans think of dictators, they always think of some foreign model”
Why Are Some Journalists Afraid of “Moral Clarity”? A call for moral clarity in the face of totalitarianism and state violence, especially at home.
Bowman Taught Eliot Engel a Foreign Policy Lesson Jamal Bowman’s history over Democratic establishment man Eliot Engel was not just about NY, but about Palestine and beyond, and the sea change already afoot.
From the NYT Magazine: ‘It Is Time for Reparations’ A call for reparations in the face of generational economic injustice.
An Essential Watchlist of Groundbreaking Black
Decolonizing the vaccine A look at how Africans can lead the charge to decolonize the biomedical industry, especially as we wait for a vaccine.
Protests target Spanish colonial statues that ‘celebrate genocide’ in US west A report on the historical reckoning with the colonial pasts of the Americas.
Palestinians are fighting to dismantle apartheid, not just annexation Why Israel’s illegal annexation is just the continuation of decades of U.S. backed theft of Palestinian land and sovreignty.
Joe Biden Has Built a Career on Betraying Black Voters A searing examination of Joe Biden’s highly problematic legacy when it comes to race.
There will be a One-State Solution Yusef Munayyer examines the inevitability of a one state solution in apartheid Israel.
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