June 10, 2020 saw the #ShutDownSTEM campaign, during which many scientific and academic researchers worldwide paused their usual activities to reflect on, learn about, and make plans to address racism and discrimination in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Check out what UBC Science wrote about the initiative here.
The #ShutDownSTEM website offers an excellent list of resources, tailored by “track” (for those who are new to discussions about race; for those who want to dig deeper; for Black people looking for healing & self-care resources; etc.).
Suggested titles include:
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo
- How to be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
- Me and White Supremacy, by Layla Saad
The UBC Postdoctoral Association has also compiled a list of anti-racism resources, available here.
UBC IGNITE Book Club
The IGNITE Book club, run by UBC’s Equity & Inclusion Office, “is designed with and for racialized faculty to allow for the exploration and discussion of memoirs written by renowned racialized authors.”
The next event will occur online on July 16, 2020; author Eternity Martis will discuss her book They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life and Growing Up. Sign up here.
Previous IGNITE Book Club selections have included:
- The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power, by Desmond Cole
- Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Reconciliation, by Annahid Dashtgard
- Original Prin, by Randy Boyagoda
- Shame on Me, by Tessa McWatt
Additional Canadian Resources
In this CTV piece, Terri Mack (Strong Nations bookstore) and Sean Liburd (Knowledge Bookstore) identify additional titles that address racism and colonialism in Canada, such as:
- Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada, by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Syrus Marcus Ware
- Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, by Robyn Maynard
- 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, by Bob Joseph
- Seven Fallen Feathers, by Tanya Talaga
A few more links (and one book) I’ve appreciated:
- Maclean’s: “Letters to America from Black Canadians“
- Decolonizing Practices: Recommended Reading
- A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, by Alicia Elliott
If you want to start a book club or discussion group within your program or lab, you can often find discussion prompts or reading guides for a particular book by searching online. For instance, here’s a reading guide for Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility.