Yes, this is a motorcycle blog. But the urgent need to fundamentality change how Blacks are treated in this country – both by individuals and ALL our systems – is too important for anyone with any platform, however small, to ignore.
Below I’ve gathered some of the resources I’ve been using in my journey to learn and grow and be a better human. I simply hope they help you, too.
Let’s start with moto content! Shoutout to Easyriders magazine, which has been doing a hella awesome job on its Instagram of surfacing some very cool and little-known (at least to me) stories of influential Black American bikers.
My favorite so far: In 1967, Peter Fonda met Cliff Vaughs, a civil rights activist, filmmaker, and motorcycle builder from Boston. Fonda hired him as an associate producer on “Easy Rider,” and Vaughs in turn recruited Ben Hardy to collaborate on the build of the famous Captain America bike! I had no idea two Black men were behind one of the most iconic choppers of all time!
Here are some resources, which I hope you find helpful. Suggestions and feedback welcome!
LEARN
- Anti-racism resources for white people
- PBS: “Ten Little Known Black History Facts“
- NY Times – The 1619 Project
- About Juneteenth & related resources
- List of resources from the Obama Foundation
- Anti-Racism for Beginners resource list
- The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Twitter follows: Michael Harriot,
- Proctor & Gamble’s “Talk About Bias” project
- Books:
- Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin (really, anything by Baldwin)
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- more from Amazon
- Movies/series/videos to watch:
- I Am Not Your Negro (Netflix, based on the writings of James Baldwin)
- When They See Us (Netflix) [and a learning companion]
- 8:46 – Dave Chappelle
- 13th (Netflix)
- Jane Elliott Study Group
ACT & DONATE
- Innocence Project
- Find a protest or event near you
- Fair Fight voting rights organization
- 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- Black Lives Matter links
- Justice for Breonna petition
- Color of Change
- Petition: Make Juneteenth a National Holiday in 2020
- Racial justice petitions on Change.org
- Defund12: Email government officials to reallocate egregious police budgets
- ACLU
- Southern Poverty Law Center
SHOP BLACK-OWNED
- bon appetit, “Black-Owned Restaurant Lists…Organized by City“
- Etsy Black-owned shops
- The Root: “10 Black-Owned Cannabis Companies“
MOTO-RELATED
- Vice article about Bessie Stringfield, “The Black Woman Who Biked Across the US Alone During the 1930s Jim Crow Era”
- And a children’s book about Bessie! “Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride“
- Black Girls Ride