Resources that Support the ISC Mission
Book Lists
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Books I Wish My White Teachers Had Read - for black teens/tweens attending private school
Explaining Racism to Young Children
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Talking to Children After Racial Incidents - Howard Stevenson, a clinical psychologist at Penn GSE, studies racial literacy and racial trauma. Stevenson discusses ideas he has for adults who are searching for a way to discuss racial incidents with their children.
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TED Talks and Lectures
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The Danger of a Single Story - Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
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The Untapped Genius that Could Change Science for the Better - Jedidah Isler dreamt of becoming an astrophysicist since she was a young girl, but the odds were against her: At that time, only 18 black women in the United States had ever earned a PhD in a physics-related discipline. In this personal talk, she shares the story of how she became the first black woman to earn a PhD in astrophysics from Yale -- and her deep belief in the value of diversity to science and other STEM fields. "Do not think for one minute that because you are who you are, you cannot be who you imagine yourself to be," she says. "Hold fast to those dreams and let them carry you into a world you can't even imagine."
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Ode to the Only Black Kid in Class - This animation is part of the TED-Ed series, "There's a Poem for That," which features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life's biggest feelings. [Poem by Clint Smith, directed by Niv Sekar, music by Stephen LaRosa].
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Why it's so Hard to Talk About the N-Word -Historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor leads a thoughtful and history-backed examination of one of the most divisive words in the English language: the N-word. Drawing from personal experience, she explains how reflecting on our points of encounter with the word can help promote productive discussions and, ultimately, create a framework that reshapes education around the complicated history of racism in the US.
For Allies
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Why hugging out racism in education just won't cut it -Laura Mae Lindo, TEDxKitchenerED We spend an awful lot of time responding to racism with lines like "racism isn't welcome here" but less time asking ourselves what resources are needed to challenge racism in our schools and elsewhere. With growing examples of a resurgence of overt racism in schools, Laura Mae Lindo highlights the actions that we really need to take to challenge racism. With black students continually hearing use of the N-word and Muslim students being labelled as terrorists, it’s time to talk about the actions that racialized students and educators need to see so that they know that systemic racism is being tackled in our educational systems and beyond. Laura Mae Lindo, Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Centre, is a respected activist and educator who holds both a Masters and PhD in Education.
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Racial Microaggressions in everyday life - Forms of Racial Microaggressions
Documentaries
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Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker - This Netflix documentary spotlights Debbie Allen's career and follows her group of dance students as they prepare for Allen's annual "Hot Chocolate Nutcracker."
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13th - In this thought-provoking Netflix documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom.