Black people have the right to be free
Educating is a vocation rooted in hopefulness. As teachers we believe that learning is possible, that nothing can keep an open mind from seeking after knowledge and finding a way to know.
– bell hooks
Dear Luna Community,
As a children’s dance education organization dedicated to equity, we believe Black children have the right to be free.
Engaging in anti-racist work is an ongoing learning process. The process of writing this message, as a group, at Luna, has revealed that as an organization, we have a lot of work to do. We are on a continuum of learning and are dedicated to continually challenging our assumptions and biases in an effort to dismantle white supremacy culture.
Anti-black racism is a local and global issue that operates on many levels – internalized, interpersonal, structural, and systemic.There are many layers of unlearning and healing that must happen in solidarity with one another in order for liberation to occur.
We recognize people have been doing this work for a long time. Below is a list of several resources Luna faculty have learned from and would like to share to support all of us along our journey, wherever we are. We welcome the process of learning as we dive into these resources with you.
Together in the movement,
Luna Dance Institute
Aiano Nakagawa, Cherie Hill, Heather Stockton, Jochelle Pereña, Nancy Ng, Patricia Reedy, Samia Karimi
Anti-Racism Resources for adults:
- 13th (documentary)
- Scaffolding anti-racism resources (resource doc)
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (book)
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad (book)
- The History of the Police (PDF)
- A Guide to Allyship (resource doc)
- Politically Reactive with W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu #53: What did we learn? With Alicia Garza and Wyatt Cenac (podcast episode)
- Reading List: Is This Moment Radicalizing You? (twitter thread)
- The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun (book excerpt)
Anti-Racism Resources for Parents and Educators:
- Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup (resource page)
- We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Dr. Bettina L. Love (book)
- bell hooks Teaching Trilogy: Teaching to Transgress, Teaching Critical Thinking, Teaching Community by bell hooks (books)
- What if All the Kids Are White: Anti-Bias Multicultural Education with Young Children and Families by Louise Derman Sparks and Patricia G. Ramsey (book)
- Killing Rage by bell hooks (book)
- Raising Free People: Fare of the Free Child with Akilah S. Richards (podcast)
- Teaching Tolerance: Race & Ethnicity (website)
- Embrace Race (website)
Anti-Racism Resources for Children:
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham (children’s book)
- Woke Kindergarten by akiea “ki” gross (online resource for adults and kids)
- 31 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance
Black-focused Resources:
- Family-Care, Community-Care and Self-Care Tool Kit: Healing in the Face of Cultural Trauma by the Community Healing Network and The Association of Black Psychologists, Inc.
- Community Healing Network (building the movement for emotional emancipation across the African Diaspora)
- The Wellness of We (daily recorded practices in joy, wellness, and love led by black people)
- 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country
- Ourselves Black (includes articles on black parenting)
Ways to Support: