This is a first step in normalizing conversations about race and racism and it begins with the exploration of white supremacist ideology and why it continues to persist in modern society.
It’s going to be an uncomfortable—maybe even painful—but hopefully liberating journey to greater empathy.
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and many others were killed by individuals complicit in perpetuating oppression and racism. We say their names because as an organization, the Worthen Library acknowledges and believes the lived racist experiences of black and brown people are valid.
The resources listed below include a wide variety of topics where racism, oppression, discrimination and bigotry show up in society. This list is just a start, there are an incredible number of resources available.
-Borrowed from our friends at the Denver Public Library











Adult Non-Fiction Books at Worthen Library
- Black is the Body
- The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Source of Self-Regard
- Please Stop Helping Us
- The Sun Does Shine
- An African American and LatinX History of the United States
- When They Call You a Terrorist
- How to be Antiracist
- Democracy in Black
- The Souls of Black Folk
- Tears We Cannot Stop
- The Fire This Time
- A Black Women’s History of the United States
- Between the World and Me
- Citizen : an American Lyric
- So You Want to Talk About Race
- This is the Fire
YA Books at Worthen Library
Children’s BIPOC Books at Worthen Library
- Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson’s super-soaking stream of inventions
- The Youngest Marcher
- Mighty Meg Series
- Saturday
- The Day You Begin
- Mae Among the Stars
- Islandborn
- Last Stop on Market Street
- Shirley Chisholm is a Verb!
Podcasts
- Floodlines from The Atlantic
- 1619 from The New York Times
- Intersectionality Matters! from The African American Policy Forum
- Throughline from NPR
- Pod Save the People from Crooked Media
Articles
- “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
- ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
- The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
- Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
- “Where do I donate? Why is the uprising violent? Should I go protest?” by Courtney Martin (June 1, 2020)
- ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
- “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)