It’s hard to get started on the road to understanding privileges and marginalizations. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in understanding those that we don’t focus on what we can do to use our privileges for good in helping others – or, at least, not harming them. This page, which will grow over time, will help give some resources on how you can support and help those around you. However, please use these only as guides and ask what would be the most helpful for people in any given situation and moment.
While I work hard at learning – and unlearning – including sharing resources, I know that I may have covered spots and other pitfalls due to my experiences, privileges, and more. If you have information that I don’t, such as why an author listed here shouldn’t be, please email me.
We have a page about abuse and domestic violence. To cut down on possible triggers on this page, a lot of information on these topics will not be listed here. Click here to head over to our resource page on these topics (note: this is not an obvious URL if you are concerned about your internet history being monitored).
Please note: The majority of books links shared are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through links in this post at no additional cost to you.
The Basics
Oppression
- Anti-Oppression – LibGuides at Simmons University
- Social Identities And Systems Of Oppression
- Why Pressuring Someone to ‘Educate’ You About Their Struggles Is Oppression, Not Understanding
- “You’re Not Like….:” 5 Kind of “Compliments” That Perpetuate Oppression
Privilege
- Privilege 101: A Quick and Dirty Guide
- 6 Questions to Ask If You Have More Privilege Than Your Partner
- 9 Ways to Combat Privilege & Build a More Inclusive, Sustainable Social Justice Movement
- How to Navigate Your Own Privilege
- What Is the Responsibility of People With Privilege in the Face of Fascism?
Prejudice
Implicit Bias
- Implicit Bias
- Implicit Bias- Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Racism
- How to Think about ‘Implicit Bias’
- How Does Implicit Bias Influence Behavior?
- Resources on Implicit Biases by Racial Equity Tools
- An Implicit Bias Primer by Gregory Mitchell
- 8 Strategies to Mitigate Implicit Bias
- YouTube playlist on bias, privilege, and more
Allyship
Allyship 101
- Ally Etiquette 101: Never Feel Entitled to Anything
- Ally Etiquette 102: Using Privilege as an Ally
- Beware of Burnout: Sustainable strategies for activism
- On Moving the Ego Out of Allyship: Doing the Work Even When No One Commends You
- Calling Out and Calling In
- 10 Things All ‘Allies’ Need to Know
- Guide to Allyship
- How to Be an Ally if You Are a Person with Privilege
- Ally & Accomplice: Two Sides of the Same Coin (pdf)
- Moving from Actor → Ally → Accomplice (pdf)
Additional Resources
- 3 Pieces of Advice for Folks Considering Themselves Allies in Social Justice Movements
- 9 Reasons Why Acting in Solidarity for Racial Justice Is Preferable to “Allyship”
- 9 Strategies for Everyday Radical Activism When You’re Feeling Helpless
- Simple But Not Easy: 25 Steps to Justice
- 106 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- Anti-Oppressive Facilitation
- Facilitation Tools for Meetings and Workshops
- Social Justice Toolbox
- Dismantling Racism Works Web Workbook
Definitions, Vital Information, and Tips
Definitions
- White Supremacy
- What is White Supremacy? (pdf)
- Anti-Defamation League’s Definition of White Supremacy
- What Is White Supremacy?
- White Supremacy Culture
- The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture
- The Subtle Linguistics of Polite White Supremacy and other Oppressive Language
- White Supremacy’s Impact on Mental Health of BIPOC Folks
- Effects of White Supremacy and Xenophobia on Asian Communities
- Challenging White and Male Supremacy Curriculum
- Dismantling White Supremacy in Your Everyday Life
- What Is White Fragility?
- What Is White Guilt?
- Microaggressions
- Other Key Terms
- Anti-Racism
Anti-Racism
- Detour-Spotting for White Anti-Racists
- SURJ Guide to Talking White Supremacy
- Talking Points — Effective Strategies for Confronting Racism in Conversation
- White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement
- Tools for White Anti-Racist Organizing
- What is the Role for White People Working for Racial Justice in This Current Period?
- Racism, Whiteness, and Burnout in Antiracism Movements: How White Racial Justice Activists Elevate Burnout in Racial Justice Activists of Color in the United States
- Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice
- From White Racist to White Anti-Racist: The Life-long Journey
- The Work Is Not The Workshop: Talking and Doing, Visibility and Accountability in the White Anti-Racist Community
Vital Information
Tips
- How to Talk About Race Effectively
- 7 Strategies to Help You on Your Anti-Racism Journey
- How to Cope With Black Racial Injustice
- The Costs of Racism to White People (pdf)
- White People, It’s Time To Prioritize Justice Over Civility
Accountability
When Help Isn’t Helping
On When to Call In/Out
On Being Called Out
- 4 Things Not To Do When Your Friend Calls You Out
- 9 Phrases Allies Can Say When Called Out Instead of Getting Defensive
- We All Mess Up: 6 Compassionate Ways to Hold Each Other Accountable in Our Communities
- Getting Called Out: How to Apologize
Owning Your Shit
- 9 Ways to Be Accountable When You’ve Been Abusive
- Recognizing When We Get It Wrong and Forgiving Ourselves Afterward
- We’re All Problematic…. But Here’s How to Work Through the Issues We Perpetuate
- Acknowledging Your Own Racism
Intersectionality
Definition
- What Does Intersectionality Mean?
- What is intersectionality, and what does it have to do with me?
- Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality into Practice
Notes
- Finding Autonomy: I Don’t Owe You Answers to Uncomfortable Questions
- ‘We’re All Just Different!’ How White People Are Co-opting Intersectionality
- Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional (And 3 Ways to Practice It)
- Working to End All Violence: How I Stopped Minimizing My Part in Structural Violence
At The Intersections
- 5 Ways Ableism Looks in Queer Spaces
- 7 Ways Not to be an Ally on Halloween
- Black Disabled Lives Matter: We Can’t Erase Disability in #BLM
- Black, Disabled and at Risk: The Overlooked Problem of Police Violence Against Americans with Disabilities
- Black Trans* Lives Matter by D-L Stewart
- Creating More Compassion Around HIV Testing: 5 Ways to Knowing Your Status Without Stigmatizing Others
- Disability Justice Must Include All Marginalized Identities
- Gene Editing Cannot Be Separated From The Violent History Of Eugenics And Medical Racism
- I Was Taught to Be Proud of My Tight Asian “Kiki” – Here’s Why I Wish I Hadn’t Been
- Indigenous Lives and Disability Justice
- Mental Illness is not a “White Person Problem”: 4 Reasons Mental Illness is Ignored in the Latinx Community, and Why That Needs to End
- “Prisons Without Bars” – Forced Institutionalization of People with Disabilities
- Rejecting Fetishization and Lack: Claiming the Fullness of My Black Demisexuality
- Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray: the toll of police violence on disabled Americans
- “Stop Looking at Your Phone”?: 5 Ways Internet Technology Helps My Queer, Neurodivergent Family
- The Body Positivity Movement Both Takes From and Erases Fat Black Women
- The Capitalistic Work Ethic Fallacy Creates Space For Anti-fatness And Biphobia
- The Coronavirus Is Putting The Failings Of Ableism And Individualism On Full Display
- The Gender Binary Is a Tool of White Supremacy
- The Queer, Disabled, and Women of Color Suffragettes History Forgot
- To Say That Disability Will Disappear When Capitalism Does Is Eugenics, Not Liberation Theory
- Undoing the Silence: 5 Myths that Uphold Mental Health Stigmas in Latinx Communities
- Why We All Need to Fight for the Rights of Transgender Disabled People
Additional Pages
- Ableism
- Anti-LGBTQ+ Attitudes
- Gender Roles, Stereotypes, and Ageism
- Poverty, Classism, and Capitalism
- Racism
- Religion & Culture
- Sizism
- The Injustice System
On Justice