At Healthline Parenthood, we’re committed to sharing resources that are helping us better educate ourselves around anti-racism, so we can be better for our children. Together, let’s start the conversation at home and be conscious of the powerful messages — from our words and our actions —we are teaching our children.
This journey comes with challenges, and perfectionism is not the goal. But there’s plenty of guidance to help you while you do your best to be the change this world needs.
This list of books, podcasts, movies, and more is meant to help you and your children, no matter their age, keep this dialogue going, so we can amplify the voices of black parents and children. We will continue to add to this list to make it an even more comprehensive resource.
For parents
- The Anti-Racism Project’s Book List
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
- The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olou
For kids
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
- The awards are given to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.
- EmbraceRace’s Children’s Book List for Anti-Racist Activism
- This list is curated to include reading material that can initiate conversations with children about race, racism, and what it means to resist oppression.
- The Conscious Kid’s 41 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance
- The Conscious Kid is “an educational nonprofit that equips parents and educators with tools they can use to support racial identity development, critical literacy, and equitable practices in their homes and classrooms.”
- Note: Users need a membership to access this list.
Best for babies and toddlers
- Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
- A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
- Woke Baby by Mahogany L. Browne
- “More More More,” Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams
- We’re Different, We’re the Same (Sesame Street) by Bobbi Kates
Best for younger children
- Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
- IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, and Carolyn Choi
- Black Brother Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell
- We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices: Words and Images of Hope by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson (editors)
- Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester
- A Kid’s Book About Racism by Jelani Memory
Best for young adults
- This is My America by Kim Johnson
- Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi & Yself Salaam
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You: A Remix by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones
- When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
- Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) : A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Influencers making a difference
- Ibram Kendi
- Jason Reynolds
- Ava DuVernay
- The Root
- Rachel Elizabeth Cargle
- Brittany Packnett Cunningham
- The Mom Trotter
- Layla F. Saad
- Tarana Burke
- Alishia McCullough
- Jessica Wilson, MS, RD
- Sabia, The Black Doula
Organizations implementing change
- We Are Family
- Life Kit: Parenting: Talking Race With Young Children
- Your Parenting Mojo: Wait, Is My Toddler Racist?
- Code Switch
- The United States of Anxiety
- Scene on Radio: “Seeing White” series
- Pod Save the People
- The Nod
- NPR: Talking Race With Young Children
- Fare of the Free Child
- 1619 from the New York Times
- Shades of Black: Parenting Podcast
- Mommifaceted
- NATAL
- That Black Couple
- Pretty Good Design
- Robin DiAngelo, PhD: Critical Racial and Social Justice Education
- 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
- The Effects of Racism in the Health of Black Mothers
- Police brutality is a public health crisis
- Racism is a public health issue and ‘police brutality must stop,’ medical groups say
- Toys Like Me
For parents
- Just Mercy
- Hidden Figures
- Selma
- The Color Purple
- The Hate U Give
- When They See Us
- 12 Years a Slave
- Glory
- Get Out
- Black Lives Matter’s “What Matters” web series
- 50+ Black Culture Movies GenX Parents Should Watch With Their Teens
- Ted Talk: Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
For kids
Best for little kids
- I Love My Hair! (Sesame Street)
- Esme and Roy
- Nella and the Princess Knight
- Motown Magic
- Blaze and the Monster Machines