Thought of the week: 'O this learning, what a thing it is'
We share further resources to spark learning, discussion and change in support of the Black Lives Matter movement
Our usual custom at the end of each week during the UK lockdown is for our Artistic Director Michelle Terry to share her Thought of the Week, reflecting on events from the last seven days through Shakespeare’s language.
In light of the events of the past week, our only thoughts are how can we learn, how can we grow, and how can we make lasting systemic and institutional change.
We reiterate our solidarity with and support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and below share resources from where learning, discussion and change can start.
Most of these resources can be accessed for free online. For book purchases, please support your local independent and black-run bookshops.
You can also explore further resources and ways to help by visiting Black Lives Matter.
Books
Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
Mother Country: Real Stories of the Windrush Children edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
White by Richard Dyer
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro
Memoirs of a Black Englishmen by Paul Stephenson OBE and Lilleith Morrison
Articles and digital publications
BlacKKKShakespearean: A Call to Action for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Race and Periodization: Opening Lectures from the RaceB4Race Symposium
The Sundial: A digital publication of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
There Is No Apolitical Classroom: Resources for Teaching in These Times from the National Council of Teachers of English
The White Space by Elijah Anderson: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity from the American Sociological Association
Podcasts
All That Glisters Is Not Gold: Code Switch
BIAS: Well-meaning white people: Smartest Person in the Room
Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist: Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
Intersectionality Matters! AAPF and Kimberlé Crenshaw
Shakespeare Anniversary Lecture Series: Kim F. Hall: Folger Shakespeare Library
Early Modern Bibliography
Early Modern Race/Ethnic/Indigenous Studies: A (crowdsourced) Annotated Bibliography
