Resources to Support BIPOC Communities
This list of resources will be updated on an ongoing basis. Have any Toronto or Canada specific suggestions that aren’t on the list yet? Send us your suggestions by email to janet@akincollective.com.
There are a few resources included in this list that already exist as a directories.
COVID SPECIFIC RESOURCES
COVID-19 Black Emergency Response Fund
Organized by Black Lives Matter Toronto, the Covid-19 Black Emergency Response Fund provides financial support to Black people in the GTA community who have lost income sources for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19.
Black Owned Businesses & Restaurants Opening During COVID
Support local businesses within the POC community. This document was created and is managed by Meg Cule and @j.a.l.i.l.
Webinar: How White Folks Can Take Anti-Racist Action in COVID-19
“In this webinar, we'll talk about how to shut down racist scapegoating for this crisis and get involved in building a multi-racial movement for the things we all need in your region.”
This webinar took place online on April 29th 2020. The recordings are available below.
FoodShare Toronto
FoodShare Toronto is working with more than 50 frontline agencies to ensure that Canadians who are facing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic are getting access to good food. It says that in Canada, Black households are 3.56 times more likely to be food insecure than white households. Your donation will go toward providing emergency food relief to vulnerable communities.
HOW TO BE A BETTER ALLY
Anti-Racist Allyship Start Pack
Resources and tools regarding racism and anti-blackness and how to be a better ally.
REFINERY29 article: Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not
National Museum of African American History & Culture: Talking About Race
Talking about race, although hard, is necessary. The National Museum of African American History & Culture has provided some tools and guidance to help empower your journey and inspire conversation.
6 Ways to Activate Beyond Social Media by @jezzchung
Mapping Our Roles in A Social Change Ecosystem
Together this map and reflection guide can be used at an individual level to reflect, assess, and plan, as well as at staff and board retreats, team-building meetings, orientations, and strategy session. It provides questions for individuals and organizations to locate and understand their own roles, identify the gaps and strengths in their ecosystems, and develop aspirations for the future.
The Concious Kid Instagram Account
Tools to help raise children through a critical race lens.
Embrace Race
Resource to raise children who are informed about race.
Anti-Racist Lesson Plans & Resources for Educators
“Actively growing and changing document for the free and open distribution of lesson plans, reading material, and documents to help educators in crafting a world we wish to see.”
ORGANIZATIONS & COLLECTIVES FOR DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
BIPOC Led and Anti-Racism Organizations - Regional
Urban Alliance on Race Relations
The Urban Alliance on Race Relations is a non-profit charitable organization that strives to address emerging issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. The Urban Alliance was formed in 1975 by a group of concerned Toronto citizens in response to hate-motivated violence targeting various racialized communities.
Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)
SURJ Toronto is a local chapter of an international organization committed to undermining white support for white supremacist systems and institutions. SURJ works to support and collaborate with local and national racial justice and decolonization organizing efforts led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) organizers.
SURJ Toronto will provide a space to develop consciousness, political education, skills, and political analysis to act for change under BIPOC-led organizing. SURJ Toronto aims to carry out this mission within Toronto and beyond, with a specific focus on issues and action related to the GTA and Canada more broadly.
Black Lives Matter Toronto
Black Lives Matter is an international human rights movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people.
Ryerson University Black Liberation Collective
Black Liberation Collectives are an international movement of students challenging anti-Black racism in post-secondary institutions The BLC began in Canada at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto in 2015.
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Canada's leading agency dedicated to the elimination of racism and all forms of racial discrimination in Canadian society.
Canadian Anti-Racism Education & Research Society (CAERS)
Canada Anti-Hate Network
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network monitors, exposes and counters hate groups.
PETITIONS
Petition to release data on police-involved deaths in Canada
This petition calls for documentation of police-involved deaths by race, to provide transparency and data on police violence, which especially affects Canadian people of colour.
Justice for Regis Petition
This petition aims to reach the attention of Mayor John Tory, MPP Bhutila Karpoche and Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders to commit to a transparent investigation in the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet and to hold the officers involved accountable.
LEGAL AID
Black Legal Action Centre
The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) is a new not-for-profit corporation set up under the laws of Ontario in 2017. BLAC delivers legal aid services to low and no income Black Ontarians. We work to combat individual and systemic anti-Black racism.
BIPOC FOCUSED ART ORGANIZATIONS/ART CENTERS
Nia Centre for the Arts
Canada’s first Black art centre, committed to fostering and promoting Black identity and community in Toronto through art.
FOLLOW BLACK CREATORS
People of Craft
People of Craft is a growing showcase of creatives of color and their craft in design, advertising, tech, illustration, lettering, art, and more.
Black Artists Union (BAU)
The BAU assists in the movement and exhibition of artists and creators of the African diaspora. The BAU aims to represent the ideas and work of contemporary Black creators. As art being a language to connect with others, this is a platform to help develop skills for navigating and engaging in art spaces.
Black Artist’ Network in Dialogue (BAND)
BAND is dedicated to supporting, documenting and showcasing the artistic and cultural contributions of Black artists and cultural workers in Canada and internationally.
HEALTHCARE & SUPPORT NETWORKS
Black Health Alliance
A community-led charity looking to reduce the racial disparities in health access and care in Canada, focusing on the broad determinants of health, including racism.
Black Youth Helpline (Canada-wide)
A organization that support the advancement of Black women in Toronto through educational tools, economic opportunities and cultural content.
EDUCATION
Black Women in Motion (Toronto)
A organization that supports the advancement of Black women in Toronto through educational tools, economic opportunities and cultural content.
Visit the website: https://blackwomeninmotion.org/
READING LISTS
The Kit: 10 Essential Books About Black People’s Experiences
CBC: 25 Books About Being Black in Canada
Huffington Post: Read Black Canadian Authors
View the list below:
“Policing Black Lives” by Robyn Maynard.
“The Skin We’re In” by Desmond Cole.
“Blank: Essays and Interviews” by M. NourbeSe Philip.
“In the Black” by B. Denham Jolly
“Queer Returns: Essays On Multiculturalism, Diaspora and Black Studies” by Rinaldo Walcott
Children’s Books That Discuss Race & Racism
Black + Asian American Feminist Solidarities: A Reading List by Black Women Radicals
PODCASTS
Podcasts in Color
Podcasts in Color is a resource for podcasts by black and brown storytellers.
Revision Path
Revision Path is an award-winning weekly showcase of Black designers, developers, and digital creatives from all over the world. Through in-depth interviews, you’ll learn about their work, their goals, and what inspires them as creative individuals.
Intersectionality Matters by the African American Policy Forum
A podcast that brings intersectionality to life.
This list was last updated on 6/9/2020.
