LibGuides: Diversity and Inclusion Guide: Anti-racism

Caltech-related organizations

Books & ebooks

EDBI books at Caltech Library
Book club ebooks

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks
Publication Date: 2014
In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks--writer, teacher, and insurgent black intellectual--writes about a new kind of education, education as the practice of freedom. Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for hooks, the teacher's most important goal. bell hooks speaks to the heart of education today: how can we rethink teaching practices in the age of multiculturalism? What do we do about teachers who do not want to teach, and students who do not want to learn? How should we deal with racism and sexism in the classroom? Full of passion and politics, Teaching to Transgress combines a practical knowledge of the classroom with a deeply felt connection to the world of emotions and feelings. This is the rare book about teachers and students that dares to raise questions about eros and rage, grief and reconciliation, and the future of teaching itself.
Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Umoja Noble
Publication Date: 2018
A revealing look at how negative biases against women of color are embedded in search engine results and algorithms. Run a Google search for "black girls"--what will you find? "Big Booty" and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But, if you type in "white girls," the results are radically different. The suggested porn sites and un-moderated discussions about "why black women are so sassy" or "why black women are so angry" presents a disturbing portrait of black womanhood in modern society. Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for all forms of ideas, identities, and activities. Data discrimination is a real social problem; Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting certain sites, along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search engines, leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate against people of color, specifically women of color. Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance--operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond--understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance. An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.
The Diversity Bonus by Scott Page
Publication Date: 2017
How businesses and other organizations can improve their performance by tapping the power of differences in how people think What if workforce diversity is more than simply the right thing to do in order to make society more integrated and just? What if diversity can also improve the bottom line of businesses and other organizations facing complex challenges in the knowledge economy? Page makes a clear and compellingly pragmatic case for diversity and inclusion. He presents overwhelming evidence that teams that include different kinds of thinkers outperform homogenous groups on complex tasks, producing what he calls "diversity bonuses." These bonuses include improved problem solving, increased innovation, and more accurate predictions--all of which lead to better performance and results. Page shows that various types of cognitive diversity--differences in how people perceive, encode, analyze, and organize the same information and experiences--are linked to better outcomes. He then describes how these cognitive differences are influenced by other kinds of diversity, including racial and gender differences--in other words, identity diversity. Identity diversity, therefore, can also produce bonuses. Drawing on research in economics, psychology, computer science, and many other fields, The Diversity Bonus also tells the stories of people and organizations that have tapped the power of diversity to solve complex problems, and includes a challenging response from Katherine Phillips of the Columbia Business School.
Woke Gaming: Digital Challenges to Oppression and Social Injustice by Kishonna L. Gray & David J. Leonard
Publication Date: 2018
From #Gamergate to the 2016 election, to the daily experiences of marginalized perspectives, gaming is entangled with mainstream cultures of systematic exploitation and oppression. Whether visible in the persistent color line that shapes the production, dissemination, and legitimization of dominant stereotypes within the industry itself, or in the dehumanizing representations often found within game spaces, many video games perpetuate injustice and mirror the inequities and violence that permeate society as a whole. Drawing from groundbreaking research on counter and oppositional gaming and from popular games such as World of Warcraft and Tomb Raider, Woke Gaming examines resistance to problematic spaces of violence, discrimination, and microaggressions in gaming culture. The contributors of these essays seek to identify strategies to detox gaming culture and orient players and gamers toward progressive ends. From Anna Anthropy's Keep Me Occupied to Momo Pixel's Hair Nah, video games can reveal the power and potential for marginalized communities to resist, and otherwise challenge dehumanizing representations inside and outside of game spaces. In a moment of #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, and efforts to transform current political realities, Woke Gaming illustrates the power and potential of video games to foster change and become a catalyst for social justice.
Racial Battle Fatigue in Faculty by Nicholas D. Hartlep & Daisy Ball (Editors)
Publication Date: 2019
Racial Battle Fatigue in Faculty examines the challenges faced by diverse faculty members in colleges and universities. Highlighting the experiences of faculty of color--including African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Indigenous populations--in higher education across a range of institutional types, chapter authors employ an autoethnographic approach to the telling of their stories. Chapters illustrate on-the-ground experiences, elucidating the struggles and triumphs of faculty of color as they navigate the historically White setting of higher education, and provide actionable strategies to help faculty and administrators combat these issues. This book gives voice to faculty struggles and arms graduate students, faculty, and administrators committed to diversity in higher education with the specific tools needed to reduce Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) and make lasting and impactful change.
Cambridge Companion to Harriett Beecher Stowe by Cindy Weinstein
ISBN: 9780511999673
Publication Date: 2006
Coming for to Carry Me Home: Race in America from Abolitionism to Jim Crow by J. Michael Martinez
ISBN: 9781442215009
Publication Date: 2011
Popular Justice: A History of Lynching in America by Manfred Berg
ISBN: 9781566639200
Publication Date: 2011

EDBI ebooks in OverDrive

In response to recent events and requests for EDBI-related materials, we are trialing a new ebook platform, OverDrive. Here are the books available on this platform:

To learn more about accessing books on OverDrive, please visit the OverDrive page on our ebook guide.

A handful of the Library's ebooks have permissive licenses that allow an unlimited number of people to read the book at the same time, thus making for good book club picks. The following ebooks allow for multiple simultaneous users:

Reading lists

We have curated these lists of links to outside reading lists to supplement our collections. Thank you to all the authors and creators for sharing your work.

Lists of books and resources

Articles

*Credit: UCLA Library

Surviving & Resisting Hate: A Toolkit for People of Color

Self-Care Tips for Black People Who Are Struggling With This Very Painful Week

Self Care for People of Color After Psychological Trauma

Decolonising Science Reading List

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD, professor of physics, core faculty member, Women's Studies Program, University of New Hampshire

Decolonise science – time to end another imperial era

Rohan Deb Roy, Lecturer in South Asian History, University of Reading - links to many useful resources to learn more.

Decolonizing technology: A reading list

Beatrice Martini, a research fellow at the Stanford Digital Civil Society Lab and the Harvard Kennedy School, exploring the implications of Internet infrastructure design on human rights, and serves in a formal advisory role with the Center for the Cultivation of Technology and OpenArchive.

Beyond the Trend of Decolonizing Science

Union of Concerned Scientists - April 2019

This webinar features a conversation led by Indigenous and Black scholars around what it means to "decolonize science." Using the controversy over the Thirty Meter Telescope and the sacred mountain of Mauna Kea as a case study, speakers share examples of the role of colonialism in science.

Featuring: Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD, professor of physics, core faculty member, Women's Studies Program, University of New Hampshire; Eve Tuck, associate professor of Critical Race and Indigenous Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto; Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar, PhD, assistant professor, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Ithaca College; David Uahikea Maile, PhD candidate, instructor Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico.

American Library Association

Libraries Respond: Black Lives Matter

Webinar Archives - Office for Diversity, and Outreach Services

Critical Theory in Academic Libraries & Beyond

A collection of resources about libraries, colleges/universities, critical theory, and social justice.

Databases

Use our database subscriptions to learn more about Black and Indigenous history in America, philosophy, and race and science. For example:

Learn about Indigenous Philosophy of the Americas and African-American Philosophy in PhilPapers

Explore SagePub's Structural Racism and Police Violence pathfinder

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998
Provides access to more than 350 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. Includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states, and features many rare 19th-century titles.

Acquired in part thanks to the Grant D. & Naomi T. Venerable Memorial Book Fund named for the first Black Caltech graduate, Grant Venerable (1904-1986) of African, Cherokee, and Scottish descent, and established to purchase materials that "bear upon the human condition, especially of African-American and Native American cultures, and which bear upon the impact of modern technology on the human condition.”
America: History and Life
Artstor
History of Science, Technology & Medicine
PhilPapers
SocINDEX with Full Text

Diversity and Inclusion Guide

From the archives

"Book fund honors first black student" (April 1989, page 6)

Oral History Interview with Lee F. Browne (1999)

Black Students Union of Caltech from The Big T student yearbook (1975, PDF page 59)

"The History of Caltech's Underrepresented Students" by Edray Goins

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