The Erasable Podcast

We’re not bringing you an episode about pencils this week, but instead a short message, and some resources for how you can work toward ending systemic racism in your community.

Black lives matter. Period.

If you’re in the United States, please consider a sustained donation to The Bail Project and other organizations working to bring judicial reform to our government.

Being non-racist is not enough: we need to learn how to be anti-racist. Author Ibram X. Kendi has an Anti-racist reading list for us as we begin and progress through our journey.

And when you do pick up these books, be sure you do it from a Black-owned bookstore nearest to your community. LitHub has a great list.

After the media event around the protests against police brutality inevitably ends, white people need to find ways to sustain our support. Tatiana Mac is a software engineer, a writer, and an activist, and has a great Twitter thread with practical ways to avoid burnout and keep up momentum.

Last week, one of our Facebook group members crowd-sourced a list of Black-owned stationery companies or shops that we could support. Here’s what we came up with:

GREERChicago

Loyalty Bookstore in Silver Springs, MD

Frugal Bookstore in Roxbury, MA

Page Eleven Paper Goods

Keynote Stationery

Effie’s Paper

Cloth & Paper

Drama Mama Bookshop

The Quiet Life Los Angeles

Semicolon Bookstore

Odin Leather Goods

The Desiderata Pen Company

Methodical Stationery UK

Paper Penguin Co

We’re sure there are lots more. If you have a Black-owned stationery company or shop, feel free to link them in the comments, and we’ll be sure to add to this list.