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

2 minute read

Text: O this learning, what a thing it is

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

FINIS.