Black Lives Matter
Inspired by Black Lives Matter, the Architectural Association Library would like to highlight a selection of resources in its collections, which support global anti-racism movements and confront systemic inequalities in architectural education and beyond. Below is a selection of recommended ebooks, websites and online lectures, which can be accessed by the AA community from home.
As the ‘Decolonise my Curriculum’ and ‘Rhodes must Fall’ movements urgently demonstrate, Higher Education Institutions are often spaces which perpetuate white privilege and institutionalised racism. Whilst the AA is proudly and profoundly international, we are by no means immune. In order to live up to our roles as game changers, attracting diverse audiences, participants and leaders, we must continually critique our practices and our environment, holding ourselves to account and making the positive changes needed.
How many authors of colour feature on our reading lists (how many of these are women, or identify as non-binary)? What are the barriers and microaggressions blocking the pathway for architects of colour? And (crucially) what can the AA do to address this?
In a climate where many voices are underrepresented or actively silenced, we must not be passive. Words are not enough (but they can be a good place to start)!
Please do contact the library if you have any book (or ebook) suggestions for the AA Collection at library@aaschool.ac.uk
Selected ebooks (Please browse the AA online catalogue for access to these and more):
- Hanif Abdurraqib, They can’t kill us until they kill us (La Vergne, 2019)
- Sara Ahmed, On being included: racism and diversity in institutional life (London, 2012)
- Hilton Als, White girls (London, 2018)
- James Baldwin, The fire next time (London)
- Emma Dabiri, Don’t touch my hair (London, 2019)
- Angela Davis, Freedom is a constant struggle (Chicago, 2016)
- Robin DiAngelo, White fragility: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism (London, 2019)
- Paul Gilroy, There ain’t no black in the Union Jack: the cultural politics of race and nation (London, 2002)
- Afua Hirsch, Brit-(ish): on race, identity and belonging (London, 2018)
- bell hooks, Ain’t I a woman? Black women and feminism (New York, 2015)
- Wesley Lowery, They can’t kill us all: the story of Black Lives Matter (London, 2017)
- Kathleen Paul, Whitewashing Britain: race and citizenship in the postwar era (New York, 2018)
- Layla Saad, Me and white supremacy (2020)
- June Sarpong, Diversify: how to challenge inequality and why we should (London, 2017)
- Nikesh Shukla (ed.) The good immigrant (London, 2016)
- Brett Stockdill and Mary Yu Danico, Transforming the Ivory Tower: challenging racism, sexism and homophobia in the academy (Honolulu, 2012)
- Jeanne Theoharis, A more beautiful and terrible history: the uses and misuses of civil rights history (Boston, 2018)
AA Online Lectures
- Danna Walker, Stephanie Edwards & Elsie Owusu in conversation “The Lawrence Legacy: Challenging Racism and Celebrating Diversity in Architecture” – 2016
- Lesley Lokko – “All Must Fall” – 2019
- New Canonical Histories Lecture Series
Further Resources on Anti-Racism