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Racial Justice, Racial Equity, and Anti-Racism Reading List
Racial Justice, Racial Equity, and Anti-Racism Reading List
The following resources offer introductions to research on race and ethnicity. You can use them to get a broad understanding of your topic before delving deeper with the databases and other resources listed further down on this page.
Featured Resource: Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery
In September 2022, the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery released its landmark report that "documents the University's ties to slavery - direct, financial, and intellectual - and offers seven recommendations that will guide the work of reckoning and repair now beginning."
In January 2023, Sarah Bleich returned to Harvard as the Vice Provost for Special Projects to begin leading the implementation of the seven recommendations laid out in the report.
Featured Resource: The Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
The Hutchins Center for African & African American Research "supports research on the history and culture of people of African descent the world over and provides a forum for collaboration and the ongoing exchange of ideas. It seeks to stimulate scholarly engagement in African and African American studies both at Harvard and beyond, and to increase public awareness and understanding of this vital field of study."
Initiatives include:
Find Data
For country-specific articles & data, explore our
Country Information Sources Research Guide
Find data on all topics & support resources in our
Data Resources for HKS Affiliates Research Guide
Country Information Sources Research Guide
Find data on all topics & support resources in our
Data Resources for HKS Affiliates Research Guide
Find Books & Articles
For books, search for full titles or keywords in HOLLIS, Harvard's library catalog.
Also for books, explore the following book displays curated annually in the HKS Library:
- Black History Month (February)
- Arab American Heritage Month (April)
- Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May)
- Latinx Heritage Month (September)
- Antiracism Summer Reading List from the Institutional Antiracism & Accountability (IARA) Project (September 2023)
Finally, explore books from our Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Collection:
- Anti-Racism
- Black/African Americans
- East Asian
- Latinos/Latinx
- Middle Easterners & Arabs
- Multiethnic/Multiracial
- Pacific Islanders
- Race Relations
- South & Southeast Asian
- Structural Racism
- White People
For journal & news articles, explore the databases below:
- Alt-PressWatchFull-text articles for over 210 publications of the alternative and independent presses, from 1970 to current.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (Harvard Login)The Bibliography of Asian Studies contains over 545,000 references to journal articles, chapters in multi-author volumes, conference proceedings, and anthologies from 1971 to the present, as well as individually authored monographs from 1971 to 1991. It covers all subjects related to East, Southeast, and South Asia.
- Ethnic Diversity Source (Harvard Login)This full-text database is a dedicated resource covering the culture, traditions, social treatment and lived experiences of different ethnic groups in America. It provides full text from a growing list of sources including peer-reviewed journals, magazines, e-books, biographies, videos, and primary source documents.
- Ethnic NewsWatch (Harvard Login)Full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press from 1960 to present.
- Journal of African American History (Harvard Login)Started in 1916, the JAAH is one of the oldest and most important academic journal in the field of African American studies. Back issues from 1916 are available on JSTOR.
- Journal of Black Studies (Harvard Login)Significant source for research on Black experiences.
- Oxford African American Studies Center (Harvard Login)Extensive reference resource on the history of African Americans and the African diaspora more broadly, including thematic essays, biographies, primary sources, maps, and images.
- Race Relations Abstracts (Harvard Login)Includes abstracts (and select full text) of articles, book chapters, and books on race relations, ethnicity, immigration, etc., primarily in the United States.
- U.S. Hispanic Newsstream (Harvard Login)Compiles full text from a wide variety of Hispanic-American news media (in both Spanish and English).
Also explore the following resources at HKS:
- Africa Policy JournalHKS student journal that "promotes dialogue about African policy and current affairs in the areas of business, culture, design, education, governance, health, and law." Explore archived issues of this journal.
- Anti-Racism Policy JournalHKS student journal exploring "the intersection of anti-racism and policy, the history of race and colonialism, and the visions for a just and equitable future."
- Asian American Policy ReviewHKS student journal "dedicated to analyzing public policy issues facing the Asian American and Pacific Islander community." Explore archived issues of the journal.
- HKS Journal of African American Public PolicyHKS student journal that "seeks to educate and provide leadership to improve public policies affecting the African-American community." Explore archived issues of this journal.
- HKS Policy Topic: Gender, Race, and IdentityRecent work by HKS researchers on issues related to the intersection of gender, race, class, etc. and public policy.
- Journal of Hispanic PolicyHKS student journal "focused on public policy issues that impact Latinx and Hispanic communities in the United States and Puerto Rico." Explore archived issues of this journal.
- Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and PolicyHKS student journal that "presents analysis and new perspective, addresses complex issues, and explores growing trends shaping the contemporary Middle East and North Africa region." Explore archived issues of this journal.
- Middle East InitiativeHKS research project "dedicated to advancing public policy in the Middle East by convening the world's foremost academics and policy experts, developing the next generation of leaders, and promoting community engagement on campus and in the region." Part of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
- Opposing Racism and Discrimination through Public Policy and LeadershipCollection of recent HKS scholarship on race, justice, protest, and policing.
- Race, Research & Policy PortalGateway to research on "diversity, racial equity, and antiracist organizational change in private, public and non-profit firms and entities," curated by the Institutional Anti-Racism and Accountability Project (IARA) at HKS's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
- Rajwali Foundation Institute for AsiaHKS research program that "advances research and teaching about policy challenges both within the region and Asia's place in the global community." Part of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
Find Primary Sources
- American Race Relations: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996 (Harvard Login)Thousands of commentaries on African American, Hispanic American, Asian American and Native American history covering foreign reactions to America's struggles with racial justice from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights movements and beyond.
- Black Panther Printed EphemeraHoughton Library collection of fliers, newspapers, newsletters, posters, pamphlets and "other items on political change, race relations, health care, etc., largely from Black Panther Party chapters" in Philadelphia, New Haven, and New York.
- Ethnic Diversity Source (Harvard Login)This full-text database is a dedicated resource covering the culture, traditions, social treatment and lived experiences of different ethnic groups in America. It provides full text from a growing list of sources including peer-reviewed journals, magazines, e-books, biographies, videos, and primary source documents.
- The HistoryMakers (Harvard Login)African American oral video history archive which contains interviews with African Americans who have made a significant contribution in area of American life or culture, or who has been associated with a particular movement or organization that is important in the African American community. Disciplines include Art, Business, Civics, Education, Entertainment, Law, Media, Medicine, Military, Music, Politics, Religion, Science, Sports and Style.
- Oxford African American Studies Center (Harvard Login)Extensive reference resource on the history of African Americans and the African diaspora more broadly, including thematic essays, biographies, primary sources, maps, and images.
- ProQuest Black Studies (Harvard Login)"This database combines multi-format primary and secondary sources, like historical Black newspapers, archival documents, government materials, videos, scholarly journals, essays and more" to support research, teaching, and learning on Black Studies.
- Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation, and Freedom (SAEF) Data CollectionOpen access research dataset representing 1200+ item in Houghton Library's SAEF collection, which brings together a curated collection of materials randing from the Early Republic through Reconstruction. The dataset represents these primary source materials as data, supporting research methodologies that employ computational image analysis, optical character recognition (OCR) text, and machine-generated transcriptions of manuscript materials. Explore the full collection in CURIOSity, including teaching materials.
- Umbra Search: African American HistorySearch engine for digitized documents and artifacts of African American history from more than 1,000 libraries and archives.
Find Video
- Alexander Street Press Diversity Collection (Harvard Login)Contains documentaries, interviews, biographies, performances, and lectures.
- Digitalia Film Library (Harvard Login)Digitalia Film Library offers streaming video of films and documentaries from Latin America, Europe and North America.
- Film Platform (Harvard Login)A curated collection of educational films covering a variety of topics from legal studies generally to human rights, environmental studies, politics, technology, among others.
- Kanopy (Harvard Login)Collection of videos including documentaries. Clips can be created and saved.
- PBS Video Collection (Harvard Login)Contains hundreds of documentaries and other television broadcasts from PBS, including "American Experience," "Finding Your Roots," "Frontline," etc.
Find Podcasts
- Basic Black"Produced live at GBH Studios in Boston, Basic Black is the longest-running program on public television focusing on the interests of people of color. Originally called Say Brother, was created in 1968 during the height of the civil rights movement as a response to the demand for public television programs reflecting the concerns of communities of color."
- Code SwitchConversations about race and identity, hosted by journalists of color on National Public Radio (NPR).
- Come Through with Rebecca CarrollChronicles 2020 through the lens of race.
- The Nod"The Nod tells the stories of Black life that don’t get told anywhere else. Our show ranges from an explanation of purple drink’s association with Black culture to the story of an interracial drag troupe that traveled the nation in the 1940s. We celebrate the genius, the innovation, and the resilience that is so particular to being Black — in America, and around the world."
- Scene on the Radio: Seeing WhiteSeason 2 of Scene on the Radio explores questions of where the idea of "whiteness" comes from, what it means, and what it's for.
- The Stoop: Stories from across the Black Diaspora"Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba start conversations about what it means to be Black, and how we talk about blackness in America, and globally. It’s a celebration of Black joy in all its diversity, with a mission to dig deeper into stories that we need to talk about."
Related Research Guides
- African American Library Resources at Harvard
- African American Women
- Asian Americans and Asians
- Black America and COVID-19
- Black Women Oral History Project Interviews, 1976–1981
- Latine and Hispanic Women
- Library Research Guide for Latin American Studies
- Library Research Guide for South Asian Studies
- Middle East and Islamic Studies Library Resources
- Middle Eastern Law: Research Sources
- Research Guide for Chinese Studies
- Research Guide for East Asian Studies
- Research Guide for Japanese Studies
- Research Guide for Korean Studies