We at the Resistance Lab write this statement with both heaviness and hope in our hearts following the recent murders by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade and the subsequent protests calling for change. It is important to note that these are not new events or new ideas, but rather conditions and demands for change that Black individuals have been dealing with in the US for more than 400 years. We at the Resistance Lab are committed to actively being anti-racist, by taking clear action and holding ourselves accountable to the following commitments.
We commit ourselves to:
-Uplift and amplify Black voices and support Black researchers
-Recognize the disparities of research on gender-based violence for Black communities and especially women, gender and sexual minorities and work to combat this disparity
-Commit to actively recruiting Black students to join our lab and then supporting them as they research
-Collectively write/present/conduct one research project a year specifically on gender-based violence and Black communities alongside Black researchers with expertise in race and racism.
-Speak up if there are instances of racist language or actions including microaggressions within our lab and in our broader community
-Educate ourselves and not expect or wait for Black folks to educate us
-Continue to hold each other accountable in making sure that our work takes an intersectional lens
-Continue to recognize and name the problematic history of the White feminist movement, and work toward dismantling that narrative in our research and advocacy
Below is a list of resources for how you can take action NOW (adapted resources from the Association of Women in Psychology):
Resources for Black folx:
Therapy for Black Girls – Dr. Joy Harden Bradford
#SayOurNames: Radical Healing for Black women and gender expansive folx
Dr. Candice Nicole – Black Lives Matter Meditations
Liberate App (meditations for BIPOC)
The Trevor Project: Supporting Black LGBTQ Youth
The Psychological of Radical Healing
“The Safe Place” App by Jasmin Pierre (anywhere apps are downloaded)
Academic Organizations
Academics for Black Survival and Wellness
Society for the Psychology of Women, Section 1: The Psychology of Black Women
The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi)
Resources for Non-Black folx to deepen their anti-racist work:
Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources
Resources for Accountability and Actions for Black Lives
Academics for Black Survival and Wellness
“How to Be an Anti-Racist” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
“The Racial Healing Handbook” by Anneliese Singh
“Me and White Supremacy” by Layla Saad
Robin DiAngelo: How ‘white fragility’ supports racism and how whites can stop
Purchase these and other books from Black-Owned Bookstores
More anti-racism resources:
Videos
APA Town Hall on Racism Pandemic
Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers
“How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”: Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools
Podcasts
Integrated Schools podcast episode “Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey”
Pod For The Cause (The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights)
How to Survive the End of the World
Donate to Organizations doing the work:
Antiracist Research and Policy Center
Black Solidarity Fund – Community Ready Corps
Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)
The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
Undocumented Black Girl Podcast
Vote:
We will continually update this page to document our actions toward anti-racism.
In solidarity,
The Resistance Lab
Amplifying Black Voices
We encourage you to follow and cite these scholars’ work and we make a commitment to do the same:
Dr. Martinque Jones (@Dr_MartiJ), PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas, and the PI of the BWell Lab (@bwell_lab). Dr. Jones studies racial and gender identity and their implications for Black women’s mental health and counseling. Dr. Jones’s work explores gendered racial identity, defined as the significance and meaning Black women attribute to their membership in Black and woman social identity groups, and its association with race- and gender-based discrimination. Dr. Jones’s work also explores the utility of culturally responsive and community-orientated therapy interventions (including Invincible Black Women and Future 4 Teens).
One of our favorite recent publications by Dr. Jones is “In Their Own Words: The Meaning of the Strong Black Woman Schema among Black U.S. College Women”. Learn more about Dr. Jones here.
Dr. Nicole Overstreet (@dr_overstreet) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University, and director of the Stigma, Intersectionality, and Health (SIH) Lab. The SIH Lab conducts research examining the connection between stigma and health on an individual, interpersonal, and structural level, with a particular focus on stigmatized attributes that are visible, such as race and gender, and those that are concealable, such as intimate partner violence, mental illness, sexual minority status, and HIV/AIDS, using an intersectional framework.
One of our favorite recent publications by Dr. Overstreet is “Stigmatizing Reactions to Intimate Partner Violence Disclosure and Depression: Examining the Mediating Role of Coping Strategies”
Learn more about Dr. Overstreet, her work, and the SIH lab here.
Dr. Apryl Alexander (@DrAprylA) is an Associate Professor at the University of Denver, Director of Denver FIRST‘s Outpatient Competency Restoration Program, and Faculty Affiliate with Scrivner Institute for Public Policy. Dr. Alexander is the Co-Founder for the University of Denver’s Prison Arts Initiative (DU PAI), which provides therapeutic, educational creative arts programming to incarcerated men and women in Colorado state prisons. One of our favorite publications by Dr. Alexander is “Sex for All Sex: Positivity and Intersectionality in Clinical and Counseling Psychology”
Learn more about Dr. Alexander’s work here.
Dr. Seanna Leath (@SeannaLeathPhD) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Dr. Leath is the director of he F.H.R.RE (Fostering Healthy Identities and REsilience) Lab which uses interdisciplinary approaches in education and psychology to understand and address issues related to the holistic development of Black girls and women in the context of families, schools, and communities. One of our favorite recent publications by Dr. Leath explores the diversity of sexual messaging young Black women receive during their formative years. Read it here: Steeped in Shame: An Exploration of Family Sexual Socialization Among Black College Women
Learn more about Dr. Leath here.
Dr. Morgan C. Jerald (@morgancjerald) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Macalester College and director of the Intersectionality and Marginalization (I.AM) Lab. Jerald’s work is framed by Black feminist scholarship and investigates socio-cultural factors that influence Black women’s gender beliefs, health, and well-being. One of our favorite pieces by Dr. Jerald is linked here: Following their lead? Connecting mainstream media use to Black women’s gender beliefs and sexual
agency.
Pearis Bellamy (@professionallyp) is a Counseling Psychology PhD student at University of Florida and a cofounder of Academics for Black Survival and Wellness. Pearis’ research focuses on intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and racial trauma.
Dr. Della Mosley (@DellaVMosley) is a Counseling Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Florida and a cofounder of Academics for Black Survival and Wellness. Dr. Mosely’s research focuses on racial trauma with a particular lens towards the experiences of Black LGBTQ+ communities. One of our favorite pieces by Dr. Mosely is linked here: psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-20
Dr. Bryana French (@DoctorBry) is a Counseling Psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of St. Thomas. Her research focuses on sexual coercion and associated psychosocial outcomes among racially diverse young men and women. Dr. French has also conducted research on faith-based teen dating violence prevention and alternative educational programming for suspended youth. One of our favorite publication’s by Dr. French explores how Black women navigate sexual coercion and sexual scripts. Check it out here: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12111-012-9218-1.pdf
Dr. Tricia Bent-Goodley is a Professor of Social Work and the Director of the Doctoral Program at Howard University School of Social Work. Dr. Bent-Goodley has written extensively about the Black experience of gender-based violence. She has developed community and faith-based interventions in domestic violence and relationship education with a focus on strengthening the Black family. One of our favorite publications by Dr. Bent-Goodley is linked here: https://academic.oup.com/sw/article-abstract/54/3/262/1880510
Dr. Thema Bryant-Davis (@DrThema) is a Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University. She is director of the Culture and Trauma Research Lab which focuses on the cultural context of recovery from interpersonal traumas such as child abuse, sexual assault, intimate partner abuse, racism, and human trafficking. One of our favorite, of many, publications by Dr. Bryant-Davis explores human trafficking within the context of cultural oppression. Check it out here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02703149.2016.1210964