Skip to Main Content
John B. Coleman Library Ask A Librarian

Activism, Anti-Racism, Dissent and Peaceful Protest: Introduction

History of Peaceful Protest and 1st Amendment Rights

Activism, Anti-racism, Dissent and Peaceful Protest Introduction

Activism, Anti-racism, Dissent, Peaceful Protest, Social Justice Introduction

 

This guide is intended to provide information on activism, anti-racism, dissent and peaceful protest.  It is not exhaustive of resources on any of these topics nor does it encompass all facets of the discussion on these subjects.  The guide is meant to be a starting point for general information and finding basic resources. 

Activism

Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct, or intervene in social, political, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society.  Activism is defined as the rational and acceptable democratic option of protest or appeal.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activism

Anti-racism 

Anti-racism is an active way of seeing and being in the world, in order to transform it. Because racism occurs at all levels and spheres of society (and can function to produce and maintain exclusionary "levels" and "spheres"), anti-racism education/activism is necessary in all aspects of society. In other words, it does not happen exclusively in the workplace, in the classroom, or in selected aspects of our lives. http://www.aclrc.com/antiracism-defined

Dissent and Peaceful Protest

Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body.  Dissent can take the form peaceful protest and is regarded in the U.S. Constitution as a fundamental right of  American citizens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_dissent

Social Justice

Social justice is a political and philosophical theory which asserts that there are dimensions to the concept of justice beyond those embodied in the principles of civil or criminal law, economic supply and demand, or traditional moral frameworks. Social justice tends to focus more on just relations between groups within society as opposed to the justice of individual conduct or justice for individuals. 

 

Please Read-- Books on Activism, Anti-Racism and Peaceful Protest

Internet Resources on Activism, Protest and Civil Dissent

This project preserves records and memories of activism in the United States that supported the struggles of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Offers oral histories, newspaper clippings, local government documents and photographs related to Baltimore's riots following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Embedded within this chronology are links to texts, photos and media clips. (archived copy)

Oral histories (with interview transcripts) and digital photographs of people who participated in the civil rights movement.

This site documents various aspects of the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States, focusing specifically on the radical origins of this movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Items range from radical theoretical writings to humourous plays to the minutes of an actual grassroots group.

Collection of "political artifacts from the 1960s-era, collected and saved over the years by activist, photographer and filmmaker, Roz Payne." Collections include underground press, small press publications, leaflets/flyers/broadsides/article reprints, posters/graphic design, buttons, photographs, objects, and newsreel films.

Includes documents from Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Black Panther Party, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and several similar groups.

Small collection of items documenting Boston's African American, Latino, feminist, and LGBT community histories.

Please view --Videos on Anti-racism, Activism and Peaceful Protest

Author Toni Morrison discusses the construct of Race.

Wrestling with Race in America

NBC documentary following George Floyd protest--Wrestling with Race in America.

It Stops with Me

What you can do to prevent racism--It Stops with you.

John B. Coleman Library
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 519, MS 1040, Prairie View, Texas 77446
Physical Address: L.W. Minor St. / University Drive, Prairie View, Texas 77446
Reference: (936) 261-1535, Circulation: (936) 261-1542
Email: askalibrarian@pvamu.edu

Library Hours