A few years ago, I wrote about my anti-racist journey and shared the books that had helped me to understand racism, privilege, bias and the ways in which systemic racism shapes the world around us.

At the time, I wrote that reading was one of the most powerful steps I had taken towards awareness and action. I still believe that. But I also now know that there is no point at which you can say, “I’ve done the reading. I understand this now.” There is always more to learn.

More importantly, there is always more to listen to, reflect on, question and act upon.

Since writing my original blog, I have continued to read, listen and learn. Some of what I’ve encountered has challenged me. Some has made me uncomfortable. Some has made me reflect on things I thought I understood. And some has made me stop and think about how my learning needs to show up in my leadership, my relationships and the decisions I make every day. So, here is the next instalment of my anti-racist reading and listening journey.

Books I’ve read

‘I’m Tired of Racism’ – Sharon Hurley Hall

This book made me think about the exhaustion that comes with continually having to navigate racism and challenge it. It reinforced for me that anti-racism cannot simply be something that those experiencing racism are expected to carry.

As a white person, I don’t experience racism in the same way, and that means I have a responsibility to listen rather than centre my own discomfort. But I do see it in my girls’ everyday encounters and the heaviness it places on them as people of colour.  It also reminded me that being tired of talking about racism is very different from being tired of experiencing racism. That distinction matters.

‘Because of You, This Is Me’ – Jazz Ampaw-Farr

Jazz’s story really resonated with me as an educator and as a person with childhood trauma.  It reminded me once again that the experiences we have as children and young people can shape how we see ourselves, how we experience education and how we navigate the world. As a school leader, I find myself constantly asking:

What are the stories our children are being told about themselves?

And perhaps even more importantly:

What stories are we unintentionally telling them?

That is a question I don’t think we can ever stop asking.

‘My Grandmother’s Hands’ – Resmaa Menakem

This was a very different kind of read for me.

It made me think much more deeply about the relationship between racism, trauma and the body. It challenged me to consider racism not simply as something that exists in policies, structures and interactions, but as something that can have profound effects on our physical and emotional experiences. It was a book that required me to slow down, reread and reflect rather than simply consume the information and move on. And perhaps that’s an important lesson in itself. Sometimes learning isn’t about getting through the next chapter. It’s about sitting with what you’ve just read.

‘Both Not Half’ – Jassa Ahluwalia

This book really made me think about identity, belonging and the language we use to describe people. Jassa explores his experience of growing up with both Indian and English heritage, something my own children have had to navigate, and challenges the idea that someone with mixed heritage needs to be divided into fractions.

It made me reflect on how easily we categorise people and how those categories can become limiting.

People are complicated. Identity is complicated. Perhaps we need to become much more comfortable with that complexity rather than constantly trying to put people into neat boxes.

Jassa describes Both Not Half as an approach to identity that rejects simplistic divisions, and that idea has stayed with me. 

What I’ve been listening to

My learning hasn’t just happened through books. I’ve also been listening to podcasts and conversations that have helped me to think about anti-racism from different perspectives.

‘Whiteness at Work’ – Dr Claire Stewart Hall

This has really challenged me to think about what whiteness looks like within organisations and workplaces. As a school leader, that’s particularly important to me. It’s easy to think about racism as something that happens somewhere else or something that is always obvious.

But what about our systems?

Our assumptions?

Our recruitment processes?

Our language?

Our expectations?

Who gets heard?

Who gets opportunities?

Who feels that they belong?

Those are much harder questions and they’re the ones I’m increasingly interested in asking.

‘Conscious Antiracism’ – Dr Jill Wener

This has encouraged me to think about the difference between knowing and doing. It’s relatively easy to agree that racism is wrong. It’s much harder to continually examine our own assumptions, notice our biases and consider how they might influence our actions. For me, that’s where the real work happens.

‘The Antiracist Listening Project’

This has reinforced something that I think has become increasingly important throughout my journey:

Listening is an action.

Not waiting for your turn to speak.

Not listening so that you can formulate a response.

Not listening only to find something that confirms what you already believe.

Actually listening.

Listening to understand. Listening to lived experience. And then asking yourself what you are going to do with what you’ve heard.

TED Talks I’ve had on repeat

There are some talks that I return to again and again because, depending on where I am in my own thinking, I hear something different each time.

‘The Danger of a Single Story’ – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is one I think every educator should hear. Adichie explores what happens when we allow one story, one narrative or one representation to become the story about a person, a community or a country. TED describes the talk as a warning about the misunderstandings that can arise when we hear only a single story about others. 

For me, this has huge implications for education.

What stories do our children encounter?

Who gets to be the hero?

Whose history is taught?

Whose voices are missing?

And what assumptions might children develop when the same stories are repeatedly told?

‘How Racism Makes Us Sick’ – David R. Williams

This one really stopped me in my tracks. Williams explores the relationship between racism, discrimination and health, including the effects of factors such as implicit bias, residential segregation and negative stereotypes.  It was a powerful reminder that racism isn’t simply about individual attitudes or isolated incidents. The consequences can be much deeper. And when we understand that, the responsibility to address racism becomes even harder to ignore.

‘Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice’ – Megan Ming Francis

This is another one I have returned to repeatedly. It challenges us to think beyond surface-level solutions and to ask what sits underneath racial injustice. That question is particularly relevant to education. Because education matters enormously, but education alone cannot solve structural problems. We have to be willing to look at the systems, structures and histories that sit underneath what we see today. 

So, where am I now?

I think the biggest difference between writing my first blog and writing this one is that I understand much more clearly that anti-racism isn’t a destination. There isn’t a reading list you can complete. There isn’t a training session you can attend and tick off. There isn’t a point where you become an anti-racist and your work is finished. It is an ongoing process of learning, unlearning, listening, reflecting and acting. And sometimes that means being uncomfortable. Sometimes it means recognising that something you said, did or believed wasn’t quite right. Sometimes it means acknowledging that you have more to learn. And sometimes it means using whatever position, privilege or influence you have to make things a little different for someone else.

My journey began with opening my eyes. It has continued by opening books, listening to people, watching, questioning and, perhaps most importantly, trying to turn what I learn into action.

I’m still learning. I’m still getting things wrong. I’m still asking questions. And I hope I always will be. Because the moment we think we know enough is probably the moment we stop listening.

So, if you’re on your own journey, keep reading. Keep listening. Keep questioning. And then ask yourself the most important question of all:

What am I going to do with what I’ve learned?

I am going to move beyond awareness into action.

I will continue to listen, read and learn, but I won’t allow learning to become the end point. I will use what I’ve learned to question my own assumptions, recognise my privilege and challenge the unconscious biases that can influence the way I think, speak and make decisions.

As an educational leader, I will look critically at the systems and structures around me our curriculum, our books, our representation, our language, our expectations and our experiences of school and ask who is represented, who is missing and whose perspective has become the norm.

I will create opportunities for others to learn too. Rather than expecting colleagues to already understand anti-racism, I will create spaces where people can listen, reflect, ask difficult questions and become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I will use my position and influence to challenge racism when I see it, rather than remaining silent because speaking up feels uncomfortable.

I will listen to lived experiences without becoming defensive or centring my own feelings.

I will recognise that I will make mistakes. When I do, I will try to learn rather than retreat.

And I will keep asking myself:

What am I noticing now that I wouldn’t have noticed before?

Whose voice am I listening to?

What assumptions am I making?

Who benefits from the way things currently work?

And, most importantly, what am I going to do differently because of what I’ve learned?

Because ultimately, anti-racism isn’t about how much I know. It’s about what I do with what I know.

What are you planning to do next in the DARPL Community of Practice? 

To find out more about joining DAN (follow this link): Advocacy Network – DARPL

To find out more about attending ELS (follow this link): Enhanced Leadership Series – DARPL