Resources to Create Change

Winona State University stands with the Black community. Hate, racism, and bigotry have no place here.

WSU embraces diversity, and greatly values what people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and thoughts bring to our institution and to our community. We strive to build an inclusive, equitable and just community for all, and are fully committed to putting in the hard work required to do so.

It will not be an easy journey, nor a short one, but it is an imperative one. It will require consistent, dedicated effort from each and every one of us, and we must rise to the occasion.

As we work towards our goal as an institution, we will continue to share the actions we are taking. Many of our campus and community members have also requested resources to guide their response and actions following the continued violence and hateful rhetoric directed at communities of color, particularly Black and Asian/Asian Pacific American lives.

We have collected a handful of resources below to assist you. This is not a perfect list and will continue to evolve as our office responds to instances of discrimination.


Steps WSU is Taking to Create Change

To read more about actions Winona State is taking at an organizational level, read President Olson's commitments for creating change.

WSU has established inclusive excellence as a strategic initiative for the university, and developed a long-range Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan (PDF). We will continue to build on this past work.


Do Your Part to End Racism

It’s time to start making the change toward anti-racism within yourself, your friends and families, and your community.

These are a few ideas that we’ve gathered from across the internet.

In addition to the resources below, this guide to anti-racism can help white people understand the implications of their own race and become true allies.

These are shows, films and documentaries that discuss Black, Asian and Asian Pacific American experiences in the USA.

Many of these titles are available on online streaming services.

  • 13th, 2016 (Netflix) American Son, 2019 (Netflix)
  • Better Luck Tomorrow, 2002
  • Dear White People, 2017-present (Netflix)
  • Minding the Gap, 2018 (Hulu)
  • If Beale St Could Talk, 2018 (Hulu)
  • King in the Wilderness, 2018 (HBO)
  • Spa Night, 2016
  • See You Yesterday, 2019 (Netflix)
  • Gook, 2017
  • The Hate You Give, 2018 (Cinemax)
  • When They See Us, 2018 (Netflix)
  • American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, 2013

These are books—both fiction and non-fiction—that explore Black, Asian and Asian Pacific American experiences in the USA and white privilege.

  • How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
  • Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
  • How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
  • Good Talk by Mira Jacob
  • Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung
  • The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward
  • Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
  • Monstress by Lysley Tenorio
  • Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
  • Burden of Ashes by Justin Chin
  • White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
  • How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
  • The Reeducation of Cherry Truong by Aimee Phan
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • Divided Sisters by Midge Wilson and Kathy Russell
  • All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
  • Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia
  • They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird sings by Maya Angelou
  • Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America by Sharmila Sen
  • Fatal Invention by Dorothy Roberts
  • Locking Up Our Own by James Forman
  • The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives by Viet Thanh Nguyen
  • The Miner’s Canary by Lani Guiner and Gerald Torres
  • The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
  • Pidgin Eye by Joe Balaz

These are by no means the only actions you could take, and our society won’t change overnight.

But every time someone like you chooses to confront racism and stand up for people of color, that is a step toward justice.