Led and founded by scholar-activist Kimberle Crenshaw, the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) is a think tank that strives to promote efforts to dismantle structural inequality. 

The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander 

Rise of the Warrior Cop
The Militarization of America's Police Forces by Radley Balko 

Arbitrary Justice 
The Power of the American Prosecutor by Angela Davis 

No Choirboy
Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin 

Mass Incarceration on Trial 
A Remarkable Court Decision and the Future of Prisons in America by Jonathan Simon 
 

The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin 

The Beautiful Struggle
A Father, Two Sons and an Unlikely Road to Manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates

High on the Hog
A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris 

March
Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell 

The Other Wes Moore
One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, Tavis Smiley 

The Grace of Silence
A Memoir by Michele Norris 

Men We Reaped
A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward 

The Meaning of Freedom: 
And Other Difficult Dialogues by Angela Y. Davis

Creative Community Organizing: 
A Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists, and Quiet Lovers of Justice by Si Kahn 

Uprooting Racism: 
How White People Can Work for Racial Justice by Paul Kivel

Disintegration: 
The Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson

 

 

Hair Love 
by Matthew A. Cherry, Vashti Harrison 

Many Thousand Gone: 
African Americans from Slavery to Freedom by Virginia Hamilton 

Black Is A Rainbow Color 
by Angela Joy, Ekua Holmes 

The Artivist
by Nikkolas Smith 

Freedom on the Menu: 
The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford 

One Crazy Summer 
by Rita Williams-Garcia

Virtual Talks/workshops

African American Muslims make up a majority of the Muslims in America. However, their experiences are often overshadowed by the Arab Muslim experience. Islam has a deep history in our roots, from the Africans brought over during the slave trade who were forced to abandon Islam to the organizations in the 20th century who adopted Islam into the black identity and approached black liberation through Islam. 

Come find out more about this from Professor Butch Ware and Professor Douglas Daniels. 

Kavi Ade is a Black, Trans, and Queer poet and arts educator. "Ade's work meets at the intersection of personal and political — navigating what it means to be a survivor of innumerable violences.  Kavi speaks on race, class, gender, sexuality, mental health, domestic violence, sexual assault, and social justice— chronicling despair, grasping at hope, and exploring the ways a body can learn to survive."

Fania E. Davis is a leading national voice on the intersection of racial and restorative justice. She is a long-time social justice activist, civil rights trial attorney, restorative justice practitioner, and writer and scholar with a PhD in indigenous knowledge. Founding director of Restorative Justice of Oakland Youth (RJOY), her numerous honors include the Ubuntu Award for Service to Humanity, the Dennis Maloney Award for Youth-Based Community and Restorative Justice, the Tikkun Olam (Repair the World) Award, the Ella Jo Baker Human Rights Award, the Bioneers Change Maker Award, and the EBONY Power 100 Community Crusaders Award. She is a Woodrow Wilson fellow, and the Los Angeles Times named her a "New Civil Rights Leader of the 21st Century." She resides in Oakland, California.

Organizations

The African diasporic Cultural Resource Center (AdCRC) educates, promotes, and encourages the interaction and dialogue among the diverse ethnic groups within the African diasporic communities of UCSB and to promote cross cultural learning and interaction amongst all ethnic groups. The AdCRC is an environment for students, staff, faculty and community members to develop an understanding of and appreciation for their African diasporic cultural identities. AdCRC staff strives to create and maintain a welcoming atmosphere for all to acquire knowledge in relation to the diversity of cultures within the African diaspora. 

Black Lives Matter was formed in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in 2013 and quickly became a national movement to end police brutality. The organization continues to mobilize and amplify national dialogue around state-sanctioned violence.