In Response to Race-Related Violence

The UIC Counseling Center grieves the violent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, who represent the latest of many who have lost their lives in a relentless series of violence toward Black individuals and communities. We condemn the systemic intolerance and injustice experienced by individuals such as Christian Cooper, who suffered from harmful stereotyping and discrimination. We strongly oppose discrimination, hate, and intolerance and stand in solidarity with our Black students, faculty, and staff.

We recognize the relentless impact that prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination have on mental health and well-being, and we are here if you need to talk. Our staff feels and understands the many reactions that can ensue from these events, such as fear, anger, and grief. We can join you in processing how systems of oppression and traumatic events impact your feelings, beliefs, and identities, and we can also help you connect to resources that feel safe and that resonate with you.

The Counseling Center will continue to confront the traumatic and unjust impact of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination by hosting events for UIC students to come together virtually to process their feelings about these recent tragedies. We plan to join with students and with other offices on campus to collaborate on conversations about race. We also anticipate providing more written materials online to support students who are coping with race-related stress, anger, and grief. Though supporting our students who feel directly impacted by racism is paramount, we also strongly advocate for the antiracist education and allyship of all students, faculty, and staff. We hope that the resources below resonate with the UIC community as ways in which we can both support those who are hurting and join together to facilitate a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.

Resources for Black Individuals and Communities

Black Lives Matter: Meditations
Black Lives Matter: Toolkits
Common Coping Strategies
Disarming Racial Microaggressions: Microintervention Strategies for Targets, White Allies, and Bystanders
Discrimination: What It Is and How to Cope
Emotionally Restorative Self-Care for People of Color
Filling Our Cups: 4 Ways People of Color Can Foster Mental Health and Practice Restorative Healing
Grief is a Direct Impact of Racism: Eight Ways to Support Yourself
Healing Justice is How We Can Sustain Black Lives
Liberate Meditation App (by and for people of color)
NAMI: African American Mental Health
Proactively Coping with Racism
Racial Trauma is Real
Radical Self-Care in the Face of Mounting Racial Stress
Racism Recovery Steps
Recovering Emotionally From Disaster
Supporting Kids of Color in the Wake of Racialized Violence
Talking about Race: Self-Care
Tips for Self-Care: When Police Brutality Has You Questioning Humanity and Social Media is Enough
Tips for Supporting Each Other
We Heal Too

Antiracism Resources

75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Antiracism Learning Opportunities through Enrich Chicago
Antiracist Toolkit for Teachers and Researchers
Detour-Spotting for White Antiracists
Disarming Racial Microaggressions: Microintervention Strategies for Targets, White Allies, and Bystanders
Expressive Writing Prompts to Use if You’ve Been Accused of White Fragility, Spiritual Bypassing, or White Privilege
Harvard Implicit Bias Test
How to Talk to Kids about Race: Books and Resources That Can Help
How Well-Intentioned White Families Can Perpetuate Racism
Resources for Educators Focusing on Antiracist Learning and Teaching
Talking About Race: Being Antiracist
Toolkit for Teaching about Racism
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

UIC Resources

African American Academic Network
African American Cultural Center
Diversity Education at UIC (click here or here)
Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity
Reporting Bias Events at UIC
Reporting Discrimination and Harassment at UIC
UIC Counseling Center
UIC Dialogue Initiative
UIC Wellness Center

Books to Read

On Antiracism

How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

On the Experience of Racism

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
This Bridge Called My Back, Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

Organizations to Support

Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective
Black Girls Smiles
Black Lives Matter – Chicago
Black Women’s Blueprint
Chicago Regional Organizing for Antiracism
Color of Change
Enrich Chicago
Equal Justice Initiative
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Showing up for Racial Justice
Sister Song
The Audre Lorde Project
The Antiracist Research and Policy Center
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights