Justice Action Toolkit

Image of protestors in a crowded street holding a sign with a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr., saying, "I have the same dream."

This toolkit provides resources to support community members working towards racial justice and gender equity, and indeed injustice in its many forms.

These how-to materials can be used for taking action to address systemic racism and gender equity. We hope the resources available through the links below can bolster your own efforts. 

DIRECT ACTION

Taking direct action can be an effective vehicle for change. We have many resources in the Community Tool Box on actions you can take:

 

Image of protestors marching, carrying a banner that says, "We who believe in freedom cannot rest."

SKILLS FOR ADVOCATES

The resources below cover key skills for advocates. Feel free to explore these Community Tool Box resources and make use of them to support your own advocacy efforts.

 

WORKING TOGETHER FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AND INCLUSION

Community Tool Box Resources

External Resources

UNDERSTANDING RACIAL JUSTICE

Online Resources and Articles

Infused throughout all aspects of our society, racism corrupts our entire social fabric. To improve intergenerational well-being and equity in our communities, we must first acknowledge our legacy of racism and understand the role that interpersonal, institutional, and structural racism play in creating avoidable disparities. Community Commons’ Racial Justice Journey Library offers a place to start: a compilation of resources and tools for people, communities, and organizations to learn, reflect, and take action to address racism in their work and lives.

Montage of photos with Racial Justice Journey Library as text over the images.

To build a healthier America for all, we must confront the systems and policies that have resulted in the generational injustice that has given rise to racial and ethnic health inequities.” Learn about racism as a serious threat to the public’s health on the CDC’s Racism and Health webpage.

This article, How Present-Day Health Disparities for Black People Are Linked to Past Policies and Events, shares how today’s health and health care disparities are rooted in a long history of U.S. policies and events and reflect the ongoing impacts of racism at multiple levels, including in systems, structures, policies, and interpersonal interactions.

Learn more about what causes racial inequity by reading the Racial Equity Institute's Groundwater theory. The Groundwater approach observes that racial inequity looks the same across systems, socio-economic difference does not explain the racial inequity, and inequities are caused by systems, regardless of people’s culture or behavior.

Roots of Health Inequity is an online learning platform designed to explore the social determinants of health and strategies for addressing race and health inequities. It provides interactive modules, case studies, and resources to support structural and systematic change in communities.

Videos

Equal Justice Initiative

The Equal Justice Initiative challenges poverty and racial injustice, advocates for equal treatment in the criminal justice system, and creates hope for marginalized communities. The Equal Justice Initiative's public education efforts include documentary and informative videos on the history and impacts of racism in the United States.

Exploring their public education library reveals a wealth of quality content. A selection of works follows here.

In 2024, the Equal Justice Initiative released a series of 10 short animated films on the history of racial injustice.

The "Reconstruction in America" YouTube video accompanies EJI's Reconstruction in America report, which "examines the 12 years following the Civil War when lawlessness and violence perpetrated by white leaders created an American future of racial hierarchy, white supremacy, and Jim Crow laws—an era from which our nation has yet to recover."

In this video, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative describes how the U.S. can face its history of racism.

 Other Racial Justice Education Videos

This video (above) from the National Museum of African American History & Culture explains that "intersectionality" is a concept articulated by Kimberle Crenshaw to explain the multifaceted and compounding discrimination experienced by individuals who belong to multiple groups that experience systemic discrimination and oppression (for example, a Black lesbian with a disability will face discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation and ability).

The Segregated by Design video above examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.

 

 

 

University of Washington professor Dr. Robin DiAngelo reads from her book "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism," explains the phenomenon, and discusses how white people can develop their capacity to engage more constructively across race.

 

Podcasts

 ColorCode Podcast art depicting an illustration of a stylish black man in front of a microphone

This ColorCode “Housing Is Health Care” podcast delves into how housing — and today’s housing crisis — intersects with health. It also explores how racial discrimination has played a part in causing this crisis, as well as present-day housing segregation on Long Island.

 

"In Solidarity" Podcast graphic.

In Solidarity Podcast Series - Unjust and Unfair: Consequences of the Racial Wealth Divide

Hosts Ericka Burroughs-Girardi and Beth Silver interview authors, activists and scientists to investigate the history of the racial wealth divide, its insidious and far-reaching implications for the health of Black Americans in particular, and the evidence-based solutions that could close the divide. Each discussion centers on how our lives and fates are interconnected and what that means for improving health and well-being for everyone.

 

EQUITY DATA TOOLS

Build Healthy Places Network - Shifting Power to Communities Through Data

Child Opportunity Index

COVID Race Data Dashboard

EJSCREEN: Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool

Estimating Community Health Outcomes with An Equity-Informed Social Capture Measure (pdf)

Eviction Rankings

Health Equity in Healthy People 2030

Inclusion Scorecard for Population Health

National Equity Atlas

Native Land

Race Counts: Racial Equity Index

Racial Equity Data Hub

Racial Equity Index

United States Segregation Map

Using Data as an Equity Tool

Vulnerable Populations Footprint

 

ADDITIONAL RACIAL EQUITY RESOURCES

7 Ways To Keep Fighting For Breonna Taylor

Advancing DEI Initiative

Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC)

Anti-racist policymaking to protect, promote, and preserve Black families and babies

CHANGE (City Hub and Network for Gender Equity) Toolkit

Center for Restorative History (from the National Museum of American History)

Communities First Fund

Community Science Webinar: How to Ensure Equitable Development as We Rebuild

DEI Toolkit

Elevating human rights for TwoSpirit, Trans, & Gender Diverse People

Equitable Development as a Tool to Advance Racial Equity

Equity in Mental Health Framework

Fighting for equality

Healing Through Policy: Creating Pathways to Racial Justice

How to Be an Antiracist (video)

How Reparations Could Improve Black Health and Wellbeing

Inclusive Language Guide

Kansas City Starts Down a Long Road to Black Reparations

Lambda Legal

Lawyers for Good Government

Liberation is Essential: Leveraging Governmental Public Health Tools to Address the Harms of the Criminal Legal System

The Movement for Black Lives

No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity for Black Women

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates

Promoting Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Through Caring Communities: Why It Matters to Occupational Therapy

Public Health & Equity Resource Navigator

Racial Equity Resource Guide

The REPAIR Framework for Community-Institution Solidarity in Racial Healing

Stand Against Hatred

Stop AAPI Hate

Tackling Structural Racism In Health

Why Community Power Is Fundamental to Advancing Racial and Health Equity