
Common Ground and Cultural Engagement
The Common Ground initiative at Moreno Valley College urges our community to examine and actively work to dismantle beliefs and structures that foster environments of racism and inequity. Our goal is to listen and support our students, employees and communities of color through anti-racism practices, open discussion and culturally relevant education.
What is Anti-Racism?
Anti-racism means acknowledging that racist beliefs and structures exist in all of our lives and then actively doing work to dismantle those beliefs and structures.
Learning Communities at MVC
Our learning communities work to increase the number of educationally underrepresented students who enroll and successfully complete college and university educations. From courses with culturally relevant topics to program-run support services, MVC learning communities offer students greater opportunities for a culturally-enriching education.
Anti-Racism Education and Media
Articles
- Accountability During Crisis: The Transformative Potential of Institutional Research and Effectiveness in the Struggle Toward Racial Justice, by Kaylan S. Baxter
- Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics , by Kimberlé Crenshaw.
- How Microaggressions Are Killing Workplace Morale and Ways To Promote Organizational Culture Shifts, by Kim C.
Books
If these books are sold out, you can purchase audio and ebooks at any time.
Start your journey with these books:
- Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor, by Layla F. Saad
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo
- So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi
More Books to Read:
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander
- How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
- Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Women, Race, & Class, by Angela Davis
- The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century, by Grace Lee Boggs
- Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century, by Dorothy Roberts
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm x and Alex Haley
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, by Beverly Daniel Tatum
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard Rothstein
- Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, by Resmaa Menakem
- Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?, by Mumia Abu-Jamal
- The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
- Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, Michael Eric Dyson
- Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, by Ruth King
- Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in School, edited by Mica Pollock
Podcasts
On the subject of race, racial history, and race relations
- About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
- Code Switch from NPR: Apple Podcast | Podcast Website
- The Heart: Race Traitor Series: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
- The Michelle Obama Podcast: The Michelle Obama Podcast features the former First Lady diving deep into conversations with loved ones—family, friends, and colleagues—on the relationships in our lives that make us who we are.
- The Nod: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
- Our Body Politic: Created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, Our Body Politic is unapologetically centered on reporting on not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they’re impacting those very issues.
- Scene on Radio: Seeing White Series: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
- Shine Brighter Together: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
- The Stakes: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
- United States of Anxiety: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Website
On the subject of people of color in areas of study
- Innervation: Drawing from the wisdom of 100 Women in STEM on Scilence to tackle subjects that hold us back from being our best selves. Hosted by Dr. Shini Somara.
- Balanced Black Girl: Balanced Black Girl is a top-rated health podcast and digital platform connecting our community to Black women health and self-improvement experts.
- Feed Me the Facts: A curated list topics for dietetics students, interns and professionals of color- wherever you are along your education and career pathway.
Videos
- How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time, from TED
- How to talk to kids about race, from The Atlantic
- Just belonging: Finding the courage to interrupt bias, from Ted X Talks
- Debunking the most common myths white people tell about race, from NBC News
- The dangers of white washing black history, from Ted X Talks
- Screaming in the silence: How to be an ally, not a savior, from Ted X Talks
- So you want to talk about race, from Talks at Google
Workplace Resources
- Cultural Competence for Equity and Inclusion: A Framework for Individual and Organizational Change by Diane J. Goodman
- Building a Multiethnic, Inclusive & Antiracist Organization: Tools for Liberation Background by Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence
- Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators
USC/CCC Equity Leadership Alliance
Moreno Valley College has joined with 60+ institutions to participate in the California Community College Equity Leadership Alliance hosted by the University of Southern California Race & Equity Center. Over the course of a full year, a team of MVC students, faculty and staff will explore a range of topics to develop a deep expertise on issues of racial inclusion and equity.
The three-part plan will address equity issues and education on multiple fronts:
- Professional learning
- Virtual racial equity resource portal
- Campus climate surveys
Read more about the Equity Leadership Alliance at MVC »
Anti-Racism Organizations