BOOKS, ARTICLES, MOVIES, AND PODCASTS
RACE AND COFFEE
STRONG BLACK COFFEE: WHY AREN’T AFRICAN-AMERICANS MORE PROMINENT IN THE COFFEE INDUSTRY?
Roast Magazine
Phyllis Johnson of BD Imports reflects on her own experience as a black female importer, as she relates facts and anecdotes regarding the exclusion or marginalization of Black voices from the coffee industry.
THE CHOCOLATE BARISTA
Michelle Johnson
A blog managed and run by long-time Black coffee professional Michelle Johnson. Included here are her own writings as well as pieces such as "The Miseducation of a White Manager" by Zael Ogwaro in which they describe their experiences with marginalization as a Black barista.
ON GENDER AND RACIAL EQUAILTY IN THE COFFEE INDUSTRY
Jenn Chen's 2016 piece on Medium which explores her own experience as a woman of colour navigating the male-dominated space of specialty coffee, and some of her recommendations for how the unconscious biases within the industry can be addressed and shifted
Jenn Chen
BEING BLACK IN SPECIALTY COFFEE
This article from August 2019 takes a broad look at a range of issues facing Black members of the specialty coffee community ranging from barriers to entry and tokenization, amongst others.
Perfect Daily Grind
COLONIALISM IN CANADA AND COFFEE PRODUCING COUNTRIES
CLEARING THE PLAINS
James Daschuk
Required reading for all Canadians who wish to understand exactly how the Indigenous populations of Turtle Island were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands as part of European expansion and colonization.
NÎPAWISTAMÂSOWIN: WE WILL STAND UP
Tasha Hubbard
Tasha Hubbard's documentary covers the trial of Gerald Stanley, charged with the murder of the young Cree man, Colten Boushie. Interwoven in this story is the history of starvation and displacement perpetrated by the RCMP and the Canadian government against Boushie's ancestors.
WASÁSE - INDIGENOUS PATHWAYS OF ACTION AND FREEDOM
Taiaiake Alfred
Written by renowned Kahnawà:ke academic and intellectual, Taiaiake Alfred, this book aims to create a path towards the decolonization of pan-Indigenous groups that results in true liberation from settler colonialism.
WARRIOR LIFE
Pam Palmater
Mi'kmaq lawyer, professor, and activist, Pam Palmeter's podcast "is about living a warrior life - a lifestyle that focuses on decolonizing our minds, bodies and spirits through education, health and community." Listen to hear ongoing stories of struggle in so-called Canada.
KANEHSATAKE: 270 YEARS OF RESISTANCE
Alanis Obomsawin
From the NFB description: "On a July day in 1990, a confrontation propelled Native issues in Kanehsatake and the village of Oka, Quebec, into the international spotlight. Director Alanis Obomsawin spent 78 nerve-wracking days and nights filming the armed stand-off between the Mohawks, the Quebec police and the Canadian army. This powerful documentary takes you right into the action of an age-old Aboriginal struggle."
THE WORLD COFFEE MARKET IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES, FROM COLONIAL TO NATIONAL REGIMES
Steven Topik
Historian Steven Topik examines the development of the world coffee market from its creation within European colonies towards its nationalization as these states gained their independence.
MOBILIZING LABOUR FOR THE GLOBAL COFFEE MARKET: PROFITS FROM AN UNFREE WORK REGIME IN COLONIAL JAVA
Jan Breman
This open access piece discusses the impact of colonialism on the development of the coffee production sector in Java, and the ways the Dutch government profited off the slavery and debt peonage of Indigenous communities.
COFFEE AND INDIGENOUS LABOUR IN GUATEMALA 1871 - 1980
David McCreery
A historical research piece that clearly explains how Indigenous people were forced by the German and Latino landowner class into the mandamiento system of forced labour, requiring them to work indefinitely for these major landowners at great personal risk. This system then laid the groundwork for the existing Guatemala coffee economy today.
ANTI-RACISM AND DECOLONIZATION
THE INNER WORK OF RACIAL JUSTICE
Rhonda V Magee
Rhonda's book investigates how mindfulness can be used to combat the unconscious biases and implicit racism we have adopted through our existence within a white supremacist structure. Rather than relying on mindfulness as a solitary personal growth and empowerment narrative, she aims to show how it can be used to overcome the systemic racism surrounding us.
BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME
Ta-Nahisi Coates
Journalist and writer, Ta-Nahisi Coates, presents one of the most valuable books on race in North America to date. Written as a letter to his son, he examines the historical and current instantiations of anti-Black racism in the United States.
HOW TO BE ANTI-RACIST
Ibram X. Kendi
Rather than settling on being "non-racist," Ibram Kendi's lays out a vision for a world that is actively anti-racist, and examines how we can use this perspective to rebuild society as we know it.
BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASKS
Frantz Fanon
This seminal work by philosopher Frantz Fanon is a necessary read for anyone interested in decolonizing or unlearning the colonial mindset that of necessity places the Black or POC individua and community as subservient to White-ness.