Anti-Racism Resources - August 2025
[Image description: On light to dark blue gradient background is an illustration of three raised fists signifying people of color. Above the image is the text “Anti-Racism Resources August 2025” and below is the text “The Intersection of Racism and Anti-Fatness.”]
Each month, we feature educational resources in the NAAFA Newsletter to support our community in working to dismantle systemic racism. These resources are also shared on our social media, blog, and website. Resources vary from month to month, and may include historical information, tools for personal reflection, or information about how to get involved and make change. Many of the resources we suggest will be introductory resources, and this information is never intended to be full coverage on the complex and nuanced topics that are chosen each month. We encourage you to continue learning, and we especially hope you will seek out and support scholars, artists, creators, and activists who represent the communities most impacted by the topic of the month.
This month we invite you to join us in exploring resources about the intersection of racism and anti-fatness.
Black. Fat. Femme. (the book) and BFF: Black, Fat, Femme (the podcast) - Throughout their book and podcast, Dr. Jon Paul is modeling how to live as your authentic self, despite the challenges of living in multiple marginalized identities. They celebrate those in the media who have paved the way, while also acknowledging the pitfalls and limits of mainstream media representation.
NAAFA Webinar Series: Belly Of The Beast: Anti- Fatness as Anti Blackness [Video] - This is a really engrossing and enjoyable interview with Da’Shaun L. Harrison about their book. At just over an hour, it is a good way to get started on your journey to learning how anti-fat biases are rooted in anti-Blackness. You will learn how the two are linked and launch into a deeper understanding of anti-fatness.
Fatness and Intersectionality - This is a guide from the Fat Studies Department at the Pratt Institute highlighting books, articles, and other resources focusing specifically on the intersectionality of race and anti-fat bias.
Food Insecurity, Anti-Blackness, & Fatphobia: What Food Access Advocates Need to Understand - We are living in a political environment in which access to social services is being reduced, which means that millions of families across the US are set to have an even tougher time getting the nourishment we all require to continue living our lives. As food insecurity worsens, it’s important that we remember the ways that this issue, like many issues, is rooted in a history of anti-Blackness and anti-fatness. Following the destruction of systems is a rebuilding and new iteration, and as we think about how we might repair the life-sustaining systems that are currently being torn down, it’s crucial that we remain clear-eyed about the ways that systems of oppression informed our history and present so that we might avoid these same pitfalls in the future.
Anti-fatness as anti-Blackness: Violence at home, violence abroad - Activist and author, Da’Shaun Harrison, uses storytelling of their experiences as a fat, Black child to lead us to the logical progression of understanding “anti-fatness as anti-blackness” and its political underpinnings today.
Fat Phobia And Its Racist Past And Present [Podcast] - NPR’s Short Wave podcast host Maddie Sofia interviews Sabrina Strings, author of the book Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia.
