MLK Resource Guide

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MLK Resource Guide “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

January 20, 2025 marks the 30th Anniversary of MLK Day of Service. This day, each year, is an opportunity for individuals across the country to unite to focus on a brighter, more inclusive world. The focus of this year's MLK Day of Service is Building Better Communities by uniting, serving and transforming.

The Up2Us VISTA program believes that one way to build better communities is by sharing knowledge to gain understanding and build connections. The Up2Us VISTA members gathered resources they believe tell the story of community, social impact, community engagement and social justice across media platforms. We’ve compiled those resources into a guide that reflects a span of topics, communities and interests.

It is our hope that by engaging with these resources, individuals will have opportunities to build compassion, engage in conversation and gain new perspectives. This tool is designed for individual reflection, group dialogue and community dispersion.

As we reflect on the impact Martin Luther King Jr. had on paving paths of unity in moments of division, we encourage you to approach these resources with an open mind and heart. Together, we can continue to lay the foundation for a future of stronger, more united communities.

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What to read...

Books: Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete by William C. Rhoden This book dissects the African American athletes' role in sports and looks at sports at the professional level as a system.

A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper This book is the true story of a group of men who form America's first all-Black high school rowing team in Chicago.

Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott This is a true story of a child named Dasani Coates growing up in extreme poverty in New York City. The book follows Dasani over eight years of her life and touches on issues such as hunger, drug addiction, violence, housing instability, segregated schools, and the child-protection system. Elliott's book is based on nearly a decade of her reporting and illuminates critical issues of inequality in America.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander A seminal book that examines racial discrimination in the criminal justice system and its impact on communities of color.

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Benching Jim Crow: The Rise and Fall of the Color Line in Southern College Sports, 1890-1980 by Charles Martin Chronicling the uneven rise and slow decline of segregation in American college athletics, author Charles H. Martin shows how southern colleges imposed their policies of racial exclusion on surprisingly compliant northern teams and explains the social forces that eventually forced these southern schools to accept integrated competition. Martin emphasizes not just the racism prevalent in football and basketball in the South, but the effects of this discrimination for colleges and universities all over the country.

articles: United Soccer Coaches Black Coaches Advocacy Group The United Soccer Coaches Black Coaches Advocacy Group is a committee dedicated to all coaches of soccer through leadership, education, communication, and cooperation with other organizations. Their goal is to advance Black men and women in the game of soccer, improving participation and access to leadership positions.

Age-Oriented Tips for Helping Girls Build an Athlete Identity in Sports by Positive Coaching Alliance Girls that develop athlete identities with support are more likely to stay in sports through their lives. This resource provides age-oriented tips for getting and keeping girls in the game.

Thriving Through Sport by the Women's Sports Foundation This new report from the Women's Sports Foundation examines the relationship between girls’ sport participation and mental health. The data provides strong evidence that in high-quality sport settings, playing sports can help lower depression and anxiety and enhance peer relationships and meaning and purpose.

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Assessing Community Needs and Resources by Community Tool Box This chapter emphasizes the importance of analyzing community problems and provides steps on how to do it.

The 1619 Project by the New York Times The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.

Hundreds of California Prison Inmates Fight Wildfires - and Stigma by Brandon Drenon This article describes the nearly 1,000 incarcerated men and women who have joined the frontlines to help fight the Southern California wildfires.

Beyond the Board: Findings from the Field by USC This USC skate study delves into the mental and physical health of skateboarders in the U.S. as well as the influence of the sport on their perception of self.

The Drake Group: Advancing Positive Athletic Change in College Athletics The Drake Group aims to educate policymakers about critical issues in intercollegiate athletics. They have issued a number of reports that address and provide solutions to the most concerning issues in the space.

Women in Soccer This network on LinkedIn provides resources for women in the soccer industry, including job postings, upcoming webinars, news, and more.

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Letter from Birmingham Jail The renowned 1963 letter that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for his involvement in civil rights protests, is summarized in the article "Letter from Birmingham Jail" on the Encyclopedia of Alabama website. King writes this letter in response to a group of white clergymen who called his actions "unwise and untimely." King argues that African Americans cannot wait any longer for their rights and that direct action and civil disobedience are essential in the fight for racial justice. Renowned for its potent moral and philosophical arguments against racial injustice and segregation, the letter is regarded as a pivotal document in the American civil rights movement.

MLS Black Players for Change BPC is a collection of Black soccer players who leverage their influence and visibility to drive meaningful change. Exec. Dir. Allen Hopkins Jr. recounts the growth and success of the collective in 2024.

Shop With A Cop Brings Smiles, Joy to Local Kids by The Coatesville Times Started 13 years ago, Shop with A Cop program provides children in the Coatesville Area School District with the opportunity to partner with a police officer and go shopping with money provided.

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What to watch... film: The Central Park Five The Central Park Five is a documentary about the Central Park jogger case. It covers the arrests, interrogations, trials, convictions, and vacating the convictions of the five men who were teenagers in 1989 at the time of the case.

Am I Racist?

This movie lightly tackles many cultural nuances, incuding diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

Do The Right Thing The 1989 film by Spike Lee tackles race relations and police brutality in America within the microcosm of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant and the tensions between Italian and Black community members. Though it was initially criticized for its explicit depiction of police brutality and racism, it was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1999, citing its preservation as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", with themes that have been shockingly brought to the forefront of America's consciousness since the murder of George Floyd.

The Last Dance This 10-part documentary series chronicles Michael Jordan's career and leadership.

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The Six Triple Eight In the midst of World War II, over 800 women group up to deliver mail that has been backed for years. While trying to deliver optimism and hope, they face discrimination and sexism, but they overcome the injustices to achieve their goal.

Black Rowers and Coaches Roundtable Sponsored by Rowing in Color, this panel of great voices in rowing discuss the Black experience in rowing and the hardships and successes faced. Rowing in Color is an organization dedicated directly to providing only rowers of color a platform and space to row and connect.

Just Mercy The film is about a world-renowned civil rights defense attorney, Bryan Stevenson, who works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.

The Long Game This movie is the true story of a group of Latino boys who set out to play in a golf league with white men.

The Black Panthers: The Vanguard of the Revolution This documentary sheds light on the Black Panthers and their community efforts, resistance, and the myth of their history and violence in current education. This film goes into detail about how they directly served Black communities across the U.S., especially in the Oakland/LA areas of California.

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Jacir Jacir is the story of a Syrian refugee in Memphis, Tennessee during Trump's first administration. It shines light on the refugee experience, through the lens of a young professional who faces poverty, social injustice and racism at the hands of his community, while fleeing from the death of his family and destruction of his home. It addresses the divisiveness of the U.S. political system and the immigrant experience in America today.

Selma A historical drama that portrays Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches.

When They See Us A Netflix mini-series based on the true story of the Central Park Five.

The Banker Based on a true story, this film explores race and economics. In the 1960s, two African-American entrepreneurs hire a working-class white man to pretend to be the head of their business empire while they pose as a janitor and chauffeur.

Broken This is a captivating documentary on Netflix that delves into the hidden flaws of various consumer goods industries and how they insinuate dangerous effects on public health, safety, and the environment.

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Coach Carter In 1999, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) returns to his old high school in Richmond, California, to get the basketball team into shape. With tough rules and academic discipline, he succeeds in setting the players on a winning streak. But when their grades start to suffer, Carter locks them out of the gym and shuts down their championship season. When he is criticized by the players and their parents, he sticks to his guns, determined that they excel in class as well as on the court.

Unstoppable This film centers around Anthony Robles, NCAA Champion wrestler.

What to listen to... podcasts: Code Switch from NPR A podcast that explores race, identity, and social justice in America, offering diverse perspectives and thought-provoking conversations.

Rowing in Color by Denise Aquino and Patricia Destine Led by two women of color who were former rowers, this podcast discusses promoting diversity in rowing.

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song: Fables of Faubus by Charles Mingus Originally released in 1959, this is a song by Charles Mingus that protests segregation. Faubus was the governor of Arkansas who sent the National Guard to stop integration at Central High School in Little Rock.

ways to use the guide...

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Host a Book Club/Watch Party/Listening Party Choose one of the resources in the guide. Gather co-workers, friends, community members to read, watch or listen to the chosen resource. Ask participants to bring questions or formulate your own questions to lead a discussion or reflection.

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Send to Your Community This tool is meant to be shared far and wide. Ask to add the link to the tool to your organization's monthly newsletter. You can also send to your friends, family or those in your network.

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Engage on Social Media Develop a Community Connections campaign on social media. Post about a resource, where to access it, then include ways to engage in conversation about the topics presented in the article.

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Create an Affinity Group In your office or amongst your friends, create a Community Affinity Group.

Each month, participants can come together to talk about topics happening in the community or across the country. Use this group as a safe space for dialogue on topics that are directly impacting affinity group members.

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Journal Reflections Each week, pick a resource to engage with, then set a timer for ten minutes. Use that time to reflect, dream, rage or dissect your feelings and emotions related to what you read, heard or saw.

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