About Libertroph

Libertroph is a collection of art and stories about white anti-racist organizing past and present. It is a reckoning with what white culture is and what exists beyond it. And it is an invitation for more white people to take up the life-giving work of anti-racist organizing.

“There’s been a culture built around segregation and assimilation; but there has not been a sustainable culture built around anti-racism. Not yet. How do we build a culture in which white people name their children in the tradition of anti-racist heroes? What are the stories of that culture? What are the rules of admonishment and rules of acceptance? What does the elderhood process look like in an anti-racist culture? How do we teach our white children about race in a way that is open and honest but doesn’t center them as the standard?”

- DR. RESMAA MENAKEM

The “culture built around segregation and assimilation” is over-protected in dominant media and cultural narratives. But there are, have been, and will be white people defying that culture by interrupting police violence, parenting their children in anti-racist ways, uncovering their ancestral traditions, paying Indigenous land taxes, and so much more. Libertroph Magazine exists to uplift and multiply these stories.

LIBERTROPH (noun): One who is nourished by liberation

The root ‘liber’ means free. The suffix ‘troph’ refers to nourishment.

Plants that are nourished by sunlight are phototrophs. Heterotrophs depend on other organic compounds for nourishment, whereas autotrophs nourish themselves. 

As anti-racist organizers, we bend toward liberation for nourishment. We show up to protests to find strength in community; we share art and stories to nurture our visions; we move through conflict to cultivate accountable relationships that sustain us over time. 

We are Libertrophs.