WHAT TO DO

Join us in ACTING. In educating yourselves, and working to change this rigged system to make it work for ALL of us. If you wouldn’t want to be treated the way any particular group or person is being treated, work to change the system that is causing that. 

There are ways for all of us to help. You might not be able to get out and protest. You might not be able to give financial support. But I guarantee there are things that you can do to chip away at these inequities. How about pledging to take action on just one thing a day? Give something, talk to someone, educate yourself or your children, make sure you’re ready to VOTE, shop with black owned businesses. Do SOMETHING.  Here are a few things to choose from:

 

ACT

Text FLOYD to 55156 to demand all four officers involved with Floyd's death be charged and arrested.

Sign the petition for George Floyd


Call DA Michael Freeman at (618) 324-4499 to demand all four officers be charged and arrested.


Contact your congresspeople and ask them to support Reps. Pressley and Omar's resolution condemning police brutality.


Vote!  Make sure you're registered.

This takes 15 seconds: https://defund12.org/nyc


Support black owned businesses.

Here's VOGUE's list of black owned businesses.

 

Email the City of Minneapolis

Sign the Petition for justice for Breonna Taylor

Sign the Petition to divest from policing

Sign the Petition to direct the DOJ to collect information about police violence

Contact Your State Government

Contact you local governments

Comprehensive list of accessible actions

Safely put your body on the line at a protest 

De-centering yourself at a protest if you’re white

Support protesters from home if you’re not able to be in the streets

Talk to your family about race

Talk to your children about race, and be aware of how early they learn bias. Tolerance.org


Black Lives Matter Protester Resources

 

DONATE

Donate your credit card rewards

Unicorn Riot: an alternative media organization of artists and journalists dedicated to amplifying stories and exploring sustainable alternatives. They have been reporting live from the Minneapolis protests to help to amplify the voice of the protesters. 

 

NAACP Legal Defense Fund: Since 1940, NAACP LDF has been the vanguard of the fight for civil rights and racial justice in the courts. They continue to fight to promote full, equal, and active participation of African Americans in America’s democracy.

 

Campaign Zero: has put together a comprehensive platform of research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America. They also provide tools for individuals to directly advocate to their elected leaders for policy solutions to end police violence.

 

Movement for Black Lives: seeks to reach millions, mobilize hundreds of thousands, and organize tens of thousands, so that Black political power is a force able to influence national and local agendas in the direction of our shared Vision for Black Lives.

 

BYP100: Black Youth Project 100 is a member-based organization of Black youth activists creating justice and freedom for all Black people. They mobilize through building a network focused on transformative leadership development, direct action organizing, advocacy, and education. With multiple chapters across the country, we are asking you to support the Washington, DC, New York City, and Chicago chapters. 

 

TGI Justice Project: a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people—inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers—working in collaboration to fight against human rights abuses, imprisonment, police violence, racism, poverty, and societal pressures. We seek to create a world rooted in self- determination, freedom of expression, and gender justice.

 

Audre Lorde Project: Rooted in LGBTQI communities and movements, they work to ensure that their resources reach the activists who need them most and who are best positioned to make transformational impact over time. They raise and distribute funds to programs and initiatives led by and for diverse constituencies, prioritizing groups led by lesbians and queer women, trans and gender non-conforming people, intersex people, and people of color.

 

Metro Atlanta Mutual Aid Fund: was created by community members from metro-Atlanta who have witnessed the needs of their neighbors at this time of crisis. They are grounded in a pro-Black, anti-white supremacist, anticapitalist, black feminist politic and utilize an intersectional analysis of oppression. They only distribute funds to Black, Indigeneous, and people of color communities, with special attention paid to gender/sexuality/class/immigration status.

 

National Bail Fund Network: made up of over sixty community bail and bond funds across the country. They are also fighting to abolish the money bail system and pretrial detention. 

Equal Justice Initiative: The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

 

Community Bail Funds: Split donation between 40 bail funds

The Bail Project

National Bail Fund Network

Color of Change: Campaigns that build real power for Black communities 

Black Visions Collective

 

Reclaim the Block

Know Your Rights Camp

Minnesota Freedom Fund

George Floyd Memorial Fund

Black Lives Matter

Communities Against Police Brutality

I Run With Maud

American Civil Liberties Union

 

LISTEN

1619 (New York Times)

About Race

Code Switch (NPR)

Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw

Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast

Pod For The Cause (Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)

Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)

Seeing White

Parenting Forward podcast episode "Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt"

Fare of the Free Child Podcast

 

WATCH

13th (Netflix)

American Son (Netflix)

Dear White People (Netflix)

If Beale St Could Talk (Hulu)

King in the Wilderness (HBO)

See You Yesterday (Netflix)

The Hate You Give (Cinemax)

When They See Us (Netflix)

 

READ

An introduction into white privilege 

Racial contract in America 

What white Americans can learn about racism from Corona Virus 

Why All Lives Matter is problematic and not helpful

What white people can do to support racial justice

Reading Lists from the Chicago Public Library

Reading list from US Prison Culture

Resources from 100 Year Hoodie

Trevor Noah contextualizing why looting is happening

Comprehensive list of anti-racism resources

 

 

Organizations to donate to, broken up by type by New York Magazine:

 

Victim memorial funds

Donations will go toward supporting the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, James Scurlock, Tony McDade, David McAtee, and Breonna Taylor.

 George Floyd Memorial Fund

 I Run With Maud

 James Scurlock Memorial Fund

 Tony Mcdade Memorial Fund

 David McAtee Memorial Fund

 Gianna Floyd Fund

 Justice for Breonna Taylor

 

Bail funds

Donations will go toward paying bail/bonds to release protesters jailed in states with bail/bond systems. If you’d like to make a localized contribution to a bail fund in a city or state not shown below, the National Bail Fund Network lists the funds you can donate to in all states with bail/bond systems.

 The Bail Project

 National Bail Out

 National Bail Fund Network COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund

 Atlanta Solidarity Fund

 Louisville Community Bail Fund

 Chicago Community Bond Fund

 Philadelphia Bail Fund

 Nashville Community Bail Fund

 Dallas Bail Fund for Protesters

 People’s Program Bail Out Fund; Oakland, California

 Columbus Freedom Fund; Columbus, Ohio

Megafunds

Single donations will be split between multiple organizations, with the ability to adjust what goes where.

 Act Blue Bail, Mutual Aid, and Racial Justice Organization Funds

 Act Blue Racism and Police Brutality Funds

 Act Blue Bail Funds

Frontline funds

Donations, made via Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, will go directly into the pockets of activists and organizers on the front lines of protests.

 Mitch Gayns’s community supplies fund; donations go to Gayns, the host of Those People podcast and a Boston-based protester who is using the funds for supplies — such as snacks, Band-Aids, and flashlights — for protesters, and providing receipts for purchases on his Twitter feed.

 Isak Douah Minneapolis Gas Mask Fund; donations go to Douah, who is using the money to buy gas masks for black youth activists on the front lines to protect them against tear gas used by the police.

 Black Earth Farms Food Delivery Fund; donations go to Oakland, California–based Black Earth Farms, which is cooking and delivering food to black protesters who have been arrested, bailed, or injured.

Community restoration organizations and funds

Donations will go toward rebuilding businesses and other parts of black communities where protests have occurred and/or have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

 Mutual Aid

 Minnesota Rapid Response Coalition; Twin Cities, Minnesota

 The Lake Street Council; Minneapolis, Minnesota

 Pimento Relief Fund; Minneapolis, Minnesota

 West Broadway Business & Area Coalition; Minneapolis, Minnesota

 Rebuilding Oakland Black Businesses Fund; Oakland, California

 My Block My Hood My City; Chicago, Illinois

Community enrichment organizations

Donations will go toward arts, technical, or other programs for black and brown people.

 Black and Brown Founders

 Black Table Arts

 Embrace Race

 Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities 

 Assata’s Daughters; Chicago, Illinois

 Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha; Twin Cities, Minnesota

 Twin Cities Recovery Project; Twin Cities, Minnesota

 Black Feminist Project; New York City

Youth-oriented community organizations

Donations will go toward funding initiatives for educating black and brown youth, such as programs for coding, activism camps, and providing books for schools.

 Integrate NYC

 GirlTrek

 Black Girls Code

 Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp

 The Conscious Kid

 Pretty Brown Girl

 Gyrl Wonder

Policy reform organizations

Donations will go toward legislative efforts to overturn systemically racist policies at either national, state, or local levels.

 American Civil Liberties Union

 Black Lives Matter Global Network

 Reclaim The Block

 Color of Change Education Fund

 Advancement Project

 Moms Demand Action; donations will be matched dollar for dollar by Everytown, Moms Demand Action’s parent organization

 Black Visions Collective: Minnesota

 Faith in Texas

 Take Action Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, North Carolina

 Austin Justice Coalition; Austin, Texas

 Dallas Alliance Against Racial and Political Repression; Dallas, Texas

 Pull Up or Shut Up

Political organizations

Donations will go toward black-voter education initiatives and supporting black political candidates.

 Fair Fight; National, but mainly Georgia

 Black Voters Matter Fund

 Woke Vote

 Higher Heights

 The Collective Political Action Committee

Police reform organizations

Donations will go toward police reform initiatives, including efforts to redistribute police funding to other social services.

 The National Police Accountability Project

 Campaign Zero

 Communities United for Police Reform

 Communities United Against Police Brutality

 Equality for Flatbush; Brooklyn, New York

Incarceration reform organizations

Donations will go toward prison reform efforts to stop excessive punishment, mass incarceration, incarceration in general, and the creation of new jails and prisons.

 Release Aging People in Prison

 No New Jails NYC

 Equal Justice Initiative

 Prison Book Program

 Dream Defenders

Legal defense funds and organizations

Donations will go toward legal aid and education for black, brown, and other minority groups.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Legal Rights Center

Amistad Law Project

Transgender Law Center Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project

Moral Governance; San Diego, California

Restoring Justice; Texas

Black LGBTQ funds

Donations will go toward providing immediate mental health and health-care support, monetary support, and education to black LGBTQ communities.

 The Nina Pop and Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Fund

 Homeless Black Trans Women Fund; Atlanta, Georgia

 Black Trans Travel Fund; New York City

 Emergency Release Fund; New York City

 F2L Relief Fund; New York State

 Black Trans Advocacy Coalition COVID-19 Community Response Grant

 For The Gworls Party; donations are collected through Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App

Black LGBTQ organizations

Donations will go toward providing ongoing mental health and health-care support, monetary support, and education to black LGBTQ communities.

 House of GG; Arkansas

 Trans Justice Funding Project

 Youth Breakout; New Orleans, Louisiana

 Solutions Not Punishment; Atlanta, Georgia

 Black AIDS Institute

 Trans Cultural District; San Francisco, California

 The Audre Lorde Project; New York City

 The Marsha P. Johnson Institute

 Vocal New York; New York State

 Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society

 Princess Janae Place; New York City

 The Okra Project

Black and brown media organizations

Donations will go toward supporting black and brown media outlets and journalists.

 The Marshall Project

 Unicorn Riot

 Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting

 Migizi

Mental health organizations

Donations will go toward providing mental health care and education to black communities and individuals.

 The Loveland Foundation

 Black Girl in Om

 Sista Afya

 Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective

 You Good Sis Yoga Collective

 National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network

 Peoples Oakland; Oakland, California

 

• Live Another Day - Extensive information on mental health and substance use resources for people of color. Their mission is equal access to life-saving resources. They have guides for black, Latinx, Asian, and native people.

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AMANDA PEARL