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    • Jun 4, 2020
    • 5 min read

A Collection of Anti-Racism Resources #BLM

Written by Anushka Kumar

Image from Vox.com


Reading everything on social media, it can be hard to know where to start and how to help. It’s important to take your anti-racism beyond just posting on social media and following the ‘trend’. Below you will find a list of ways that you can help, from donating, signing petitions, protesting and educating yourself. Whatever you choose to do, remember the most important thing is educating yourself. Please don’t rely on the black people around you to educate you on what to do, it’s not their job and it’s a great deal of emotional labour. 


If you want to donate and help right now: 


Donations are important, and Zoe Amira has created a video which anyone can watch - all of the advert revenue from this video goes to supporting various BLM organisations. You can have this on in the background, and watch it multiple times! You can watch this here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCgLa25fDHM&feature=youtu.be


If you’re able to, donations can really help right now in a number of ways. Knowing where to donate right now can be hard, and if you’re at a loss then we’d love to help you find the right organisation for you to support. Make sure that you check the organization’s website before you donate, because many of them are receiving more donations right now than they know what to do with (including the Minnesota Freedom Fund) and have asked that people donate elsewhere for now.


If you’d like to donate to bail funds for protestors, you can find a few here: 


ActBlue will split any donation you make between 38 community bail funds - https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd?refcode=cwg


If you’d like to support organisations in America who are fighting for POC rights, you can find a selection here: 


Black Visions Collective - https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/

The ACLU has chapters across America, which you can find through their website: https://www.aclu.org/

Black Lives Matter - https://blacklivesmatter.com/

NYC Black Mutual Aid - https://twitter.com/NYCBlackAid

My Block, My Hood, My City - https://www.formyblock.org

This list of organizations specifically in Minneapolis/Minnesota which you can donate to instead of the Minnesota Freedom Fund - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yLWGTQIe3967hdc9RSxBq5s6KKZHe-3_mWp5oemd7OA/preview?pru=AAABcpUiX3k%2AY6Q4I6UBtkH3lLz9GVLg0A


If you’d like to support organisations helping POC in the UK: 


Show Racism the Red Card - https://www.theredcard.org/fundraise

Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust - https://www.stephenlawrence.org.uk/what-we-do/


You can find a spreadsheet of more charities and organisations supporting POC in the UK here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15gBiGqIB5ViNtfl__jlER0qNNRkxX8R0GGuryMu2k4A/edit#gid=0 (Sourced from Crack Magazine) 



As helpful as donations can be, there is more that can be done. There are a number of petitions going around at the moment to further causes, which you can find here:


The UK currently exports rubber bullets, tear gas and riot shields to the US. You can sign a petition to end this here - http://chng.it/N6xgsNJ2



Justice For George Floyd (Change.org) - http://chng.it/vsp8bbzhHj




Raise The Degree (Change.org) - http://chng.it/dnJYFMZFQy


Arrest The Other Three (White House) - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/arrest-other-three




Disbarment of George E. Barnhill (Change.org) - http://chng.it/pSNt5YPKXy


Justice for Ahmuad Arbery (Change.org) - http://chng.it/4SJHkq4yGY


Pass Georgia Hate Crime Bill (Change.org) - http://chng.it/cg7Csrx4wx


Life Sentence for Police Brutality (Change.org) - http://chng.it/qydMHbgNqy


Justice for Regis Korchinski-Paquet (Change.org) - http://chng.it/w2kxRXyd79


Justice for Tony McDade (Change.org) - http://chng.it/VdSWjVY5Vd


Justice for Joāo Pedro (Change.org) - http://chng.it/DPtqmvbjK4


Julius Jones innocence (Change.org) - http://chng.it/59GsHfXkYS


Justice for Belly Mujinga (Change.org) - http://chng.it/6yFSvHkrDB


Free Willie Simmons (Change.org) - http://chng.it/2pkQs7NFKJ


Hands Up Act (Change.org) - http://chng.it/hbrNqmDHRV


National Action Against Police Brutality (Change.org) - http://chng.it/5Jvvrt4yW2


Free Kyjuanzi Harris (Change.org) - http://chng.it/SQXT5YKHj9


Justice for Alejandro Vargas Martinez (Change.org) - http://chng.it/CPXTktTf4J


Censorship Of Police Brutality In France (Change.org) - http://chng.it/rgrWPBqyD7


Justice for Sheku Bayoh (Change.org) - https://t.co/he1KgHb32N?amp=1



Make white privilege and systemic racism a compulsory part of the British education course (Change.org) - https://t.co/FQS7L768lu?amp=1



For Edinburgh University students - you can sign this letter to Peter Mathieson asking the University to become more proactively anti-racist - https://www.change.org/p/university-of-edinburgh-s-actions-against-racism?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22581575_en-GB%3Av11&recruiter=968100446&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition



There are also protests and marches that are happening in the UK that you can attend to show your support: 


June 5th: 

  • Bristol - College Green, 1pm 


June 6th: 

  • London - Parliament Square, 1pm 

  • Manchester - Piccadilly Gardens, 1pm 

  • Leicester - Clock Tower, 1pm 

  • Sheffield - Devonshire Green, 1pm 

  • Ipswich - Town Hall, 2pm 


June 7th: 

  • London - US Embassy, 2pm 

  • Nottingham, Market Square 12pm (organised independently of Black Lives Matter UK - Nottingham Activists) 

  • Manchester - St Peter’s Square, 2pm 

  • Edinburgh - Holyrood Park, 1pm 

  • Glasgow - George Square, 2pm 

  • Bristol - College Green, 2pm 

  • Norwich - Haymarket, 2pm 

  • Coventry - Godiva, 1pm 

  • Derby - Derby Council House, 2pm 

  • Colchester - Castle Park, 1pm 


June 8th: 

  • Dublin - The Spire, 1pm 


June 10th: 

  • Hull - Queens Gardens, 1pm 


June 13th: 

  • Reading - Town Hall, 12pm 

  • Kings Lynn - Town Hall, 2pm 


Please remember to wear a mask, carry hand sanitiser, water and food if you’re attending any protests. Please also remember to carry ID, and memorise a phone number for someone you can call in case of emergency/arrest. Stay safe and remember that anyone has the right to protest. 


Please remember that you can also always contact your parliamentary representatives to ask what they’re doing about racial issues, both within the UK and condemning the situation in America. It’s important to remember that the UK is not innocent, racial issues may not be as public here as they are in the US, but that does not mean that people of colour are not being harmed, prejudiced against, and excluded across the country. There is always more that can be done, and there is always more that you can be doing. If you are confused about what you can say to your parliamentary representative, who they are or how to get into contact - this article by Vice is helpful, you can access it here - https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/4aywy3/write-to-your-uk-mp-demand-action-solidarity-anti-racism-protestors?fbclid=IwAR05CGiWSLvrGdqDyuAthf1ZaIQO_UTZE9JR65q4rdIDx4kw5yZM6xMRn9E


If you’d like to learn more about race issues:

It can feel really hard to start the process of educating yourself on racial issues, but it's incredibly important that everyone has an understanding. POC and white people alike, everyone needs to understand what’s happening across the globe, from physical aggressions, like police brutality, or microaggressions that POC face every single day. Please don’t rely on your POC friends to educate you, it can be a great deal of emotional labour, and can be exhausting. It’s up to every individual to educate themselves, so please do the work.


Please also remember that you can email your parliamentary representatives to ask for race issues, racial privilege, and the UK’s racial history to be taught in schools in the core curriculum. This is a massive failing of the education system, and it needs to change. 


Be sure to order these books from your local radical/POC-owned bookstore - not Amazon!


Here’s a list of books you can read to gain some understanding:


‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ by Reni Eddo Lodge (@renieddologe on Instagram)


‘There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack’ by Paul Gilroy


‘Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor’ by Layla F Saad (@laylafsaad on Instagram)

‘My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter’ by Aja Monet (@ajamonet on Instagram)

‘Superior: The Return of Race Science’ by Angela Saini (@AngelaDSaini) 


Check out @badformreview’s post with a reading list by following this link.


Here’s a list of Instagram accounts which can help you gain an understanding: 


Good Good Good (@goodgoodgoodco) has made an easy to understand post on How To be Actively Antiracist, which you can check out here.


Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargle) on Instagram


@UKblackpride



If you’d like to learn more about reforming the prison and police systems:


Check out Melissa Lozada-Olivia (@ellomelissa)’s post on building a police-free future here.


‘Are Prisons Obsolete’ by Angela Y. Davis, you can access the free ebook here - http://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Angela-Davis-Are_Prisons_Obsolete.pdf


‘The End of Policing’ by Alex S. Vitale, you can access the free ebook via Verso Books here: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2817-the-end-of-policing


‘Police: A Field Guide’ by David Correia and Tyler Wall, you can access the free ebook via Verso Books here: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2530-police



Feel free to comment any other resources below.



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