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:
National Bail Fund Network - https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory
The Bail Project - https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project
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
Campaign Zero - https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
Reclaim the Block - https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home
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:
Black Minds Matter UK - https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-minds-matter-uk?
Stop Hate UK - https://www.stophateuk.org/fundraising/
Show Racism the Red Card - https://www.theredcard.org/fundraise
Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust - https://www.stephenlawrence.org.uk/what-we-do/
HOPE not hate - https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/
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 (White House) - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/justice-george-floyd-0
Justice For George Floyd (Change.org) - http://chng.it/vsp8bbzhHj
Justice For George Floyd (Color of Change) - https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforfloyd_george_floyd_minneapolis/?sp_ref=.176.207236.o.1.2&referring_akid=.9710586.HGvPnq&source=c2c
Raise The Degree (White House) - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/raise-degree-remove-bail-derek-chauvin-murderer-george-floyd
Raise The Degree (Change.org) - http://chng.it/dnJYFMZFQy
Arrest The Other Three (White House) - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/arrest-other-three
Justice For Breonna Taylor (MoveOn) - https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/justiceforbre-police-officers-who-killed-breonna-taylor-must-be-fired
Justice for Breonna Taylor (Color of Change) - https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforbre-breonna-taylor-officers-fired/?sp_ref=645176587.176.206799.o.1.2&referring_akid=.9710586.HGvPnq&source=c2c
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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