“I missed it by a week”
#BlackoutTuesday happened last Tuesday, I know. And I still posted on that day, I know. And I finally figured out just now how to disable most ads on specific posts, I know. Actually, I’m still apparently unable to disable all the ads on specific posts for whatever reason. All of this is tacky and tasteless, I know. To my defense, I, one, didn’t know that it was happening until it was already Tuesday, and two, I scheduled Sirenhead to post right after my Black Lives Matter post went live. So it was already too late once I realized what was happening. But I guess it’s okay because not everyone was into it and it might not have helped anyway? I don’t know. But, at any rate, let’s pretend that I posted this last week, if you’re willing to cut me some slack. And I’ll let the people who know a lot more than me do the talking. There are definitely more important things going on right now than some random-ass white boy’s scary stories.
Here are some references that I’ve found helpful for learning more about the movement and the history of systemic racism in America, and organizations on the front-line of justice that are worth donating to. I donated, and if you can afford it, so should you. Mainly meaning white people like me. If you’ve been unable to go to the protests for one reason or another, donating is definitely better than nothing.
Black Lives Matter, the eponymous group that’s championing civil rights in America today.
Reclaim the Block, a Minneapolis group devoted to moving funds from police to community programs.
The Bail Project, which provides bail money to activists and those wrongly accused.
A similar bail project that splits the donations evenly between 70 or so different organizations. I don’t think this link will be valid in a couple months, but for right now, it is.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is always a good donation opportunity, too.
8 Can’t Wait, a campaign focused specifically on use-of-force police reform.
Campaign Zero, the broader police-reform parent organization of #8cantwait.
A piece about being black in Naperville, which hits especially close to home because Naperville is literally close to my home. Also, Naperville is straight-up one of the most racist Chicago suburbs. The rest of the suburbs aren’t great either, but Naperville seems a hell of a lot worse. Just saying.
Another, older article about being black in America.
Alternatively, here’s a recent piece about being black in America, published by the famously unbiased NPR.
An article about how to promote racial equality in the workplace, as a white person.
How white people can do what they’re asked to do. Probably a pretty important one for me.
Those 75 things that white people can do that I keep posting about.
An article I cited in my other post that talks about how you can explain white privilege to impoverished white people.
White Privilege, the classic text on the subject (and one I’ve referenced before).
A USA Today article on the longer history of systemic oppression of black people by the police.
A National Geographic article that I can’t read because I don’t have a NatGeo account, but it seems relevant anyway. It’s about why more needs to be done beyond protesting. Like donating. And then more beyond that, probably.
A list about finding protests near you. Though this is specifically about George Floyd, the ideas behind it apply to any protest or movement you want to find.
A short TIME piece from way back during the Ferguson riots about rioting itself. Riots are the language of the unheard. Rioting and looting aren’t necessarily the same. Not all protesters are looters, and not all looters are protesters. Also, don’t forget that the Boston Tea Party was literally just looting that American history has now glorified.
An article specifically about looting, and why it’s such a complex topic and you can’t just tweet it away.
A brief reminder of the hypocritical moron we have as a president. Clearly he isn’t a friend to peaceful protesters if he tear-gasses them away when it’s inconvenient. And I don’t even think he’s read the Bible, anyway.
Another reminder that the NFL, despite trying to silence its players forever, is even (sort of) on board now.
Even Electronic Arts, the sports-game tyrant and buggy mess of a company, is seeing the light.
And, just for fun, a bundle of 700+ video games you can buy to support the movement for racial justice. If flagrant human rights violations aren’t enough to open your wallet, anyway. And if you can afford it, of course.
The list goes on and on. This is just the tip of the iceberg of information that is worth reading about this topic. I won’t lie, I haven’t read every article on this list. Most of them, yes, but not all. I’ve checked them over, vetted them and all that, of course. But there’s so much info, sometimes finding the good stuff can be hard. Hopefully this is at least a little reference list that someone finds helpful.
Black Lives Matter. I can’t do everything, but I can at least do something, and so can everyone else if they want to see a change in this world.
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