Black Lives Matter. Take Action.
Have you spoken up for change?
(UPDATED JUNE 1, 2020)
If you feel overwhelmed or anxious or angry or saddened by what is happening right now in the USA, please take action. We must join hands in combating racism and prejudice together. It starts here & now - engage your peers who are not discussing current events, speak up when a friend makes a racist joke, start conversations even if they are uncomfortable, work to evolve your own vocabulary and how you describe others. Listen to the stories and experiences of your black friends. Watch documentaries, read books, sign petitions, donate money.
We need to collectively shift our perspective, as simply 'not being a racist is not enough. Yes, all lives matter, but right now, today in this moment, black people need our undivided attention. #BlackLivesMatter always. If you have a story you would like to share, we are here to support you and would like to give you the opportunity to do so. Please reach out.
We have compiled a list of petitions & resources you can visit if you are looking to take action. The Fem Word is not directly associated with any of the organizations, publications or media listed below.
Get involved
Justice for George Floyd - The goal of this petition is to "reach the attention of Mayor Jacob Frey and DA Mike Freeman to beg to have the officers involved in this disgusting situation fired and for charges to be filed immediately." As of June 1, 2020, 10,364,964 have signed. The goal is 10,500,000 signatures. The officers involved have been fired and arrested, but there is more work to be done.
Black Lives Matter - “Join the Movement to fight for Freedom, Liberation and Justice by signing up for updates, supporting our work, checking out our resources, following us on social media, or wearing our dope, official gear.”
Color of Change - This organization designs “campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward. Until justice is real.”
Campaign Zero- You can review their campaign, which consists of an “agenda [that] outlines a set of policy solutions that can effectively reduce police violence nationwide. It includes policies that have effectively reduced police shootings and other forms of police violence in places that have implemented them. By scaling up what works we can achieve substantial reductions in police violence nationwide - saving lives and making communities safer.”
National Police Accountability Project - “The central mission of NPAP is to promote the accountability of law enforcement officers and their employers for violations of the Constitution and the laws of the United States…With over 500 members and growing, we continue to effect change in the flawed legal system and fight to put an end to police brutality of all forms.”
Official George Floyd Memorial Fund- Created by the family of George Floyd, “this fund is established to cover funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings, and to assist our family in the days to come as we continue to seek justice for George. A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund.” As of June 1, 2020, $7,111,070 has been raised. The goal was $1,500,000.
Communities United Against Police Brutality - This Minnesota based organization offers countless ways to get involved in the fight to combat police brutality. The organization’s “overriding goal is to create a climate of resistance to abuse of authority by police organizations and to empower local people with a structure that can take on police brutality and actually bring it to an end.”
Minnesota Freedom Fund - Help to pay jail bonds for those who cannot afford to fight discriminatory and coercive jailing.
#SayHerName - “A movement that calls attention to police violence against Black women, girls and femmes, and demands that their stories be integrated into calls for justice, policy responses to police violence, and media representations of police brutality.”
Loveland Therapy Fund - Loveland Therapy Fund provides financial assistance to Black women and girls nationally seeking therapy.
Read
An Essential Anti-Racist Reading List by Hayley Maitland via Vogue U.K.
Vogue assembled a “reading list to help you better understand the context of the protests following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who died in custody after an officer from the Minneapolis Police Department stood on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.”
13 Books You Should Read About Black Lives via The Cut
Black People Need Stronger White Allies — Here’s How You Can Be One by Stephanie Long via Refinery29
“R29Unbothered reached out to activist and community organizer Leslie Mac, whose work is rooted in helping white people become better allies. In this as told to, Mac discusses the importance of understanding white supremacy culture and why, as she’s said previously, “learning that racism and white supremacy exist is not an end goal.”
Becoming a Parent in the Age of Black Lives Matter by Clint Smith via The Atlantic
“When the movement for black lives began, I did not have children. Now the fight means more to me—coupled with fears that are even deeper.”
Watch
“Black creatives are inviting audiences into the black households, into the black bodies, that shudder and groan under the weight of dispossession compelled by racial inequities in American policing. We are wailing, in theaters and in our communities. We are wailing in a prison industrial complex that profits from our incarceration. But we do more than grieve: In these projects, redemption is achieved via the survivors who remember and tell, who bear witness and persevere in the pursuit of American justice.” - Eisa Nefertari Ulen, Hollywood Reporter
13th - “Ava DuVernay’s Netflix Originals documentary is devastating, impassioned, well researched, and breathtakingly smart. The movie explores the history of racial inequality in America, while also questioning why the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans. The answers proposed in 13th are staggering.” (via Film Daily) Watch on Netflix.
Whose Streets - A film by Sabaah Folayan “Centered around how the community fought back following the murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown, Whose Streets? offers a vivid illumination of society’s continued ills.” (via Film Daily) Watch on Hulu.
Fruitvale Station - A film by Ryan Coogler, it depicts the events "leading up to the murder of Oscar Grant (a man killed by a police officer at the Fruitvale district station in Oakland), Coogler connects the political to the emotional in telling the story of the man and not the headline or the statistic." (via Film Daily) Watch on YouTube
The Hate U Give - “The adaptation of the bestselling novel teaches about Tupac Shakur and the Black Panther Party's Ten-Point Program. By capitalizing on the vitality of a new generation and trusting them to rise up, the film teaches an alien audience to wise up.” (via Culture Whisper) Watch on Amazon Prime
More:
Check out this list from Culture Whisper - Black Lives Matter: A Watchlist to Educate
Check out this list from Film Daily - ‘Rest In Power’: All the best Black Lives Matter-Inspired Content
SHARE mental health RESOURCES
Therapy Resources for People of Color
Black Girls Smile - An organization that provides education, resources & programs so that young black females can lead a positive mentally healthy life
BEAM - An online directory of licensed Black therapists who are certified to provide telemental health services
Global Suicide Hotline Resources
We will continue to update this list.
#justice #equality #blm