We have entered a time in history where we can no longer be silent and complacent with the injustice that is surrounding us. Mass demonstrations all across the country, and now the world, have erupted to protest the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others. These protests demand our attention and acknowledgment of the systemic issue of police violence and racial injustice all over the United States.

While many of us feel helpless, there are many ways that we can spread the message and get involved within our own communities. I have compiled a list of resources that our team has found helpful, educational, and powerful during this time as we try to understand the best ways to support the Black Lives Matter Movement. I encourage you all to take a look into different organizations, consider donating, educate yourself on this topic, and above anything else, make a vow to yourself to do better so we can strive for a brighter future.

Donate:

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.

The Loveland Foundation: Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Their resources and initiatives are collaborative and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing.

The Innocence Project: This organization helps continue the fight for criminal justice reform, and exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals.

The Black Visions Collective: Provides money to general campaigns and initiatives supporting Black Lives Matter.

George Floyd Memorial Fund: Covering expenses for George's funeral, taking care of his family's bills, and putting funding aside to send his daughter to college.

This is just a short list to the endless organizations that are demanding social justice, to help community organizers in their fight against racial inequality and to offer solidarity to the black community. For more places to donate click here.

Get Informed:

Read:

“Just Mercy” (book, by Bryan Stevenson)— A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice.

Letter to My Son (article, The Atlantic) — extremely emotional article from 5 years ago, that has not lost its timeliness whatsoever. 

"White Fragility" (book, by Robin DiAngelo)— A super informative book on why it is so hard for white people to talk about racism and a great way to educate yourself on oppression and what you can do/the conversations you can have for a better human race.

Watch:

When They See Us (TV show, Netflix) — This powerful 2019 dramatized series about the famous Central Park 5 case dares you not to pause and reflect on what you thought you knew — and what real-life antagonists were sure they had pegged — about this case, black, and minority youths, criminal justice, and American dreams. 

How Can We Make Racism A Solvable Problem and Improve Policing: (Ted Talk) —When we define racism as behaviors instead of feelings, we can measure it —and transform it from an impossible problem into a solvable one. This Ted Talk explores Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff’s work at the Center for Policing Equity, an organization that helps police departments diagnose and track racial gaps in policing in order to eliminate them.

Listen:

Code Switch (podcast, NPR)—  Black journalistsDemby and co-host Shereen Marisol Meraji talk through how race impacts everything(and I mean literally everything), from politics, education, parenting, pop culture, sports, gender disparities, history — you name it and they’ve probably covered it at some point. 

Take Action:

The “Justice for George Floyd” petition on Change.org already has 16 million supporters. That sends a big message. 

To demand justice for Breonna Taylor, the Black emergency medical technician who was fatally shot in her apartment by the Louisville Metro Police Department, sign the petition: #JusticeForBre

Color of Change— Sign a petition to end violent policing against black people

Pressure the Ahmaud Arbery prosecutors by signing this petition and pressing District Attorney Durden’s efforts to fully prosecute the case.