People and groups to follow on social media
Following new people on social media is an effortless way to broaden your perspective. Pay attention to voices, stories, and experiences that differ from your own. These are some accounts/people I follow whose messages have guided me in different ways. They range from social justice groups, to actively political public figures, to artists and actors and writers and comedians.
Roxane Gay @
roxanegay74
Right now, your money is extremely useful to any group raising funds to post bail for arrested protesters and people of low income.
If you circle back to the Google Docs above, they list plenty of additional groups that accept donations.
Join their mailing lists. Donate $5.00 (if you can).
Canada
Canadian Civil Liberties Association (
ccla.org)
Books to read
As a self-proclaimed book nerd, I'm ashamed to admit that my reading list falls pitifully short on non-fiction dealing with race and racism. Full disclosure: I've only read a handful of these, the rest are on my shopping list.
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin
How To Be An Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge
You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, by Phoebe Robinson
I'm happy to lend out my books or coordinate a book swap, if that would be helpful to anyone.
Watch
Movies
TV
And in a similar vein:
There is an incredible, haunting piece of video art entitled
Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death (by
Arthur Jafa) that is well worth watching, should you ever get the chance. (Bootleg recordings of the piece are available on youtube, but I'm not a thousand percent sure posting a link is the right thing to do.)
Daily life
Check in on your non-white loved ones!!! And even your BIPOC colleagues! People might be rattled beneath an otherwise calm and collected front. Let them know their have your ear, your shoulder, your time, and BE PRESENT when they need you.
Similarly, don't shy away from uncomfortable conversations with your white loved ones. If they hold questionable opinions on the news and/or the subject at large, calmly and respectfully challenge them. Use the moment to share information they might have missed. Point them in the right direction. Avoid getting heated -- in my experience, this only causes people to dig their heels further into the ground. Instead, when you are struggling to get a point across, just take a breath and revisit the discussion later.
Support black businesses -- shops, restaurants, artisans, etc. We live in a time when most desires are just a click (and free next-day shipping) away from your doorstep. It's not always convenient to exclusively seek out smaller, independent businesses. Now is the time to inconvenience yourself.
Before soliciting BIPOC for their advice, bring your questions to Google. Almost all the information you'll ever need on the subject is readily available on the internet. There's no need to further burden your friends -- don't use them as a shortcut to wokeness.
Speak up! Speak out! If you are witnessing injustice, interfere! White people: Use your privilege to lift up (and open doors for) others.
Visual
Memes. Talk about peak armchair activism, right? Well, fuck it. Sharing bite-size information can be an effective way to communicate important ideas. Here are a couple that I recently found particularly insightful. (Click for source.)
(The last one is a series of ten slides, I recommend clicking through to read them.)
In the coming days, I'll do my best to share the messages of Black voices, as well as any pertinent information to support the fight. If nothing else, please use this time to LISTEN and LEARN, because BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Stay safe and be kind to each other.
