Ways you can learn, give, and act to support Black lives

Below, we’ve compiled ways you can learn, give, and act to support Black lives.

It’s up to us – each of us – to turn this moment into sustained momentum and build the world we want to live in.

Learn

Educate yourself on the Blacks Lives Matter movement and how you can become a better supporter, both today and moving forward.

History (and where we stand today)

It’s imperative to understand how systemic racism came to be and how it shapes our society today.

• A very high-level timeline of Black history (1619 – today)
• A comprehensive reading list by The Lit. Bar
• Teaching ideas and resources to help students make sense of the George Floyd protests
• Black History Month library (Google Drive folder)
• Being African American & LGBTQ: An introduction

Allyship

Learn how you can take steps in your day-to-day life to become a more thoughtful and effective ally.

• A guide to how you can support marginalized communities
• 26 ways to be in the struggle beyond the streets
• Please stop “just checking in” on your Black co-workers
• 6 ways Asian Americans can tackle anti-black racism in their families
• How White feminists oppress Black women: When feminism functions as White supremacy
• 5 ways White people can take action in response to white and state-sanctioned violence

Give

Donating alone isn’t the answer – each one of us has the responsibility to take actions, have conversations, and make regular decisions that lead to positive change on an individual level. That said, financial commitments are absolutely helpful, and many organizations can amplify their efforts with your support.

Initiatives and non-profits

These organizations, initiatives, non-profits, and funds are fighting for racial and economic justice.

• The Equal Justice Initiative: The Equal Justice Initiative works to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, challenge racial and economic injustice, and protect the basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
• Black Lives Matter Fund: Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities.
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. fights for racial justice in America through litigation, advocacy, and public education.
• The ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union is a non-profit organization that fights to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person by the laws of the United States.
• Black Visions Collective: Black Visions Collective (BLVC) organizes and leads targeted collaborative local campaigns across the Twin Cities metro area and Minnesota that advance a concrete impact for Black people’s lives.
• Reclaim the Block: Reclaim the Block organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety.

Bail funds

Note that many bail funds have expressed that the need for immediate demonstration bail has been met at this time. That said, they continue to be pivotal outside of times of widespread protest.

• Split your donation: This fund allows you to split a donation between 70+ community bail funds, mutual aid funds, and racial justice organizers.
• National Bail Out: National Bail Out is a Black-led collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers, and activists that bails out those impacted by mass incarceration and provides supportive services to groups who are organizing to transform the criminal justice system.
• The Minnesota Freedom Fund: The Minnesota Freedom Fund pays criminal bail and immigration bond for those who cannot afford to as we seek to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing.
• The Louisville Community Bail Fund: The Louisville Community Bail Fund exists to both bail out folks and provide post-release support to get them from jail to a situation of safety.
• Brooklyn Community Bail Fund: The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund secures the freedom of New Yorkers who would otherwise be detained pretrial due to their poverty alone.

Act

Keep the momentum going, even after the movement is no longer ‘trending.’

Vote

Engage in the electoral process so that candidates who actively advocate against racial and economic injustice, police brutality, etc. have a platform.

• Register to vote
• Rock the Vote: Building the political power of young people

Volunteer

Help make a tangible difference in your local communities.

• Don’t Shoot PDX
• Black Lives Matter Greater New York
• Black Lives Matter Chicago
• Black Lives Matter Los Angeles
• Black Lives Matter Detroit
• Explore a larger list of location-based Black Lives Matter organizations

Sign petitions

Add legitimacy to a campaign and help demonstrate how important it is for local, national, and/or global communities.

• Explore a curated collection of timely petitions

Other lists that highlight resources

Our list wouldn’t have been possible without these incredible resources.

• Anti-racism resources
• This Notion page full of curated resources
• Your kids aren’t too young to talk about race: Resource roundup
• Resources to help George Floyd protesters & fight racial injustice
• Resources from a community Carrd
• Another Carrd listing places to donate

If you feel there’s a valuable resource we haven’t represented above, let us know in the comments below.

June 5, 2020

Team Splice