The recent injustices in the ‘United’ States of America have caused a tidal wave of protests across the globe. The murder of George Floyd has caused outcry over social media and violent protests in major cities around the world. The Black Lives Matter movement and anti racial oppression activists have never experienced such an outcry as this, with many of us doing what we can to help. I have created this blog post purely to do my part and use my little influence to make a difference and help carry this movement. It is predominantly aimed at white people (with some links down below being UK focused) however, I think we could all learn something from it!

Here are what I believe to be the three best ways in which we can help.

1. Educate yourself!

I know that from a personal level, there have been times when I have been unsure about how to speak out about racism in the US because I don’t fully understand the situation or at one time didn’t think it was ‘my fight’. I know that there will be many other white people who feel the same way. What I feel is the most important thing we can do, is learn as much as we can so we can understand better. We simply cannot fight if we don’t know why we are fighting.

We need to know how the Black Lives Matter organisation started. The following link will take you to the BLM website which explains how this started with the murder of a 17 year old unarmed black boy named Trayvon Martin; https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

We need to understand what Racial Oppression is. This PDF helped me understand it a lot better so I hope it is beneficial for you: https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/structural_analysis_oppression.pdf

We need to understand our White Privilege, and how the colour of our skin is not usually something that causes us to suffer. How we are able to do things without a second thought that a POC would not. But most importantly, we must use our white privilege to help promote change.

We need to understand that the system in America has failed POC so many times, it would seem the System is Fixed Against Them. Just look at the difference in wording from US president Trump, from the anti-lockdown protests who were describes as ‘hard working people’ to the current protesters who are being described as ‘thugs’. Or the differences in how white people and black people have been treat when being arrested or pulled over. There are so many cases where the comparison is night and day. Seriously, just google it!

We need to learn the stories of the Victims, and there are so many stories. George Floyd may have been the straw that broke the camels back, but there is a lot of straw on that camel! Learn their names, learn their truth.

We need to learn the victims from outside the US. This Instagram post from Nnortxo contains so much information about injustices happening across Europe.

2. Speak up, Speak out!

Once you know what we are fighting for, share that knowledge with everyone you know. Staying silent during this time makes you part of the problem. If you have done your research correctly, don’t be scared to speak up! Its not enough to simply not be racist or not to act in a racist way, we have to actively fight for change.

I know many of us took part in the #blackouttuesday social media protest two days ago. This was definitely the largest social media protest I have ever seen with all of us taking to our platforms to not post our usual content and instead post a blank black image and use stories or other forms to educate others.

Share links you found helpful, or photos that explain the facts. Have open conversations about racism. Call out racism when you see or hear it. Report racism on social media. Educate your grandparents who were raised to think racism is okay. Don’t just stand back and watch. We have done that for too long.

USE YOUR INFLUENCE!

3. Sign Petitions or Donate what you can!

There are so many places we can donate money to help. If you cant donate, then there are petitions we can sign that are actively fighting to make real change!

• List of organisations that need your help and donations or can offer you information:

Black Lives Matter
Innocence Project
Know Your Rights Camp
Bail Project
Reclaim the Block
Minnesota Freedom Fund
Campaign Zero
Communities United Against Police Brutality
American Civil Liberties Union

• Further places you can donate (source)

George Floyd Memorial Fund
Belly Mujinga Memorial Fund
Ahmaud Arbery Memorial Fund

Texts and phone calls are expensive from outside the US. However if you can, here are a list of numbers you can call:

• Alternatively, you can send an email to the to the Minneapolis Police, demanding justice for the remaining officers that still walk free.

police@minneapolismn.gov

• Watching YouTube
  A lot of YouTubers have came out and decided to donate their Ad Revenue from their videos to various organisations. This VIDEO does just that. You can donate money by just watching YouTube and not skipping the adverts.

• List of petitions that need your signature (source):

For George Floyd
For I can’t breathe
For Derek Chauvin to be charged with a higher degree of murder
For the other officers to be charged
For Breonna Taylor
For Belly Mujinga
For Tony McDade
For Julius Jones
For the UK Gov to condemn Trumps response to BLM
For British Schools to teach black history

I hope you found this helpful. I hope you now realise that this fight cannot simply be brushed under the carpet. If you are not mad about these horrific injustices, get fucking mad about it! Stand up, speak out and scream.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

I hope you gained something from this blog. If you have any thing you think I should add, please let me know. I’m sharing information on my Instagram if you want to follow me there. I know this isn’t enough, but it’s a start.