A list of resources for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement
Below you’ll find a list of petitions to sign, funds and charities to donate to, and resources for educating yourself and those around you.
A week on from the brutal killing of George Floyd by white police officers in Minneapolis, it’s almost impossible for many of us to even comprehend the pain and anger that many in the black community are feeling right now, both in the US, in the UK and around the world. The fact that, for many, this doesn’t represent a watershed moment, but instead is something that’s dealt with on a daily basis, only serves to deepen the anguish.
There’s nothing we can say that hasn’t already been said far more poignantly by countless others. So instead of rehearsing those thoughts and sentiments, we want to use our small corner of the internet to share resources; to amplify black voices; and to support the demonstrations currently going on in any other ways we can.
Below you’ll find a list of links, divided up into charities, funds and initiatives to donate to; people and organisations to follow; books and articles to read; and petitions to sign.
For those of us in privileged positions, this is a time for two things. In the short term: action, including everything from signing petitions and joining demonstrations to donating to bail-out funds and following black community organisations. And then in the longer term: education, learning how we can support, become better allies or just generally further the cause. We hope the list below provides a useful starting point for both of these, but it is just a starting point; we will be updating it, so please get in touch with any new suggestions or if you feel we’ve missed something.
And finally, for those of us based in the UK, it’s important we don’t pretend this is an American issue alone. Our record in this country on institutionalised racism and systemic injustice makes for grim reading.
As always, if you have any thoughts on how we can improve what we do, please drop us a message whether with new suggestions for the list below or with stories and initiatives we should be supporting.
Charities and funds
Petitions to sign
Books, articles and resources to read
Anti-racism resources for white people (via Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein)
75 things white people can do for racial injustice (via Medium)
Ways to help (via Black Lives Matter)
IG: George Floyd: How can I help from the UK? (via Das Penman)
IG: 10 steps to non-optical allyship (via Mireille Harper)
IG: Transform Allyship into Action: A Toolkit for Non-Black People (via Social Justice in Medicine Coalition at USC)
Twitter Thread: UK-based charities, organisations and platforms whose work aims to eradicate racial injustice (Via Black Ballad)
Twitter Thread: Advice for companies from Sheree Atcheson, Monzo’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion (Via Sheree Atcheson)
Why I’m No longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
Natives by Akala
Dark Days by James Baldwin
Diversify by June Sarpong
How To Be Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
White Supremacy and Me by Layla F. Saad
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery
Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
White Girls by Hilton Als
Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla
Watch and listen
Angela Davis on intersectional anti-racism (via Roshni Goyate)
The Color of Fear, directed by Lee Mun Wah (1994) https://vimeo.com/127289854
1619 by The New York Times
Code Switch by NPR
People and organisations to follow
Guides and tools
How to protest safely during a pandemic (via VICE)
Five points to consider before going to a Black Lives Matter protest in London or the UK (via @VARAIDZO)
Know your rights (via @initialola on Twitter)
Tool for quickly scrubbing metadata from images and selectively blurring faces and identifiable features (via @everestpipkin Twitter)
Free flyer printing (via The Photocopy Club also here)