The Black Lives Matter movement aims to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on black communities by the state and vigilantes” (Allure, 2020). Within this blog post, I’d like to collate resources for those who would like to help fight against racial inequality. In the U.K. we live in a majority white society under a capitalist system that is somewhat antiquated within its structures and designed to benefit white people (the same applies for the most part to the entire western world). It both sickens and disgusts me that in the year 2020, we are still fighting against this – fighting for black people to have basic human rights. To not be pulled over by police and unlawfully killed, because their skin is black. The recent murder in the U.S of George Floyd, as a white policeman kneeled on his neck for eight minutes until he suffocated to death was grotesque – and a microcosm of the issues in society at large, and unfortunately, not the first black person to die unlawfully at the hands of the police.
Systemic and institutionalised racism is a pandemic disease used to oppress black people and it has to stop.
What can we do, as white allies, to help?
In addition to posting and showing support for the movement on social media, we need to be having those awkward uncomfortable – and somewhat confrontational – conversations in real life. Discuss with your friends, colleagues, partner and family, educate them to the realities of what black people endure. Pull up anyone who makes discriminatory comments. Racism is unacceptable and staying silent can convey that you agree with what’s been said.
In order to arm yourself with the relevant knowledge, reading, studying and research is necessary.
Here is a list of informative books:
Why I’m no longer speaking to white people about race – Reni Eddo-Lodge (Reni has confirmed she will donate a percentage of the proceeds from book royalties to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, and urges people to purchase from independent book stores if possible, and match with a donation to the aforementioned fund)
Below are links to charities / organisations you can donate to in order to fund the fight against racism.
Black Lives Matter – Donate to fuel the campaign for justice. You can donate here.
George Floyd Memorial Fund – Established to cover funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings, and to assist his family in the days to come as they continue to seek justice for George. You can donate here.
Reclaim The Block – This organisation works to defund the police in Minneapolis and redistribute the funds to help the local community with resources that actually keep them safe. You can donate here.
Black Visions Collective – Aims to expand the power of black people across the Twin Cities Metro area and Minnesota. You can donate here.
Minnesota Freedom Fund – The MFF pays criminal bills and immigration bond for those who can’t afford it, as they seek to end discriminatory and oppressive jailing. You can donate here.
A list of 10 UK based anti-racist charities you can donate to here.
Furthermore, there are a myriad of petitions to be signed in order to continue to fight for social change. See the below list.
Black Lives Matter petitions on Corona Virus, demanding racial data as the virus is more likely to affect black people. Sign here.
A list on nine UK based petitions you can sign here.
A list of 23 petitions to sign on Change.org, that support Black Lives Matter. You can sign here.
And finally I just want to say that even though this fight can be extremely draining (especially for black people) we must keep fighting! We, as white people, created this system of oppression, a system that we’ve benefitted from for centuries and therefore we have a social responsibility to now start to dismantle that system.
”When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” Jimi Hendrix