17 Resources to Help Combat Anti-Blackness
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If you want to help but protesting isn’t your jam, you can contact your state legislators, join a local Black Lives Matter chapter, or even just take damn good care of yourself so you can stay strong and/or keep others around you safe and healthy. You can also support a black-owned business and these 5 apps will help you find the one for you. Everyone plays a role and your efforts don’t have to mirror everyone else’s. Resistance is not one-size-fits-all.
Here are more ways to help combat anti-Blackness
If you want to help protestors:
Fierce by Mitu has a piece on “How You Can Help The Black Lives Matter Protesters Around The Country,” from New York to Los Angeles and, of course, Minnesota.
If you want to go out and protest:
Please be careful. You should take important precautions with your phone before you go. And, luckily, Gizmodo already has this: “How to Cop-Proof Your Phone Before Heading to a Protest”.
Know. Your. Rights. Empower yourself before you step out to protest and read up on your rights. We all know that the likelihood of these rights being violated is high but educate yourself first.
“The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Make sure you’re prepared by brushing up on your rights before heading out into the streets,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union aka the ACLU. It’s available in Spanish as well.
Black Lives Matter created this downloadable Healing Action Toolkit “created to collate, condense and share the lessons we have learned in ensuring that our direct actions are centered on healing justice. This toolkit is a beta version; it will develop in real time as we continue to uncover the implications for healing justice in our organizing. We extend our gratitude to the BLM Healing Justice Working Group and all the chapter members who shared your insights, your innovations and your struggles to support our shared knowledge.”
If you want to take an online spiritual activism anti-racism webinar:
Check out racial justice educator, spiritual activist, and author Rachel Ricketts online courses which “promotes racial justice, reconciliation and healing for all hue-mxns, prioritizing the needs and comfort of Black and Indigenous womxn+.”
If you want to learn more about intergenerational trauma and race:
Check out this article from Refinery29 where they interview trauma therapist Mariel Buquè, PhD, to explain how “intergenerational trauma works — and what, if anything, can be done to heal from it.” And, “10 Books About Race Non-Black People Should Be Reading Right Now,” because we’re all born with certain racial biases and the first step is educating yourself so we can all be better allies.
If you want to learn more about dismantling racism and allyship:
Latinx Therapy, whose mission it is to demystify mental health stigmas in the Latinx community, shares all kinds of gems but what’s catching my eye now are the helpful tips in English and Spanish on how to have these uncomfortable but necessary conversations at home complete with scripts. And, even tips on how to protest if you’re undocumented.
Writer Angie Jaime unpacks how Latinx people can interrogate their involvement in Black liberation and the dismantling of white supremacy.
“Remember that while our experiences are linked, anti-Black racism is an urgent crisis”
NYC-based wellpreneur, intuitive creator, speaker, and writer Melanie Santos created a comprehensive guide to, “Showing up for Racial Justice, Dismantling Racism, and Embracing Allyship,” complete with books listed as required reading for non-black people, Ted Talks on racism, what to listen to, a guide for parents, kid books recommendations, links to racial justice causes to donate to, and, a personal favorite, contact information for state legislators and “scripts to aid in demanding justice for victims and accountability for police brutality.”
Activist, diversity, equity & inclusion advocate Michelle Kim who created a list of “20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now,” in light of #AhmaudArbery and ongoing police violence, how can the Asian and Asian American community show up for our Black community.
If you know of anyone who keeps saying, “All Lives Matter,” you can now send this appropriately titled, “Why You Need to Stop Saying "All Lives Matter" article by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle, who writes and lectures on things that exist at the intersection of race and womanhood.
“Let me be clear: stating that black lives matter doesn’t insinuate that other lives don’t.”
If you want to tackle racial injustice at work:
Then, you have to start somewhere and that means tapping into this, “Template For Holding Your Employer Accountable For Racial Justice,” by public academic, activist, and writer Rachel Elizabeth Cargle. But not before watching her Public Address on Revolution around the realities today and “serve as a launching point for more critical language, a more critical lens and most importantly more critical action to lead us toward the revolution, which is now.” And, here are more resources for non-black allies by her.
And, all-around badass Danielle Cadet who runs Unbothered at Refinery29 wrote a thoughtful piece titled, “Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not,” where she said, “And although we were told the degrees and the jobs and the accomplishments would somehow protect us from being treated like second-class citizens; although we were made to believe that working hard and contributing to society would mean society would treat us like human beings, we’ve learned the painful truth — that’s a lie.”
“On behalf of your Black colleagues: we’re not okay. And you shouldn’t be either. ”
If you want to follow a WOC journalist who isn’t afraid to use her voice:
Soledad O’Brien has been sharing tweets on her Instagram account from people from all walks of life who will shed perspective on what’s going on, news updates, and cringe-worthy ones too like from the former U.S. Ambassador to the UN AND 116th Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley who suggested we should tune in to watch the President’s speech to hear “compassion, strength, and…”
And, there’s no point in going on because Haley obviously doesn’t know what she’s talking about. But it’s important to stay informed so there you go. When reading the news, check the sources of information and make sure it’s accurate and reliable before sharing.
Take extra good care of your spirit during these trying times because now more than ever we need to take care of one another. Your self-care is political no matter how you slice it and that’s pretty rebellious in itself.
P.S. To keep my spirits up, I’ve been listening to NPR’s Code Switch “Songs Giving Us Life”, because, as the team says, “the idea was that when things get a little heavy (which is often — we are talking about race, after all) music can help us sort through our feelings.” I’ll be sharing more ways to keep our spirits lifted soon. Spotify also just released a 4-hour Black Lives Matters playlist filled with empowerment and pride.