Hi, Sarah here. — I’ve been looking for things to do that will have a more meaningful impact than a retweet or IG story. Here’s a list of actionables I’ve put together. I hope they help you; please feel free to share, no need to ask.

“Non-black people must do better…Black people are not obligated to teach us…Take action and do not remain complacent…It has long been our time to play our part.” (Mimi Zhu)

Table of Contents: 

  1. [Mental Health Resources for BIPOC & Queer Folx]
  2. [Texts/Emails/Letters]
  3. [Sign petitions]:
  4. [Donate to the victims’ loved ones]:
  5. [Donate to organizations—local]:
  6. [Donate to organizations—national]:
  7. [Support Black-Owned Businesses--national]
  8. [Useful Twitter Threads]:
  9. [Educate yourself--accounts to follow]:
  10. [Educate yourself--movies/TV]:
  11. [Educate yourself—podcasts]:
  12. [Educate yourself—talks]:
  13. [Educate yourself—books]:
  14. [Educate yourself—articles]:

[Mental Health Resources for BIPOC & Queer Folx]

  • working with Topical to offer free group therapy sessions

[Texts/Emails/Letters]

  • contact your mayor or local chief of police to demand police are held accountable for abusing their power (pre-written letter)
  • demand legislation to support Black communities in Virginia (pre-written letter)
  • demand that Johns Hopkins University cancel their efforts to put a private police force throughout the city of Baltimore, MD, which is 62% Black (send a pre-written letter)
  • demand the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s murder are charged (she was shot 8 times in her sleep because officers raided the wrong house)

[Sign petitions]:

  • *if you are international (here are international links) you can use these zip codes: (90015 - Los Angeles, 10001 - New York City, 75001 - Dallas)
  • *when signing a petition on change.org, do not donate to them! The donations go straight to them, not the causes. See the Donate headings for ideas!

[Donate to the victims’ loved ones]: 

[Donate to organizations—local]:

  • a mutual aid network is a local organization system that connects those who are in need with those who have something to contribute
  • Here’s a list of bail funds by state!
  • People’s City Council Freedom Fund, a fund to go toward legal services and medical bills for arrested and injured protestors, medical supplies/PPE for Community Medics, direct monetary support to BLM-LA, supplies and support for protesters and organizers (megaphones, pamphlets, PPE, etc.), etc.
  • House of GG, works to create safe and transformative spaces where members of their community can heal from the trauma arising from generations of transphobia, racism, sexism, poverty, ableism and violence, and nurture them into tomorrow’s leaders. They currently primarily focus on supporting and nurturing the leadership of Transgender women of color living in the U.S. South
  • Trans Cultural District, the world’s first-ever legally recognized trans district, which aims to stabilize and economically empower the trans community

[Donate to organizations—national]:

  • The ACLU, which provides legal services and support for a broad range of people with civil rights complaints.
  • The Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. they use petitions and campaigns to demand change from corporations and politicians
  • Charity So White, a POC led campaign which challenges racism operating the charity sector
  • Campaign Zero, to develop data-driven policy solutions on police brutality
  • The Bail Project, a nonprofit that aims to mitigate incarceration rates through bail reform
  • Unicorn Riot, an educational non-profit media organization of artists and journalists dedicated to exposing root causes of social/environmental issues
  • The Stephen Laurence Charitable Trust (UK), which works with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them succeeds in careers of their choice
  • Fair Fight, an organization started by Stacey Abrams aiming to promote fairer elections by encouraging voter participation and educating voters about elections and their voting rights
  • Black Lives Matter (local chapter or global)
  • The Marshall Project, a non-profit/non-partisan news organization dedicated to maintaining the national urgency around the U.S. criminal justice system
  • The National Black Disability Coalition, who aims to organize around issues of mutual concern and address disability issues with an emphasis on people who live in poverty
  • Until Freedom, an intersectional social justice organization rooted in the leadership of diverse people of color to address systemic and racial injustice
  • Trans Justice Funding Project, a community-led funding initiative supporting grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people
  • Know Your Rights Camp, working to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders
  • We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit and grassroots organization of children's book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people
  • Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund, provides financial assistance to Black women and girls nationally seeking therapy, especially considering the barriers affecting access to treatment by members of diverse ethnic and racial groups
  • SNaPCo, builds power of Black trans and queer people to force systemic divestment from the prison industrial complex and invest in community support
  • Black AIDS Institute, working to end the Black HIV epidemic through policy, advocacy, and high-quality HIV services
  • LGBTQ+ Freedom Fund, posts bail for LGBTQ people held in jail or immigrant detention and raises awareness of the epidemic of LGBTQ overincarcerations

[Support Black-Owned Businesses--national]

  • Ashay By the Bay Bookstore
  • Decatur, GA
  • Brave and Kind Books
  • Semicolon -- only Black-woman owned bookstore in Chicago
  • Maywood, IL
  • Afriware Books
  • South Bend, IN
  • Brain Lair Books
  • Lexington, KY
  • Detroit, MI
  • The Lit Bar - bookstore/wine shop owned by Noëlle Santos, a millennial Afro-Latina from the Bronx
  • Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
  • Sister’s Uptown
  • Fulton, OK

[Useful Twitter Threads]:

[Educate yourself--accounts to follow]:

  • Ibraham X. Kendi: professor, director, author (IG and Twitter)
  • Rachel Elizabeth Cargle: writer promoting teaching, storytelling, and critical discourse (IG)
  • Color of Change: non-profit designing online campaigns to fight racial injustice (IG and Twitter)
  • Check Your Privilege: working to help folx dismantle/come to terms with their privilege (IG)
  • The Conscious Kid: non-profit teaching parenting and education through a critical race lens (IG and Twitter)
  • Brittany Packnett Cunningham: activist and Pod Save the People podcast host (IG and Twitter)
  • Black Lives Matter: global network call to action in response to anti-Black racism (IG and Twitter)
  • Tamika D. Mallory: activist from Harlem (IG and Twitter)
  • From Privilege to Progress: home of the #ShowUp movement, working to desegregate the race conversation (IG and Twitter)
  • Munroe: activist, posts tips on supporting from the UK, editor (IG and Twitter)
  • Roxane Gay: author--Hunger, Bad Feminist, World of Wakanda, Not That Bad, etc.  (IG and Twitter)

[Educate yourself--movies/TV]:

  • 13th -- Netflix
  • American Son -- Netflix
  • Dear White People -- Netflix
  • When They See Us -- Netflix
  • See You Yesterday -- Netflix
  • LA 92  -- Netflix
  • Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap -- Netflix
  • Time: The Kalief Browder Story -- Netflix
  • Who Killed Malcolm X? -- Netflix
  • The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson on Netflix
  • The Last Black Man in San Francisco on Amazon Prime
  • If Beale Street Could Talk -- Hulu
  • The Hate U Give -- Hulu
  • Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 -- Avail for rent
  • Clemency -- Avail for rent
  • Fruitvale Station -- Avail for rent
  • I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) -- Avail for rent
  • Just Mercy -- Avail for rent/Amazon Prime
  • Selma -- Avail for rent
  • The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution -- Avail for rent
  • Queen and Slim -- Avail for rent

[Educate yourself—podcasts]:

  • 1619 (New York Times) (also a series on articles/videos)
  • Codeswitch by NPR; start with "The Black Table at the Big Tent"
  • Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
  • episode: “Justice for Ahmaud Arbery w/ State Senator Bill Ferguson”
  • Episode  “40 Acres in Mississippi” (The United States of Anxiety) -- on reparations
  • Episode  “When They See Her: The Store of Michelle Cusseaux” (Intersectionality Matters! w/ Kimberle Crenshaw -- on intersectionality
  • Episode  “A Decade of Watching Black People Die” (Code Switch)
  • The Stoop; start with "Together and Apart"
  • Scene on Radio: "Seeing White" Series; start with "Turning the Lens"
  • Come Through with Rebecca Carroll; start with "Elie Mystal: Call It a Lynching"

[Educate yourself—talks]:

[Educate yourself—books]:

*(if you can try to buy from an independent local bookseller)

  • Non-Fiction --  General
  • Non-Fiction -- Topic Specific
  • Feminism
  • Memoirs, Autobiographies, and Biographies
  • LGBTQ+
  • Fiction
  • “Look Both Ways” by Jason Reynolds
  • “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
  • “Native Son” by Richard Wright
  • “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
  • “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

[Educate yourself—articles]:

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, taking an implicit bias test is always a good place to start.

If you have anything worth adding, please DM me on IG (@sarahgilman18) or on Twitter (@sarahbgilman).

(Credits: Thank you so much to Maya Okamoto, Carly Halili, and Haley Griese for the info they’ve shared and Black Lives Matter for the resources they’ve compiled.)

Last edit: 11/9/2020