top of page
Search
Writer's pictureKayla
Jun 1, 20206 min read

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Updated: Jun 17, 2020

End of discussion. If you don't agree with the title of this post, I highly suggest leaving my website right now because you don't understand what I stand for at all if you believe otherwise.





I am sick and tired of logging onto social media or turning on the news and seeing yet another instance where a Black person has been killed by the police or hateful White people for doing nothing more than existing. We live in a world where well-trained police officers are allowed to react impulsively with fear but a Black child with no training must remain calm with a gun pointed at them. HOW IN THE WORLD IS THAT OKAY? How do people continue to stand by and watch this happen? It is 2020. How have we not moved past this?


Our Black brothers, sisters and non-binary loved ones are dying at a ridiculous rate for NO REASON other than the hatred and bigotry that our society still has yet to unlearn and so many people are sitting around doing nothing about it. It is not enough to just "not be racist". As White people, who have an incredible amount of privilege simply because we were born White, we have to be actively ANTI-RACIST.


I have so much to learn still, as do most of you reading this I'm sure. It is my responsibility as a privileged person with a platform to speak up and encourage, no - demand, that White people do better. It is my responsibility to BE BETTER, every day. I will be putting in the work behind the scenes to better myself and the world, but I also wanted to share some of these things with you. It is not our Black friends' responsibility to educate us White people. We must seek to educate ourselves. Below is a list of books I have purchased to read, organizations I have donated too, and resources for my fellow White people to learn about the state of the world for our Black friends and neighbors. We will never be able to understand what it is like to be a Black person in this world, to be in constant fear. But we can work to dismantle the systems that allow our fellow humans to feel that way.


Things I've Done So Far -


I dedicated $300 from my end of May paycheck to be spent on my journey to be actively anti-racist. This included purchasing the following books and donating in various amounts to the below listed funds. I plan on spending more on my next paycheck. I encourage you to look at what comforts you can give up on your next payday in order to help create a better world for our Black friends and neighbors.


Books I've Purchased to Read:


These links are to Amazon and Barnes and Noble because I acknowledge that not everyone has access to local and Black-owned bookstores in their area (even before COVID lockdowns). Please purchase these books wherever you have access to.

I am actively looking for more books to read and as I purchase more and read them I will add them here and share to Instagram. I had a fairly tight budget for books this week as I felt it was more important in this moment to donate money than purchase books.


Places I Have Donated:

  • Campaign Zero - Dedicated to researching options for safety that are NOT the police.

  • Northwest Community Bail Fund - My local bail fund (look below for links to funds in your area).

  • NAACP Legal Defence Fund - They also fund educational programs. I chose to designate my donation to wherever it is most needed, but it lets you choose specific areas of their work to designate your money to.

  • Minnesota Freedom Fund - In honor of George Floyd. (I donated via a Facebook campaign, but this link is to their website)

  • George Floyd Memorial Fund

  • Fundraiser ran by a friend - Funds will be going to various organizations including some of the above.

Where I Am Sharing My Voice:

  • EVERYWHERE - I am using every platform I have to share this cause.

Where I Am Sharing The Voices of Black People:

  • EVERYWHERE! I can not over exaggerate the importance of sharing black voices at this time. Share your Black friends' posts. Share Black scholars posts. Share share share. It is important that we White people not only use platforms to voice our own outrage but also to amplify the voices of the people directly impacted by the violence and hatred in our country even more so.

Other Resources for You/Things You Can Do (Things I've seen online created by others that I am grateful to have found and wanted to share with you)


Various Resources (contain donation links, educational resources, petitions, and more)

Donate to Local Defense/Bail Funds:

Books You Can Read

Articles To Read and Share

Videos/Movies/Shows To Watch

Podcasts to Listen To

Support Black-owned Businesses

This post is a growing document. I will add to it as I find more resources. If you feel so inclined as to share resources you have, please leave them in the comments.


I also have created a highlight on my Instagram where I have graphics with more information and advice. I will continue to add to that as well in the coming weeks, months, years, my entire lifetime, as long as it takes.


All of this said, please don't rely on White people as your first source of information. I am happy to do whatever I can to support the Black Lives Matter movement because I believe that Black Lives Matter. But none of the information I've provided above is unique. It is the information that I have stumbled across and researched that was created by others. The only thing I have done is post it on my platforms since I have them. This is only here to amplify the message that others have shared. I urge you to do the same. Keep sharing.


I'm going to end this with the first thing I shared this past week about how I was feeling, and something I have seen many others share too. It is okay to not know what the right thing to say is. It is NOT okay to not say anything. Use your voice. Express your outrage. Uplift the voices of Black people. Put in the work to become actively anti-racist


I'm going to end this with the first thing I shared this past week about how I was feeling, and something I have seen many others share too. It is okay to not know what the right thing to say is. It is NOT okay to not say anything. Use your voice. Express your outrage. Uplift the voices of Black people. Put in the work to become actively anti-racist.


xo,

Kayla


LAST UPDATE - 6/17/20 3:12PM

34 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page