How you can contribute to #BlackLivesMatter

The recent death of George Floyd has influenced protests, petitions and a rise in the Black Lives Matter movement. Here at Student Life we want to help share as much information as possible so we can all stand together with our Black community.

Petitions 

Below are links to (just) some of the petitions that you can sign in order to make a change. If you are posting or re-posting on social media make sure you are encouraging people to sign these. Social media is an amazing platform at the moment to educate and share resources that can have a significant impact. It takes 2-5 minutes to sign up to these petitions and does an unbelievable amount of good once all the signatures are collected.

1. Educate Our Children on Racism Through The School System (Change.org)
2. Justice for Breonna Taylor (Change.org)
3. George Floyd (Change.org)
4. George Floyd (Coloourofchange.org)
5. Justice for Ahmaud Arbery (Change.org)
6. Justice for Belly Mujinga (Change.org)

This list is not exhaustive. Be proactive and look into so many more petitions that you can sign and share.

Donate (If You Can)

I know that the working world is struggling at the moment with Covid-19 still impacting so many people. However, if you would like to and/or have the money then here are some links to places to donate. Remember that as much as money helps, doing everything else (and more) on these lists will help just as much. I am putting the links here so you know where to donate if you can, there is absolutely no pressure to if you cannot afford to.

1. George Floyd Memorial Fund
2. Reclaim the Block
3. Black Lives Matter
4. The Bail Project
5. Black Visions Collective
6. Campaign Zero
7. National Bail Fund Network
8. The Innocent Project
9. I Run With Maud
10. Anti Police-Terror Project
11. Stand Up to Racism UK

Another way that you can donate is through this YouTube video which was set up to give people a way to donate without having to do so financially. You can watch the video and 100% of the AdSense revenue will be donated to “associations that offer protester bail funds, help pay for family funerals, and advocacy listed in the beginning of the video”.

Influencers/Organisations/Advocates to Follow

Like I said before: social media is doing some amazing things at the moment. So use it. Follow these amazing people, organisations and advocates for the Black Lives Matter movement. This is how you educate yourself: read what they are saying, look into the facts and share whatever you can.

1. @BLKLIVESMATTER
2. @COLOUROFCHANGE
3. @NAACP
4. @SHOWINGUPFORRACIALJUSTICE
5. @CIVILRIGHTSORG
6. @RECLAIMTHEBLOCK
7. @YOURRIGHTSCAMP
8. @MNFREEDOMFUND
9. @ENTRYLEVELACTIVIST
10. @GALDEMZINE
11. @WETHEURBAN
12. @MUNROEBERGDORF
13. @EJI_ORG

Once again this list is much longer than what you see here. Be proactive and find other organisations that share similar content that will educate, inform and stand with the black community. This is also the time to find out your local, national and international black artists and sing their praises. By standing with the movement now we are saying that we stand with them forever. Don’t let this continue and make it a daily fight until we have equality.

Articles and Resources to Read

There is so much online and in books for you to research and read about. The want to change and learn must come from you. To help there are a few links below specifically look into what we can do in the UK:

1. This first one actually gives you more links to everything I have already talked about and more. If you are going to click on any of these links please make it this one. The resources are there for you to use: ‘Anti-Racism Resources’ by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein
2. Start looking into speeches that have been made at the protests and rallies. These words are from the communities and the Black voices themselves. It is important, now more than ever, to listen, learn and ask how we can help. Below is part of John Boyega’s speech that he made in Hyde Park:
3. Article number three is specifically aimed at white people and is ‘continually updated to ensure each item is accurate’: 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice by Corinne Shutack
4. A website that has lots of resources, other ways to donate and more petitions is as follows: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
5. @DAS.PENMAN created a few slides on Instagram on what those in the UK can specifically do:
   

   View this post on Instagram

   A post shared by Das 🦎 she/her (@das.penman) on May 28, 2020 at 7:04am PDT

6. @BLACKBALLADUK sent out a tweet asking for recommendations of UK based charities, organisations and platforms that specifically look at eradicating racial injustice. You can either follow them or read the comments and suggestions from this tweet:
   

   We are looking for U.K. based charities, organisations and platforms whose work aims to eradicate racial injustice in order to highlight them across our social media.

   Please RT and reply with any that you know of.

   Thank you 💜#BlackLivesMatter#BlackLivesMatterUK

   — Black Ballad (@BlackBalladUK) May 31, 2020

7. This final link will take you to another Instagram post that talks about how we can start the process of transforming allyship in action (for non-black people):
   

   View this post on Instagram

   A post shared by SJMC (@usc_sjmc) on May 30, 2020 at 2:45pm PDT

Questions That @CHNGE Highlighted For People To Ask

1. What can you do to support your local black community?
2. What are your local MP’s view on ending police brutality and standing with the Black Lives Matter movement?
3. When were you taught about race and culture?
4. How do you plan on helping to fight to end racial discrimination and systematic oppression?
5. How can you use anti-racist knowledge to change and progress conversations with friends, family and peers?
6. How can you be actively Anti-Racist instead of simply ‘not racist’?
7. What do you want to learn more about?

Stand with the black community. Educate yourself of all forms of racism. Start signing the petitions. Make this the time that we can actually change how our world works. This is not the time to sit back and be silent.