Black Lives Matter

I created this back in 2016, during a peak in social media outrage over police brutality, similar to this one. The years pass and every once in a while our attention is grabbed by a victim, and then people move on. Until the next hashtag.

Lots of white people are clutching their pearls about looting and violence, some even identify as allies. There have been lots of responses to that. How fundamentally gross it is to have more to say about damage to property than the loss of human life. That these protests have largely been peaceful, and that much of the destruction has been incited by outsiders.

But to me, the most important thing to remember is that you have no place in that conversation. We have no idea what this feels like. The grief that non-black allies are feeling in solidarity is nothing compared to how the black community has been suffering. This is centuries of grief. You don’t get to tell them how to feel or what is or isn’t appropriate.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I would like to ask that you donate, if you can, whatever you can to help support these efforts:

⚫️Black Visions Collective — “a Black-led, Queer and Trans centering organization whose mission is to organize powerful, connected Black communities and dismantle systems of violence…through building strategic campaigns, investing in Black leadership, and engaging in cultural and narrative organizing.” https://www.blackvisionsmn.org ⚫️Reclaim the Block — “organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety.” https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home ⚫️Black Lives Matter — “a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.” https://blacklivesmatter.com ⚫️Official 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 our family in the days to come as we continue to seek justice for George. A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund.” https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd ⚫️The Innocence Project — “exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.” https://www.innocenceproject.org ⚫️Minnesota Freedom Fund — “pays criminal bail and immigration bond for those who cannot afford to” as they “seek to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing.” https://minnesotafreedomfund.org