BLM Resource Guide
- Riya Bindlish
- Aug 6, 2020
- 3 min read
As the months pass by, my once BLM flooded Instagram page is now slowly diminishing...keep the momentum going! EVERYONE has a responsibility to be actively anti-racist and the first step in doing so is educating yourself and familiarizing yourself with the history behind the Black Lives Matter Movement (this is something I am continuing to do!) Make sure to follow your awareness and activism up with tangible actions if you have the financial resources and time. While signing a petition may show support for larger movements, it needs to be followed up with other actions. One of the best ways to do this is to get involved in local politics (i.e researching your city's police budget and allocation of resources). I'll keep updating this list with new resources and/or resources to prioritize!
Places to Donate (the following link has several organizations you can donate to, depending on what cause you would like to support):
Organizations you can reach out /donate to who are working to defund the police in their local areas:
Reclaim the Block
The Black Visions Collective
MPD150
No New Jails NYC
Other actions you can take to help defund the police:
Research your own city/county’s police budget and attend/send in public comments in to city meetings (especially, if they are deciding the budget for the upcoming year!) Local politics often gets overlooked but is a good place to start making tangible change that can be expanded outwards.
Work with existing organizations and help them with their mission/start your own local campaign.
a. Toolkit from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: https://tinyurl.com/LCCHRtoolkit
b. Reclaim the Block Toolkit
Black Activists to Follow on Instagram:
You should make an effort to diversify your feed to gain perspectives you may not be currently exposed to. Listening to POC is crucial in being actively anti-racist, and many of these activists post more tangible ways you can help (i.e donations, other resources you can use to educate yourself, resources you can use to help others.)
Alicia Garza: @chasinggarza
Jamal Trulove @jamaltrulove
Elisha Greenwell @leeshag
Blake Simons @blakedontcrack
Delency Parham @delency_
Tarana Burke @taranajaneen
Books to Read (this is just a sample of many others you should also check out!
1. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
discusses racism and its consequences within the prison industrial complex
2. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
discusses what individuals can do to be antiracist and advocates for systemic changes
3. When They Call You a Terrorist: : A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Cullors and Asha Bandele
memoir of the authors’ journey with activism in the BLM movement
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
fictional novel about a black woman in the South
5. Between the World and Me' by Ta-Nehisi Coates
a letter from the author to his son about navigating life as a black man
6. Sister Outsider- Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
collection of essays about the author’s various identities- Black woman, lesbian, poet, activist, cancer survivor, mother, and feminist writer
7. How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy Roberts
discusses how the biological study of race continues to undermine justice and justify inequality
8. Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
discusses feminism through the lens of being a black woman, addressing topics often not discussed by white feminists
9. The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America
discusses the implication of race inequality on the development of urban areas and crime rates
10. Killing Rage: Ending Racism by Bell Hooks
explains the importance of eradicating racism and sexism simultaneously
You don’t have to pay for books!
Go to https://libgen.lc/ to download free books
Movies
Hale County This Morning, This Evening: intimate account and experiences of the lives of the black community of Hale County, Alabama
I Am Not Your Negro
The Hate U Give
Moonlight
The Color Purple
If Beale Street Could Talk
TV Shows
Insecure
Self Made
Black-ish
Time: The Kalief Browder Story
When They See Us
Dear White People
Ted Talks
Link to Ted Talks to Understand Race Better:https://tinyurl.com/racetedtalks
Apps to Download
helps promote black businesses by showing you which ones are near you
2. EatOkra
shows you black owned restaurants nearby
3. Black Nation:
shows you black businesses nearby and network circles
4. BLMovement:
gives resource directory of everything related to the BLM movement (donations, petitions, etc)
5. Say Their Names:
an app made to commemorate the death of victims of racial inequality and directs you to resources to donate/sign petitions
Overall, this is merely a GUIDE and should not be the only thing you do. Being anti-racist is NOT a checklist, but rather an ongoing process to take the time and effort to educate yourself, and hopefully use that to create a bigger change.
Sources:
https://thebolditalic.com/8-black-activists-in-the-bay-area-to-follow-on-instagram-and-twitter-b417f3c4c7ea
https://www.fastcompany.com/90512942/how-to-find-and-support-black-owned-businesses-wherever-you-are
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9856512/how-to-help-defund-the-police
https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/6/2/21276966/antiracist-movies-streaming-racism
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/06/19/what-does-defund-the-police-mean-and-does-it-have-merit/
http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/rethinkingtheblues_final.pdf
https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/6-reasons-why-its-time-to-defund-police
https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/defunding-the-police-will-actually-make-us-safer/
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/black-lives-matter-anti-racism-activists-instagram-social-media-a9554186.html
https://www.cnet.com/news/black-lives-matter-movies-tv-shows-and-books-on-systemic-racism/
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