5 Ways To Get Educated & Give Back #BLM

1. Ways to Donate:

• Black Lives Matter 
• Black Visions Collective

  Black Visions Collection is a social justice organization that aims to “center our work in healing and transformative justice principles, intentionally develop our organization’s core ‘DNA’ to ensure sustainability, and develop Minnesota’s emerging black leadership to lead powerful campaigns.” You can donate to the cause here.

• Reclaim the BlockThis organization works with communities and city council members in Minneapolis to redistribute money from the police department to other parts of the city’s budget that “truly promote community health and safety.” You can donate to Reclaim the Block here.
• Communities United Against Police BrutalityThis Twin Cities-based organization confronts police brutality by providing those in need with services, including but not limited to crisis hotlines and legal, medical, and psychological referrals. It also holds rallies, protests, and educational seminars alongside “routinely waging battles in the political and legal arenas to bring about changes in laws, policies, and practices that reduce accountability and allow police brutality to occur.” You can donate to its cause via PayPal here.
• Know Your Rights CampColin Kaepernick founded this organization that holds education seminars across the country for black and brown youth. Know Your Rights Camp teamed up with defense lawyers in the Minneapolis area to help provide legal resources for those in Minnesota in need right now. You can donate to the organization here and learn more about the legal defense initiative here.

2. Articles to Read:

• “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)

• Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists

• ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
• The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
• The Combahee River Collective Statement
• “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
• Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD

3. Books to read:

• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
• Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
• How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold
• Redefining Realness by Janet Mock 
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

4. Videos to Watch: 

• Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (50:48)
• “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)

5. Podcasts to Listen To: 

• 1619 (New York Times)
• About Race
• Code Switch (NPR)
• Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
• Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
• Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
• Seeing White