It has been 18 days since George Floyd was murdered by police officers. Since then, the country has come together in solidarity both online and in person through protests and demonstrations.
To summarize, here’s just a few things that have been accomplished by this collective movement:
- The four officers involved in George Floyd’s murder have been charged.
- Minneapolis City Council voted to disband their police force.
- LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced major budget cuts to LAPD.
- In response to Breonna Taylor’s murder at the hands of the police, Breonna’s Law was passed in Louisville, Kentucky which bans no-knock warrants and requires police officers to wear body cameras.
As an organization, we’re deeply committed to racial justice and equity and building an anti-racist movement. Our hope is that the Black Lives Matter movement will not lose traction. The enthusiasm invested in this movement must remain in order to spark change.
Fighting injustice, bigotry and anti-blackness is a battle that everyone must participate in. The fact of the matter is that it shouldn’t rest on the shoulders of Black people to do all the work and advocacy. To the allies: after a while, you may find yourself wondering “I’ve posted on social media, now what?”
Here are ways you can help keep the momentum going:
SIGN PETITIONS
Petitions on petitions on petitions: signing petitions is an easy way of showing support for different aspects of the movement that only takes a few minutes at most.
Sign as many petitions as you can to get justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery Taylor, Michael Brown, Tony McDade, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and more.
CONTACT LOCAL OFFICIALS
For widespread change to happen, we must contact elected officials across the board. We’re often called to contact representatives on the state and federal level. Now it’s time to turn our attention to local officials. City council members, mayors, police departments – they’re responsible for the changes we want on the local level.
There are resources now that allow us to find local officials’ contact information. Growing in popularity are email forms that only require you to type in your name into the template and hit send. When we flood their offices, we’re making it loud and clear that we want change.
VOTE.
Those officials you contacted? Most of them are elected officials. With elections coming up this year, prepare to take your outrage to the polls. Prepare to vote down ballot in local and state elections especially because these officials are the most influential in police reform and accountability.
Registered voters in California are now going to receive mail-in ballots. Before you can get one, you must remember to register to vote in California. If you’re already registered, make sure all your eligible friends and family are registered.
KEEP CONVERSATIONS GOING
For non-black allies, it’s important to amplify Black voices. It’s just as essential to have the tough conversations with family and friends so your Black friends don’t have to. While they’re uncomfortable, we must acknowledge how whiteness and systemic racism directly impacts the safety and livelihood of Black communities.
People are overall more open to hearing from those they know rather than activists and public figures that are further from them. To stay prepared for these conversations, we recommend you take the time to look over anti-racist resources such as books, films, and television shows.
Overall, we acknowledge that learning and fighting is a marathon rather than a sprint. We know that doing one or all of these things won’t solve the problem of racism in our country overnight. However, we each have the power to influence those in our lives. We must keep up the work and acknowledge how White Supremacy affects everyone.
At the end of the day, we can’t advocate for climate action while ignoring systemic racism and the role it plays in environmental issues. We hope that you continue to remember the injustice that’s rampant in our country and let it drive you to act.
