Following the tragic death of George Floyd, I compiled a list of resources to help educate & inspire us all to work towards creating a better tomorrow.
First off, hello. I want to send love to each & every one of you reading this, as we try to navigate everything that is currently going on within our country. It’s a lot. And I know many, including myself, don’t even know where to start when it comes to taking action & showing up as an ally for people of (ANY) color. I’ve decided to take a step back from the usual content I share here & over on my Instagram to really turn inward, absorb what it going on, educate myself, & understand how I can show up as the best version of myself. Without making it all about ME, which is NOT my intention, I truly believe the work starts from within each of us. Big changes can be made through small everyday acts of kindness, mindset shifts, peaceful conversation, & unbiased love. If you too are feeling in a similar place & want to know what YOU can do to help, I hope this post can be of assistance.
I think we have a responsibility to ALL people to show up as the best version of ourselves, as much as we possibly can. No one is perfect, no one race is perfect, no one culture is perfect. We ALL are imperfect, but like anything, I hope we can all learn from our imperfections & work towards a better tomorrow, TOGETHER.
I wanted to put together a list of resources to help anyone who has been feeling kinda like I’ve been feeling. Not sure where to start, what to do, etc. Like I said, this is all so tricky to navigate. This is my way of using my platform to hopefully encourage one of you (or many) to look into your own life & to maybe find a way for YOU to be better, be kinder, & for you to use your own voice to speak out against injustice, at all levels.
Like many, I too have some learning to do on my end. I want to make sure I’m continuing to show up for ALL people, including POC, long after the tragedy of George Floyd’s death. I want to be an ally each & every day. I took yesterday (Black Out Tuesday) to write this post, with the help of many resources shared by my social media community. I know everything all at once can be a lot, so I compiled a list below with a few action steps, petitions to sign, calls to actions, & even some black-owned clean beauty brands to support.
Special thank you to @sophiehorowitz, @nybucketlist, @illum_unnati, @cocokind, @goodgoodgoodco, & @brenna_anastasia for sharing such amazing resources over on Instagram. I learned a lot from what they shared & that information specifically, is what helped me to compile the list below. I hope these resources can be helpful in some small way, if you too are looking for ways to learn, listen, & how you personally can become a better ally.
Here’s How To Help…
SIGN PETITIONS
- #JusticeforFloyd on act.colorofchange.org
- Justice for Big Floyd
DONATE (if you have the means)
- Black Visions Collective
- Campaign Zero
- George Floyd Memorial Fund
- The Innocent Project
- National Movement for Black Lives Matter
EMAIL/TEXT
- City of Minneapolis PD – police@minneapolismn.gov
- Office of Police Conduct Review – policereview@minneapolismn.gov
- Minneapolis 311 – minneapolis311@minneapolismn.gov
- Text FLOYD to 55-156
- Text JUSTICE to 668-366
- Text ENOUGH to 55-165
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- How can you support POC in your community?
- How can you initiate the conversation about race within your own home?
- How do you plan on helping to fight to end racial discrimination?
- Are you going to use your voice & speak out?
- In what ways have you ignored this behavior in the past?
- Are you aware of microaggressions?
- Do you owe anyone an apology?
- What do you want to learn more about?
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION
- Register to vote….you can register here!
- Get in touch with your black friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. & let them know they have your support.
- Educate yourself on what it means to be anti-racist.
- Share resources.
- Speak out.
- Be an ally & advocate for change after the initial outrage ends.
CHECK OUT THESE ORGANIZATIONS
RESOURCES TO READ/WATCH
All of the books linked below are from two black-owned book stores.
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- The Hate U Give (HULU or Book)
- How to Avoid Online Racism (online resource)
- 13th (Netflix)
- When They See Us (Netflix)
- Dear White People (Netflix)
BLACK-OWNED BEAUTY BRANDS
Since I obviously have a passion for clean beauty specifically, I wanted to share a few black-owned beauty brands with clean products that you might have interest in supporting.
And finally, the easiest, BEST thing you can do is to just show up for people. Show up for people who look different than you. Show up for people who are struggling to find their own voice. Stand up for what is right. Open your heart to change. Open your heart to good. Welcome in healing. Welcome in kindness. Understand. Respect. Forgive. Be Better.
We all can do & be better. We are all in this together.
sending love & healing to all
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