The recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as the racist actions of Amy Cooper, have brought huge global momentum and attention to the longstanding, horrific systemic racism that pervades our society.
I’m ashamed to live in a society that does not value Black lives equal to others. I’m angry that the societal structures created to protect us do not protect us all equally – and more than that, are actively murdering Black people.
Black Americans account for less than 13% of the US population but the rate at which they are shot and killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans.
Where I’m based, in the UK, we are far from immune. Black people are significantly over represented in deaths following the use of force by police, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. And for every murder that gets airtime, there are countless incidents that do not make the news because they didn’t end in DEATH, but are every bit as horrific, scarring and racist.
I will never understand what it means to exist as a Black person and my heart breaks for the constant onslaught of structural inequality, casual and not-so-casual racism, emotional labour to educate us, lack of representation, painful stereotypes, and the weight of simply existing in society as Black, that has to be endured.
There’s so much work I need to do to further my education, and help to effect change:
Resources that I have read or will be reading:
This is my starter list.
- Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge
- So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo
- How to Be An Antiracist, Ibram X Kendi
- The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
- Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Places to donate:
The Black@London Employee Resource Group at my company also incredibly helpfully compiled a list specifically of UK based organisations to support and donate to
UK Orgs driving policy change and racial justice
Thanks so much to the ERG at my company for compiling this list
- Black Lives Matter UK
- STOPWATCH – research and action for fair and accountable policing
- Resourcing Racial Justice: a UK wide-funding pool to support individuals and communities working towards racial justice.
- Racial Justice Network: A network of individuals, communities and organisations working together to end racial injustice and address legacies of colonialism
- The Black Curriculum – campaign focused on changing the UK’s national curriculum – to include Black lived experiences and contributions throughout history.
- The 4FRONT Project – The 4Front Project is a member-led youth organisation empowering young people and communities to fight for justice, peace and freedom.
- The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC) coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody, supports others in similar situations.
- Green Black Cross – provide legal support for protestors.
- Runnymede – race equality think tank.
UK Orgs supporting the black community
Thanks so much to the ERG at my company for compiling this list
- Kwanda – an organisation is to support, enhance, amplify and invest in the work that is already being done in and for black communities.
- The ReachOut Project – mentoring programme for inner-city London boys.
- 100 Black Men of London: community-based charity led by Black men delivering programmes and activities focused on Mentoring, Education, Economic Empowerment, and Health & Wellness.
- Black Cultural Archives: Black Cultural Archives is a national institution dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of people of African descent in the UK.
- BYP Network is raising a £10,000 fund for households which have family members risking their lives to work due to financial insecurities:
- Majonzi fund: COVID-19 Bereavement Fund
- Exist Loudly fund to support queer Black young people
- Help Mentivity move their mentoring programme online
- Black Thrive, based in Lambeth, have a focus on mental health and work across lots of different areas to create systemic change.
- Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health – promote a truthful discourse of Blackness through the analysis of history and community outreach.
- UK Black Pride
- Brixton Soup Kitchen
- Ghana Feed Our Community
Petitions & Email Templates to sign + send
Thanks so much to the ERG at my company for compiling this list
There is also much action to demand of our elected officials, here’s some info on concrete steps to take:
- Demand a COVID-19 Race Equality Strategy here
- Write to your MP re: Addressing the impact of COVID-19 on Black & Ethnic Minority COVID19 Communities (template here)
- Email Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education, to make Black histories mandatory in the national curriculum (template here)
- Thread on how to seek justice for Belly Majinga
- Write to your MP a call to action for us to send a message to our local MPs who are our voice within our government to stop sales of riot gear, rubber bullets and tear gas to the US, to publicly condemn the actions of Trump against his own people and to properly fund the NHS and pay its staff who have been labelled as heroes recently without being treated as such. (Andree Steed’s email template here)
- Local MP contact details