03/06/2020
BLACK LIVES MATTER
✖️If you’re wondering why “all lives” don’t matter it’s because currently we are living under a system where black lives don’t mean much. Until all lives are seen as equal it’s impossible for all of them to matter. You can be asleep in your own home (Breonna Taylor), wearing a hoodie (Trayvon Martin), on a run (Ahmaud Arbery) but still be shot dead. Unfortunately there are so many more examples of untimely deaths of black people at the hands of the police. In America police violence is the number ONE cause of death in young men. 1 in 1000 black people can be expected to be killed by police, making them 2.5 times more likely to die as a result of a “regular” police encounter than white people.
✖️If you’re not in America and you think this has nothing to do with you, you are wrong. The deaths, protests and riots could easily be us here in the UK, we are not innocent- police brutality, institutionalised and structural racism exists all around us. The picture attached here and injustice should outrage you no matter where you are.
✖️If you’ve shared your Black Lives Matter post on social media and you think that’s enough, it is not. Find your local businesses run by POC and have those difficult conversations with friends & family.
➖If you live in the UK you can write to your local MP and urge them to- suspend the UK sale of teargas, riot shields and rubber bullets to the USA. You can also ask them in writing to condemn Trumps use of force against his own citizens.
➖Donate (if you can) to the George Floyd GoFundMe page that was set up by his family.
➖Donate (if you can) to bail funds in the USA
➖Hold brands and influencers you support accountable.Are they posting acknowledging what is going on, are they talking about being inclusive but not doing much in reality? Find out, push and help them grow.
➖Make use of the free podcasts, articles and well researched information floating around social media right now.
➖Additionally you can do the work- read, watch and listen to the stories being told around you. I’ll be sharing resources that I have found helpful(including child friendly ones).
🔺I’ve made a little book bingo for anyone who is interested in opening up the conversation to their children, students, family and friends! (One full of easy to digest kid friendly books and one for adults)
Including a diverse range of authors, characters and stories in your child’s library can make a big impact on how they perceive POC in society📚👊🏾🔺
✖️VOTE! When you can, get rid of those who LITERALLY turn the lights off at home & their backs on you. Vote for leaders who have compassion, who want change, who hope to do good. You know like leaders should?
🖤
