Thoughts Stained With Ink

Looking For Adventurers!

Welcome to Inkpot Droplets, a monthly wrap-up newsletter! One day, this is going to be the first place you'll hear news about my books and publication journey.

in Allyship and Advocacy

Allyship Check-In: No 11

Hello, lovelies.

I hope you are taking care of ourselves! If you’ve been following some of the recent events, from the cold freeze and failure of crisis response in Texas (and Ted Cruz being a trash human, per usual); to Biden’s deportation of individuals to Haiti amidst dangerous political unrest, his lack of spine in terms of canceling student debt or pushing against the filibuster, and the fight to raise minimum wage to $15 dollars in America; to Trump’s acquittal in his second impeachment trial; to the riots of Myanmar and the Farmer’s Protests in India, well…

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, completely disheartened and at times, disgusted, you’re not alone.

But, there is still good in this world. There’s still hope. Take care of yourself, but continue to fight, to protest, to believe that we can conquer the evils of today. And I hope this month’s round-up of resources, petitions, actions and readings help give you some places to start or knowledge to better fight back.

Series Background

I started this “series” of blog posts in 2020 to share more resources to help with each of our own anti-racist journeys. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the fact that many of the resources I’m linking down below come from the hard work of those on the Anti-Racist Daily team, to which I subscribe for daily email updates. Many of the readings, actions and donation links come from what I learn from their articles. As such, I have become a monthly patreon donor, because you need to pay BIPOC people for the work they do in helping dismantle racism, not just take what you can for free. I hope you consider subscribing and supporting them, too, especially if you are a white reader.

Like I mentioned before, while a lot of these resources are tied and focused to the Black Lives Matter movement, I have started to incorporate other resources about more global events, as well.

Please keep the comments kind and constructive–though, please never hesitate to call me out if I’ve misstepped, if you are comfortable doing that emotional labor you shouldn’t have to do in the first place. I appreciate your assistance in helping me learn and continue to grow into the actual ally I want to be.

Last caveat: I listed a bunch of resources, because I hope you will click on the links and listen to the Black voices who are speaking up, instead of hearing my take. I’m using this as a space to amplify their voices–not add my own commentary to the mix.

divider 2

Readings

  • The Line Between Safe Space and Segregation by Emily Deruy from The Atlantic
    • “Where most universities were designed around the needs and lives of white students, she said, and most white students can—and do—still avoid having uncomfortable conversations about race, black students “are never at a shortage” for uncomfortable racial conversations. In other words, white students can often elect not to engage in such conversations, where black students cannot escape them.”
  • The Combahee River Collective Statement
  • The Intersection of Racism and Diet Culture by Chrissy King for Shape
    • “It’s great that body positivity inspires so many people to love and accept themselves. But the fact is, body positivity isn’t just about loving your own body. It’s about demanding justice for all bodies, especially those who face the most discrimination. Body positivity must not only acknowledge, but celebrate the intersections of identity that, too often, make it harder for people to arrive at a place of self-love, particularly within a society that caters to Eurocentric beauty standards.”
  • Tools to Help You Uncover your Implicit Bias by Faith Brar for Shape
  • Get Education on the Farmers Protests in India by Gurmeet Singh for Fair Planet
  • Outcry as more than 20 babies and children deported by US to Haiti by Ed Pilkington for The Guardian
  • Black Disabled Lives Matter: We Can’t Erase Disability in #BLM by Sarah Kim for Teen Vogue
    • “In fact, the pair knew they didn’t need to ask permission because disabled people were included in the original Black Lives Matter movement. The three founders of BLM—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—were, from the very beginning, specifically mindful of including disabilities in their mission statement, ensuring to include all Black lives. Still, Shorter and Gray wanted to remind the general public of the intersection of ableism and racism.”
  • Read through the 28 Days of Black History, put together by the Anti-Racist Daily Team

Videos and Podcasts

Petitions to Sign

  • Sign to demand access to accurate gender identity information in government IDs.
  • Sign to demand to end racist naming of national sports team, including the Kansas City Chiefs.
  • Sign to support a wealth tax on the 1% in America.
  • Sign to demand anti-racist texts in American high schools.
  • Sign to demand access to safe abortions.
  • Sign to demand justice for the 9 year-old girl attacked by Rochester Police Department.
  • Sign to demand President Biden stops the Line 3 Pipeline.
  • Sign to demand both $15 minimum wage increase and that McDonalds, in particular, doesn’t wait for it to be a national change, but increases wages now.
divider 1

Actions

  • Boycott companies that use prison labor and educate yourself on why prison labor is masked, modern day slavery.
  • Send a letter to your representatives asking them to support student debt cancellation.
  • Share resources from llumiNative to talk about why using Native mascots is not okay.
  • Support We Need Diverse Books!!
  • Sign the pledge to help support the Systemic Equality Agenda of the ACLU.
  • Take the pledge to resist the Enbridge’s proposed Line 3 tars sand pipeline.
  • Use the app “Good on You” to see how ethically made and sourced the companies that make your clothes are.
  • Learn more about the origin of “Loving Day,” which takes place on June 12th, which celebrates the love of interracial couples that was denied even up until 2000 in some states.

Places to Donate

  • Master List of over 147 places to donate: I’m going to continue always sharing this link, so that you (and myself) always have this master list to reference. However, I’m going to try and highlight a few different places each month, as well as other other locations I’ve found that aren’t on this list.
    • Donate to the Black Immigrants Bail Fund
    • Donate to the Line 3 Legal Defense Fund
    • Donate to the KhalsaAid International

Books

On Activism

To Read For Fun

Don’t forget to look not just at the problems at your home, but the problems around the world. Here’s a great place to start for various issues:

Black Lives Matter
End Sars
Free Palestine
Yemen Crisis
Speak Up for The Uyghurs
Climate Change
LGBTQIA+ Rights

Cheers.

post signature

Reader Interactions

Comments

Let Me Know Your Thoughts!

%d bloggers like this: