Allyship Check-In No 23

Last Updated on February 25, 2022 by ThoughtsStained

Welcome to the latest in my Allyship Check-In series! This series is meant to share resources–through articles, blog posts, multimedia, book recommendations, petitions and more–to help each of us live more antiracist lives.

As the world continues to deal with climate disasters, the pandemic and growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine (that has risen to all out war), it’s important to continue to both take care of ourselves, but also each other. I hope the resources below can help you take a step in doing just that.

Also, happy Black History Month! A reminder that Black lives, history, culture should be celebrated and respected year round, not just in February.

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 (the ARD) , 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 BIPOC 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.

Staying Informed

On top of continuing to read the amazing work from the ARD team, I recently subscribed to two more newsletters: Ijeoma Oluo’s Beyond the Book, which is powerful, poignant and passionate, from every day life to addressing systematic failures to writing advice. I also subscribed The Prism‘s newsletter to get round-ups of their articles posted each week, as I really appreciate the work they are doing.

You’ll find samples from all three places (and more!) within the articles below. I hope you consider subscribing, as well!

(^^ I wrote this in last month’s Allyship Check-In, but I felt it important enough to repeat here!)

Readings

Articles and Blog Posts

Videos, Podcasts and Media

Excited to have some more multimedia to share this month than I normally do (since I tend to focus on writing-based media, personally). The TedTalks below, especially, I found to be really powerful.

Multimedia

Learn more about protesting Line 5 through this short press conference!
Explore the following powerful Ted Talks:
- Kimberlé Crenshaw’s The Urgency of Intersectionality
- Layla F. Saad’s How Reading Books By Authors of Colour Helps Us Reclaim our Humanity
Watch the Digital Exclusive: Nikole Hannah-Jones on Ida B. Wells’ Legacy in Journalism on WTTW

Getting Engaged

Petitions

Below is a selection of petitions that you can sign to help support one another. This month, there’s everything from demanding reparations from the American government, clemency and freedom for Black political prisons and proper COVID testing for frontline workers.

Sign Your Name In Support of:

Pressuring the Biden Administration to offer reparations (starting with entry into the country) for those affected the Trump’s Muslim and African bans
Speaking of pressure, you can also sign to encourage Biden to allow clemency for those who were released from prison thanks to the pandemic to remain out of prison
Demand that Amazon support the safety of their workers by reinstating free COVID testing
Below are a series of petitions in a Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) newsletter, “supporting the following Black political prisoners currently experiencing the indignity and harm of incarceration”:
- Bring Sundiata Home
- Free 82-Year-Old Prisoner Ruchell Magee
- Free Ashley Diamond
- Grant Clemency for Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a father, grandfather, healer, & human rights activist
Support the organization, Stop AAPI Hate and Asian American Feminist Collective

Take Action

From protests to learning about various initiatives to learning more about groups doing antiracist work daily, there’s plenty of ways to get engaged this month!

Also, a day before this post was schedule to be live, two important events occurred: Russia declared war on Ukraine and Texas proposed a horrific bill against trans kids and their families. I condemn both of these actions and remain in solidarity with those fighting against it. I wanted to highlight resources to address both here:

Protect Trans Youth

Check out this fundraiser for trans kids
Write to demand this bill not be passed
A thread of places to donate

Free Ukraine

If you speak Russian or another Slavic or South Slavic language, consider signing up as a volunteer crisis translator
Use this thread to support Ukraine financially

Get Engaged

Support the initiatives of Black Futures Month, organized by M4BL
Help support the Young Readers’ Edition of Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad by ordering a copy today!
Protest against the Line 3 Pipeline
Prepare for the Global Climate Strike on March 25th!
Learn more about Local Power groups, in collaboration with M4BL’s Black Futures Month
Support We Need Diverse Books

Donate

As always, I like to highlight different organizations, movements and areas to support financially, if you’re able. Also, I decided, after getting an unexpected raise at work and redoing my finances, to commit to $20 a month to a different organization, for as long as it’s feasibly possible for me.

This month, I donated to FIYAH Literary Magazine, a quarterly space for Black speculative fiction writers to write stories by and about the Black people of the African Diaspora.

Support Financially

The National Black Doll Museum had to close in 2020. Donate to help it reopen!
Support the Gerald A. Lawson Endowment Fund for Black and Indigenous Students: the goal of the fund is “educate and train more Black and Indigenous Game Developers, two demographic groups that have chronically been under-represented in the Games Industry.”
Donate $28 to the ARD’s 28 Days of Black History series they hosted this past month
Buy quilts made by the Women of Gee’s Bend
Give to metoo, an organization striving to help survivors of sexual assault and violence.
Learn about and support the Audre Lorde Project
Help Naomi fill their classroom with Diverse Books!
Donate to the FIYAH Grant Fund to help assist Black speculative writers.
Support the UNCF to help Black students in College

In Sum

Thank you for reading and engaging with this latest Allyship Check-In post! I hope you learned something new, deepened your knowledge about important issues and found different ways to get involved: whether it’s through educating yourself, supporting important work financially or supporting individuals in their efforts by sharing their content.