Earlier this year, we saw a massive global uprising in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Millions of people took to the streets to protest systemic racism and police brutality against the black community. If you weren’t able to join the protests then, you can still continue to voice your support for this movement. Sure, protesting is a meaningful and effective way to call for change and inspire reforms but there are plenty of other ways to do that as well, which are highly sustainable in the long run. Here are some of them:
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Donate.
If you have the financial means, there are various organizations that you can donate to. There are victim funds that use the donations to support the families of victims like George Floyd and Jacob Blake. There are bail funds, which are for paying bonds and bails to release arrested protestors. You can also donate to organizations like Minnesota Freedom Fund, which work towards dismantling wealth-based discrimination in the justice system.
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Educate yourself.
The Black people around you are not responsible for teaching you about racism. You need to educate yourself as much as you can. Read books by Black authors as well as some non-Black authors that tackle this subject, like So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. You should also read up on the history of slavery in the country, the Jim Crow era, the racist war on drugs, housing segregation and so on.
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Buy from black-owned businesses.
The best way to protest economic racism in the country is to support Black-owned businesses. That includes clothing stores, restaurants, entertainment companies, bakeries and so on. You can look up such businesses in your area on Google or take help from crowd-sourced lists on social media. If any of these businesses have shut down due to the pandemic, you can buy their merch or gift cards.
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Wear your support on your sleeve, literally.
Another easy way to proclaim your support for Black Lives Matter and show everyone that you are an ally is by wearing clothes or accessories with Black Lives Matter or other inspirational messages written on them. This also works to help spread awareness among people about the movement.
Now you can buy high-quality Black Lives Matter unisex t-shirts at SanJules. We also offer Black Lives Matter women’s t-shirts and men’s t-shirts in red, black and green metallic look squares. They are available in a wide range of sizes.