(no subject)

[soc_puppet]

It's just past midnight where I live, and I have no idea how to make this post, but I know one must be made.

Worldwide, we've been dealing with a pandemic for almost half a year. Trump's rise to power in the US has coincided with an acceleration in the rise of racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, and other bigotries that have themselves been on the rise for over a decade. A handful of days ago, yet another unarmed Black man was killed by police, so-called officers of the law, who outnumbered him and heard him begging for his life; in response, peaceful protests against his murder, crying for justice, have been sabotaged by the very same police force and opportunistic white people who want an excuse to be violent.

It is a tragedy and a travesty, what race relations are in the United States of America, and many places beyond our borders, as it has been for some time. I don't know what, if any, comfort I can offer in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and others, including Floridian trans man Tony McDade; words cannot express my grief and outrage, and can only be inadequate on their own. Nevertheless, I feel that making a public statement on this blog's behalf in support of Black Lives Matter and the people of color who are terrorized by the state and their fellow citizens is not only the least I can do, but a responsibility.

To the Black and brown members and followers of this community, if you need any specific support, please share in the comments, and I'll do my best to make sure things are safe for you. To everyone, if you have any resources or links to share, now is the time. And to my fellow white people especially, please look for at least one way your can offer your support; here are details on one option that you can do for free.

And to everyone everywhere, take care of yourselves, and do your best to stay safe.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

In case any of the white folks around here are gearing up to celebrate Pride while decrying Black Lives Matter generally or these protests in specific:

In June 1969, New York City police handcuffed Stormé DeLarverie for the crime of being a butch lesbian at a gay bar they were raiding, and hit her over the head for telling them her handcuffs were too tight. When she asked the crowd "Why don't you guys do something?", Marsha P. Johnson, who (along with every trans woman and drag queen there) was about to be arrested for the crime of wearing women's clothing while having been born with the wrong set of genitals to be a cis woman, threw a brick at the police. And Stonewall rioted.

And that is how black women founded Pride.

[soc_puppet]

On that note, here is a link to the retirement fundraiser for Miss Major, a Black trans woman, queer elder, and Stonewall veteran.

[cesy]

Thanks.

[soc_puppet]

Håkan Geijer "[R]eleased the first edition of Riot Medicine, a public domain book to help street medics in the struggle for liberation, autonomy, and dignity for all. You can download all 466 pages here: https://riotmedicine.net/downloads " (Tumblr post)

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale is also available for free here (Tumblr post).

[alexseanchai]

also University of Chicago Press does a free ebook every month and this one's on theme (link is on alexseanchai, not sure how far back, try the "cn police" tag)

(brain go splat)

[krait]

Someone else on my rlist linked this excellent 75 Things White People Can Do article, which is continually updated for relevance. It has a nice split between great charities to support, educational materials to share with educators/students, political actions and in-progress legislation to canvas for, and social media to explore.

[soc_puppet]

Thanks! A lot of these look really doable.

I want to add that most books, if not all of them, should be available at local public libraries; and if they aren't, you can request either that your library acquire a copy, or borrow a copy through inter-library loan. I know it's not a perfect option, since library cards may be unavailable to homeless folks (and probably others I'm not aware of), but it's still a very helpful option, by and large.

[soc_puppet]

Here's an action item for folks in the UK. Content warning for reference to eye trauma at the link. If you're familiar with the story about the reporter? That one.

[mesotablar]

I've recently been reading articles on Psych Central and there are some good relevant articles on there:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/reducing-racism/
https://blogs.psychcentral.com/scapegoat-recovery/2020/05/what-dr-king-understood-about-rage-and-the-trauma-of-the-unheard/

The site and articles are American but the information is not specific, so could apply globally.
Personally I have been disappointed in the News coverage specifically in their choice of verbs when introducing the news pieces. It feels like Tim Minchin's The Pope Song, those people being more offended by the reactions rather than the cause.