Many people are wondering what they can do next, after the George Floyd protests. There are three particular ways to make a difference:
- Racism: Entrenched racism means that police are killing black people.
- Police: The police didn’t just police demonstrations. The police actively attacked people and caused mayhem.
- Fascism: Trump is using unauthorized troops agains American Citizens and threatening to bring in the military.
Here’s what you can do:
Federal Level: Register and Contact Your Legislators
Reach out and contact your legislators today. Demand that they un-fund the Department of Justice for overstepping and using military might against American citizens. Demand that they impeach Bill Barr. Contact Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal and tell him to get his troops off of the streets.
PUSH YOUR LEGISLATORS This link gives you a list of tools that help you contact your legislators and the White House. There are more tools to help than you might think, including a fax service that lets you send five free faxes a day!
Local Level: Change Your Own Town
Following is a link we put together telling you how to contact EVERYBODY RESPONSIBLE. Bookmark it. Yell at the White House. Yell at your representatives, but use this link to look closer. Communicate with your governor, your state attorney general, your state’s AND your town’s government. YOU elect them. And it’s an election in November. Know what needs to change.
CONTACT LEGISLATORS AND GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
Read the papers, go onto Twitter and look for the name of your town, and Google-search to see how your town has handled the recent protests. If there are reports of police violence, find contact information for your Police Chief, Mayor, local Police Commission, and and write letters to them. Write emails to them, and post your letters online, using Twitter. Put hashtags on your posts. Also look to see if your town has a Police Review Board. Here’s an example of a City Councilwoman interacting with the local Police Review Board.
And finally, call your local police station and ask what the process is to protest police behavior.
All of these people are accountable to you, the voter. Also look into the party affiliation of your District Attorney, together with their records. Does your District Attorney disproportionately prosecute Black people?
In the list called 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice , Corinne Shutack lists three important things that you can do:
- Google whether your local police department currently outfits all on-duty police officers with a body-worn camera and requires that the body-worn camera be turned on immediately when officers respond to a police call. If they don’t, write to your city or town government representative and police chief to advocate for it.
- Google whether your city or town currently employs evidence-based police de-escalation trainings. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere. Write to your city or town government representative and police chief and advocate for it.
- If you hear a story about a Black person — whether it’s at a hotel, with the police, in a coffee shop, at a school, being harassed, read it, amplify it, and complain. When you see such a post, call the organization, company, or institution involved to tell them how upset you are. Then share the post along with the institution’s contact information, so others can deliver feedback as well. Consumer feedback is powerful.
Read the Resources – there are wonderful ideas that you can use today
There are several very good lists going around.
- 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice is being continually updated.
- 11 Things To Do Besides Say ‘This Has To Stop’ In The Wake Of Police Brutality
Learn to Become an Anti-Racist
How to make this moment the turning point for real change – by Barack Obama
Dear White People: This is what we want you to do, by Kandise LeBlanc (@iheart_kandi on Twitter)
