EDUCATE, DONATE, SUPPORT, VOTE
We watched the heartbreaking accounts of the inhumane murder of George Floyd, and the appalling abuse of human rights that followed. Sadly, these injustices committed against the African American community are not the exception; they occur all too frequently. The murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Tamir Rice, Kathryn Johnston, Michael Brown, Eleanor Bumpers, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Tony McDade and so many thousands of others comprise an all too telling story of inequality, systemic racism and violence against Black lives in America. As a nation, we need to be better, we need to aspire to our ideals that ALL are created equal; ALL have equality before the law.
We cannot begin to understand the injustices members of our community experience daily. Silence and inaction equal consent. We have been at this place in history before; the change required to establish a fair, equal, and just society must continue and not die off as the voices of protesters fade. We must commit ourselves to change.
How do we begin to heal and ensure this moment is not lost?
EDUCATE!
If you don’t understand why people are protesting, if you want to be a better ally, or you want to be better informed about racial inequality, here are just a few of the many available resources to help:
Books
“The End of Policing” by Alex S. Vitale https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1784782890?ie=UTF8&tag=versobooks-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1784782890
“White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
https://robindiangelo.com/publications/
“So You Want to Talk about Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
https://www.sealpress.com/titles/ijeoma-oluo/so-you-want-to-talk-about-race/9781580056779/
Podcasts
1619: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html
About Race: https://www.showaboutrace.com/
Code Switch: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/
Trigger Warning: https://www.podcastone.com/Trigger-Warning-with-Killer-Mike-Reviews
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast https://www.raceforward.org/media/podcast/momentum-race-forward-podcast
Articles
“America’s Racial Contract is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/americas-racial-contract-showing/611389/
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh http://convention.myacpa.org/houston2018/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf
“Who Gets to be Afraid in America” by Ibram X. Kendi https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/ahmaud-arbery/611539/
Websites for more resources and in-depth information:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic
https://www.swaay.com/ally-resources-black-lives-matter
https://www.talkspace.com/blog/black-lives-matter-resources-education-white-people/
DONATE!
studioTECHNE is committing 5% of our revenue to organizations that make a difference.
We will be supporting groups that ensure free and fair elections:
Fair Fight https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fairfight-2020-dtd
Common Cause https://www.commoncause.org/
The Brennan Center https://www.brennancenter.org/
Let America Vote https://letamericavote.org/
We will be supporting groups that protect equal rights and work for social change:
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries https://www.lutheranmetro.org/
Community Shares http://www.communityshares.org/
New One Shaker https://newoneshaker.org/
Fund for Our Economic Future https://www.thefundneo.org/
Empowering Youth Exploring Justice http://eyej.org/
The Legal Rights Center https://www.legalrightscenter.org/
Campaign Zero https://www.joincampaignzero.org/
The Human Rights Campaign https://www.hrc.org/
The Innocent Project https://www.innocenceproject.org/
Family Equality https://www.familyequality.org/
The Equal Justice Initiative https://eji.org/
The Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
The Okra Project https://www.theokraproject.com/
The Color of Change https://colorofchange.org/
The Anti-Violence Project https://avp.org/
SUPPORT!
In addition to patronizing our own locally black-owned and operated businesses, we will be working to support local groups and source the products we use + specify from local and minority businesses:
Black Artists + Designers Guild https://www.badguild.info/
The Cleveland Bucket List https://www.theclevelandbucketlist.com/blog/black-owned-businesses-in-cleveland
Design as Protest https://colloqate.org/design-justice-platform
Paul Rene Furniture https://paulrenefurniture.com/
Ali Sandifer https://www.alisandifer.com/
Norman Teague Design Studio http://www.plank22b.com/
OI Studio https://www.oistudio.com/
Marie Burgos Collection https://www.marieburgosdesignthestore.com/
Nzuri Textiles https://nzuritextiles.com/
Bole Road Textiles https://boleroadtextiles.com/
VOTE!
In the 2018 mid-term election only 49.3 percent of the voting eligible population cast ballots- and embarrassingly, that was the highest turnout since 1914. If you are unhappy and want better representation, if you are upset about policy, if you want an equal voice in national, state and local politics - register and vote.
To find out how to register to vote in your community:
In the US – https://vote.gov/
In Ohio - https://olvr.ohiosos.gov/
Locally - https://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/voter-registration.aspx