How to Prepare for a Protest
If you choose to attend a protest, please listen to and respect the organizers' guidelines; they are the experts. Bring signs with no sticks. Practice social distancing as much as possible once you are there (and use that hand sanitizer!) Please also do not take or post photos or videos of protesters' faces or other identifying traits, especially Black protesters; these could be used to identify protesters in the future. If you do want to take photos, use black boxes to remove identifying features and then take a screenshot of the photo. This screenshot will remove any metadata from the original photo (here's a helpful Twitter thread about this).
● What to Wear/Bring
○ PPE (Facemask and hand sanitizer)
○ Shatter-resistant eye protection/goggles
○ Hat
○ Heat resistant gloves
○ Long sleeves
○ Comfortable, athletic shoes
○ Water (spray/squirt bottles) & potentially eye wash formula (like saline)
○ Cash/change for public transportation/pay phone
○ Backpack with snacks, first-aid supplies, fresh clothes
Call and Write
● Make calls and write letters directly to Hennepin County District Attorney Mike Freeman and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to demand the arrests and charging of the police officers involved in the death of George Floyd.
○ Call DA Freeman at (612-348-5550)
○ Mayor: 350 South 5th Street, Room 331 Minneapolis, MN 55415
■ (612-673-2100)
○ City Attorney’s office: 612-673-3000
○ If you need an outline on language to use in your calls or emails, this can serve as a template.
Accounts to Follow on Social Media
○ Rachel Cargle @rachel.cargle, @thelovelandfoundation, @thegreatunlearn
○ Opal Tometi @opalayo
○ Mari Copeny @littlemissflint
○ Benjamin Crump @attorneycrump
○ Ta-Nehisi Coates @tanehisipcoates
○ Kendrick Sampson @kendrick38, @BLDPWR
○ Danielle Coke @OhHappyDani
○ @DrIbram
○ @ProfRah
Organizations to support and/or donate to
- Antiracist Research & Policy Center https://antiracismcenter.com/
- Audre Lorde Project https://alp.org/
- Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/ BLM Google Drive Resources Master List
- Black Women’s Blueprint https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/
- Color of Change https://colorofchange.org/
- Colorlines https://www.colorlines.com/
- Equal Justice Initiative https://eji.org/
- The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights https://civilrights.org/
- The Loveland Foundation https://thelovelandfoundation.org/
- NAACP https://www.naacp.org/
- Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/
- GoFundMe for the family of George Floyd
- GoFundMe – I Run With Maud
- Minnesota Freedom Fund – (Criminal Bail Fund) The Minnesota Freedom Fund is a community-based nonprofit that combats the harms of incarceration by paying bail for low-income individuals who cannot otherwise afford it.
- Louisville Community Bail Fund Bails low-income people out of prison in Louisville, KY, and is bailing people who were arrested for protesting the death of Breonna Taylor.
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Free Them All For Public Health
- Atlanta Solidarity Fund From their website: “Protesters in Atlanta are demanding justice for George Floyd and an end to the system which killed him. Contribute to this bail fund to help ensure that if folks are targeted for arrest, we will be able to get them out of jail quickly.”
- A running list of all the bail funds
- Nationwide Bail Funds This website allows you to split your donation between the bail funds of your choice.
Specifically Mississippi
Black Lives Matter, MS @blm_sip
Mississippi Votes @msvotes
Petitions
● Color of Change Petition: #JusticeforFloyd: Demand the officers who killed George Floyd are charged with murder.
Text FLOYD to 55156
● Color of Change – #JusticeforBre: Police officers who killed Breonna Taylor must be FIRED.
● Color of Change – #JusticeforAhmaud
● Grassroots Law Project (The Action PAC) ~ Shaun King https://www.justiceforbigfloyd.com/
Provides petition and a phone number to call (612-324-4499) which connects you to multiple officials in Minneapolis
Educate
● Articles/Resources on How to Talk About Race and Police Brutality
○ National Museum of African American History & Culture https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race
○ Social Justice & Museums Resource List Initiated and edited by Tanya S. Autry, @artstuffmatters, July 2015 https://bit.ly/2UG1aUD
○ The Campaign for Equal Dignity is an initiative of the Center for Civil and Human Rights https://www.equaldignity.org/?mc_cid=53b6805a03&mc_eid=24b4585525
○ How to talk to your children about protests and racism (CNN) https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/health/protests-racism-talk-to-children-wellness/index.html
○ When They See Us Learning Companion: Array 101 https://www.array101.org/
○ Frontline: Policing the Police (PBS video) https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-policing-police-preview/
○ Duke University Press has made all of issue 137 of the Radical History
○ Review "Policing, Justice, and the Radical Imagination" freely available for a few months. https://read.dukeupress.edu/radical-history-review/issue/2020/137
○ Duke has updated a previously-published Police Violence Syllabus
https://www.dukeupress.edu/Explore-Subjects/Syllabi/Police-Violence-Syllabus
Political Protests syllabus https://www.dukeupress.edu/Explore-Subjects/Syllabi/Political-Protests-and-Movements-of-Resistance
and Racial Justice syllabus https://www.dukeupress.edu/Explore-Subjects/Syllabi/Racial-Justice-Syllabus
○ 26 Ways to Be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets
○ The Combahee River Collective Statement https://combaheerivercollective.weebly.com/the-combahee-river-collective-statement.html
○ “America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
○ Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)
○ ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22,
○ 2011)
○ The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
○ “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
○ Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
○ ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
○ “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
● Films and TV series
○ List of Movies, Shows and Documentaries to Watch to Educate Yourself on Racial Injustice https://theeverygirl.com/movies-shows-documentaries-racial-injustice/
○ List of Movies And Documentaries About Race (Buzzfeed) https://buzzfeed.com/natashajokic1/racial-injustice-documentaries-and-movies
○ 13th (Ava DuVernay, 2016) — Netflix
■ explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
○ American Son (Kenny Leon, 2019) — Netflix
■ An estranged couple reunite in a Florida police station to help find their missing teenage son.
○ Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 (Goran Olsson, 2011) — Available to rent
■ Examines the people, society, culture, and style that fueled an era of convulsive change, the Black Power movement in American society from 1967 to 1975.
○ Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler, 2013) — Available to rent
■ Though he once spent time in San Quentin, 22-year-old black man Oscar Grant tries hard to live a clean life and support his girlfriend and young daughter.
○ I Am Not Your Negro (Raoul Peck, 2016) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
■ In 1979, James Baldwin wrote to his literary agent describing his next book, a personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and MLK. After Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Peck envisions the book he never finished.
○ If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2018) — Hulu
■ In early 1970s Harlem, Tish vividly recalls her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together, but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.
○ Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton, 2019) — Amazon Prime Video
■ After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation.
○ Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014) — Available to rent
■ Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, Selma became the battleground for suffrage.
○ The Banker (George Nolfi, 2020) — Apple TV
■ Based on the true story of Bernard Garrett Sr. and Joe Morris, two black millionaires who secretly used a white front man to buy banks and give loans to blacks shut out of the chance to build wealth in Jim Crow-era Texas.
○ The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Stanley Nelson Jr., 2015) — PBS
■ Stanley Nelson tells the story of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, which sought to transform a system of racial oppression.
○ When They See Us (Ava DuVernay, 2019) — Netflix
■ In 1989 a jogger was assaulted and raped in New York's Central Park, and five young people were subsequently charged with the crime.
○ America to Me (Liu, James, Parrish & Shaw, 2018) — Starz on Amazon Prime or Hulu
■ This unscripted documentary series presents an exclusive look into an academic year at suburban Chicago's Oak Park and River Forest High School.
○ Minding the Gap (Bing Liu, 2018) — Hulu
■ Three young men bond through skateboarding to escape their volatile family life in their Rust Belt home town. As they face their adult responsibilities, some unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
● Podcasts to subscribe to
○ Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
○ Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
○ Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
○ Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
● Books
Support your local and black-owned businesses to help uplift communities, build economic diversity and help build strong, financial platforms for our neighborhoods.
○ Socialjusticebooks.org
○ 12 Black-Owned Bookstores You Can Support Right Now (Buzzfeed) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ariannarebolini/black-bookstores-black-authors-books
○ An Essential Reading Guide For Fighting Racism
○ Books for Children and Young Adults: Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
○ 31 Children's books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
○ Books Specifically for White Allyship https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/books-race-privilege-learn-white-ally-70991938
Alphabetical by Authors Last Name
○ The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
○ White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
○ This Bridge Called My Back by Cherrie Moraga & Gloria Anzaldua
○ Racism Without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
○ Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown
○ I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
○ The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin
○ Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
○ We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
○ Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
○ My Time With the Whites by Jennine Capo Crucet
○ Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis
○ Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis
○ Women, Race, and Class by Angela Y. Davis
○ Evicted by Matthew Desmond
○ White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
○ Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement edited by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Ejeris Dixon
○ Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt
○ Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
○ For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…And The Rest of Ya’ll Too by Christopher Emdin
○ The Wretched of The Earth by Frantz Fanon
○ The Young Lords: A Radical History by Johanna Fernandez
○ Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault
○ The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
○ Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
○ The Condemnation of Blackness by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
○ The Autobiography of Malcolm X As Told To By Alex Haley
○ Nobody by Marc Lamont Hill
○ All About Love by bell hooks
○ Feminism Is for Everybody: Passion Politics by bell hooks
○ Killing Rage: Ending Racism by bell hooks
○ No Tea, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies by E. Patrick Johnson
○ An American By Marriage by Tayari Jones
○ Hood Feminist: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
○ How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
○ Stamped: Raism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
○ Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
○ When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, asha bandele
○ White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism by Kevin Kruse
○ The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit From Identity Politics by George Lipsitz
○ Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W Loewen
○ White By Law by Ian Haney Lopez
○ I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing across Sexualities by Audre Lorde
○ They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
○ Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial inequality in American Health Care by Dayna Bowen Matthew
○ My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
○ Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl
○ The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
○ How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality and the Fight for the Neighborhood by PE Moskowitz
○ Becoming by Michelle Obama
○ So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
○ Blackballed by Darryl Pinkney
○ How the South Won the Civil War by Heather Cox Richardson
○ Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-Create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy Roberts
○ The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
○ American Lynching by Ashraf H.A. Rushdy
○ Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F Saad
○ Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death and Redemption in an American Prison by Shaka Senghor
○ Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass incarceration and a Road to Repair by Danielle Sered
○ Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
○ Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
○ The Myth of Race by Robert Sussman
○ A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki
○ Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
○ The Burning House: Jim Crow and the Making of Modern America by Anders Walker
○ The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race by Jesmyn Ward
○ The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
○ A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (There is a "young people's" version for elementary and middle school readers)
Poetry
○ salt. by Nayyirah Waheed
○ Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
○ The complete works of Audre Lorde, ie. Sister Outsider
○ For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (choreopoem) by Ntozake Shange
Fiction
○ The complete works of James Baldwin, ie. The Fire Next Time, Giovanni’s Room
○ The complete works of Toni Morrison, ie. The Bluest Eye and Beloved