Last week, the world witnessed the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, igniting a huge response that is now being felt worldwide. If you are not able to attend the demonstrations against police brutality and white supremacy, support the Black Lives Matter movement by donating to any of the funds listed below, sign petitions, and help thousands of protesters, who have been arrested for participating in social justice movements.
Donate
– The Minnesota Freedom Fund is a non-profit organisation that provides funds for protesters who have been arrested and need to pay bail in order to avoid being imprisoned. To donate, click here.
– The Bail Project also provides funds to pay bail “to prevent incarceration and combat racial economic disparities in the bail system”. To donate, click here.
– These 37 bail funds include the Philadelphia Bail Fund, the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, the Community Justice Exchange National Bail Fund Network and the Mississippi Bail Fund Collective. To donate, click here.
– Two fundraisers have been set up in Mr Floyd’s memory by his family. The first, which was created by his brother Philonise Floyd, was created in order to raise money to cover funeral and burial expenses, to pay for counselling, to cover accommodation and travel expenses during court proceedings and to provide assistance for the family. To donate, click here.
– The second fundraiser was launched by Mr Floyd’s sister, Bridgett Floyd, to provide further care for the family. To donate, click here.
– You can donate directly towards the Black Lives Matter movement, in order to support the organisation’s “ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate black people, and end white supremacy forever”. To donate, click here.
– There are several local Minnesota-based organisations that are in need of donations, including Black Visions Collective, a black, trans and queer-led organisation that is “dedicated to Black liberation and to collective liberation”. To donate, click here.
– Reclaim the Block, which was founded in 2018, is committed to moving money from the police force to help support other areas of the community in Minneapolis. “We do not believe that increased regulation of or public engagement with the police will lead to safer communities, as community testimony and documented police conduct suggest otherwise,” the organisation states. To donate, click here.
– You can help to provide medical supplies to those in need during protests by donating to the North Star Health Collective, a Minnesota-based organisation that coordinates and provides health care services, resources and training. To donate, click here.
Sign petitions
Several petitions have been gaining traction in the past week demanding for justice in the wake of Mr Floyd’s death.
One petition, on the website for Color of Change, has accumulated almost 3.5 million signatures, just shy of its 4 million target.
In the petition’s description, it states that while Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, the three officers also at the scene – Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng – “must also be charged for participating in George’s murder”.
To sign the petition, click here.
On Change.org, a petition titled “Justice for George Floyd” has gained more than 10 million signatures.
“We are trying to reach the attention of Mayor Jacob Frey and DA Mike Freeman to beg to have the officers involved in this disgusting situation fired and for charges to be filed immediately,” the petition states. “Please help us get justice for George and his family!”
To sign the petition, click here.
Another petition, launched on the website wecantbreathenational.org, states that it is calling on Hennepin County District Attorney Mike Freeman to arrest and charge the police officers involved with Mr Floyd’s death with second degree murder.
To sign the petition, click here.
Guides and tools
– How to protest safely during a pandemic (via VICE)
– Know your rights (via @initialola on Twitter)
– Tool for quickly scrubbing metadata from images and selectively blurring faces and identifiable features (via @everestpipkin Twitter)
– If you are a website owner, please consider adding this #BlackLivesMatter donation badge to your site.
