Tag: Protest

5 Ways You Can Support the Black Lives Matter Movement

Image: Eater

Since the May 25th killing of George Floyd by 5 police officers in Minneapolis, much has transpired. Protests have erupted across the country (even with a handful in other places around the world), cries to defund police departments have recieved national attention, multiple memorials for George Floyd have occured in different cities, four of the police officers involved in Floyd’s killing are facing third- and second-degree murder charges, and the UN has even agreed to discuss racism and police brutality in the United States.

Although a lot of progress has been made, there is still so much more to be done. Sadly, many unfortunate events have also occurred in the past weeks. Police brutality is far from solved, but many feel exhausted by the constant “Justice for [name]” posts that have flooded all forms of social media. Robert Fuller was found hanged in Palmdale, California on June 8th. On June 12th, Rayshard Brooks had been shot and killed in an interaction with the police in response to a call regarding a man sleeping in his car at a Wendy’s drive-thru outside Atlanta. Officers have been caught using police brutality in confrontation with protesters fighting back against the exact behavior that the police continue to use.

As protests don’t show any signs of winding down any time soon, many people still feel unsure of what they can do to get involved. Here are some surefire ways to help the Black Lives Matter movement.

Register to vote… and then vote

If you at least 18 years-old or will be turning 18 by Election Day (November 3rd), then the most important thing you can do is register to vote (and then, of course, show up). Plenty of arguments have been made about the importance of voting, but if you want to see the impassioned case made by the brother of George Floyd himself against the use of violent riots and encouraging everybody to get out and vote, take a look:

If you have not before registered to vote or have changed your address since the last election, it is essential that you register to vote before the election in November. To register in your state, click here.

In order to find your polling place, click here.

Once you are registered and know where to vote, it is just as important to learn about the candidates running for office in your hometown. Use this great tool to get educated on every race and candidate before you head to your polling place by clicking here.

Support programs and organizations that fight for racial justice and equality

Black Lives Matter, founded in 2013 after the killing of Trayvon Martin, is a great place to turn to support the cause. For years, they have been one of the biggest advocates for racial justice and against police brutality. They have organized many protests in the past seven years, including the protests and demonstrations in Ferguson after the killing of Michael Brown in 2014. Both money and action are helpful and always welcomed. Visit here to donate, and look around to find out more about how else you can contribute and make a difference.

The Equal Justice Initiative, another great group to support, works to provide legal defenses to those facing wrongful convictions. Money is greatly appreciated in order to pay for attorneys and legal fees. Click here to donate!

Find peaceful protests and demonstrations to attend

Before attending any protests, remember these things:

  • You have rights as a protester, but there are also limits. Read more about what you can and cannot do under the law.
  • Many protests are organized with the knowledge and support of local city councils and law enforcement authorities.
  • We’re still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, so it’s best to protect yourself by wearing a face mask, bringing hand sanitizer and refraining any and all physical contact.
  • Some areas have imposed a curfew, though these seem to be easing. Be aware of your local laws before you attend the protests at night.

Your local news source is an obvious option, making it a great first place to look — however, some protests are not as widespread or publicized. If nothing is found there, it does not mean that all hope is lost.

Many protests are organized through Facebook, so a great place to find upcoming protests to seek justice for George Floyd would be under the events tab on Facebook. You can even organize events and protests near you by cause, making it a great place to find gatherings.

Organizers often turn to Twitter to spread word of upcoming protests. One way to find protests near you would be to search the name of your city as a hashtag. For example, Atlanta residents could search #Atlanta.

If you live in a bigger metro area, there is a likely chance that you have your own Black Lives Matter chapter. Reaching out to see if there are any ways you could get involved or attend a demonstration could never hurt. Click here to see a list of Black Lives Matter chapters.

Donate to bail funds and other assistance for protesters

Thousands of protesters across the country have been detained, and bail funds carry a heavy burden. Bail funds, such as the Minnesota Freedom Fund, have seen considerable spikes in donations — and they are actually encouraging donors to look elsewhere to funds that are in more dire need of help. Here, you can find a list of bail funds across the country which could all use your help. For other national bail funds, take a look at the National Bail Out and The Bail Project.

Support and patronize black-owned businesses

This year, black businesses have had trouble with loans and the federal aid programs created to help small businesses throughout the pandemic. The Global Strategy Group, on May 13th, released the results of an online survey they conducted regarding financial aid distribution to minority-owned businesses. Their report found that, from a pool of 500 respondents, only 12% of the African-American- or Latinx-owned businesses received the full assistance they requested — and approximately two-thirds of the same businesses did not receive any aid.

There are plenty of other ways you are able to help support the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the George Floyd protests. Spreading awareness, having difficult conversations on race with others, and educating both yourself and others are all great and worthwhile things you can (and should) do whenever possible. For more information on what else you can do, visit Teen Vogue’s article on other ways you can help in both your public and private life.

An Open Letter to Tucker Carlson

Image: RawStory

As a teenager in America, and in most people’s valid opinion, an American citizen, I do not know where to begin on the comments you have made.

I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and currently live in Erie, Pennsylvania. I have lived in the United States all my life, have a legal birth certificate, social security number, passport, and more… yet you still have the audacity to say that, because I am under the age of eighteen, I am not an “American citizen” as much as you, Donald Trump, Uncle Sam, or anybody else.

I am Jewish. I am Latino. I am American.

Being any of those things does not strip me of my American citizenship in the least, and neither does my age.

My religion is a part of who I am as an American. I love being Jewish—especially in a country that allows me to express my religion without the fear of persecution or punishment. I love getting to educate people and being the one that gets to help other people grow as individuals by teaching them about my religion and what it means.

My heritage is no less significant to me than my religion or citizenship. Being Latino is also a part of who I am. I am a product of my family who came from South America, and I love to brag about it because it makes me feel like I am a real contributor to what is the great, American “melting pot.” Nobody could ever take my culture, history, or family away from me—not even you. To me, none of this, in any way, makes me less American.

I still feel as proud to pledge allegiance to the American flag as anybody else.

I just want to know—if it isn’t my religion or ethnicity—then what is it that makes me less American than the people around me? According to you, I’m not an American—I’m just a teenager.

This is what you said a couple weeks ago:

Video: FOX News

I would like to clear the air here: We are ALL Americans.

If you genuinely think that teenagers are not Americans, then I think you are about to be pretty surprised.

Across the nation, we teens have organized school walkouts, protests, marches, and other events to exercise our First Amendment right. We are fighting together against ignorant people like you who think that, just because we are not eighteen, we cannot have an opinion, exercise our God-given right to protest or challenge arrogant people like you. We want to show that we have a say in our future and that people such as yourself do not deserve to speak for us—people who would rather let us take the fall (literally) just so you don’t have to lose your guns.

If you ever had any respect for us and stopped to listen to what we had to say, you would know by now that we never asked for anyone to lose their guns. We only asked for common sense gun laws—to put in place reasonable restrictions on the Second Amendment, just as there are the same restrictions on our rights to free speech and rights to privacy. If you think we are being unreasonable just look to the Supreme Court Heller decision, and you will see as plain as day, that while it holds that the right to bear arms is not related to service in a militia, it is not unlimited and that guns and gun ownership would continue to be regulated.

We teens have to live in fear at our schools. We don’t exactly think that this makes a ‘conducive’ environment for learning, do you? Nor do we think that arming our teachers makes for any more of a ‘conducive’ learning environment, but we already know that you don’t care. What you do care about is assisting the gun manufacturers to increase their revenue. You would prefer that you get to keep your guns—end of story.

I keep going over it in my head, but I just cannot answer this one question. I would really love it if you could answer it for me: Who exactly would it take to be killed in a shooting for you to realize that enough is enough?

Would it be a group of innocent civilians? No—we already saw that at the Pulse Nightclub, Las Vegas… (the list is way too big to count).

Would it be a group of church-goers like yourself? No—we already saw that in Charleston, Nashville, and Sutherland Springs.

Would it be a class full of high school students like myself? No—we already saw that at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Would it be a class full of kindergarteners? No—we already saw that at the tragic Sandy Hook shooting.

What would it take for you to realize that the one life person would be worth more than all the guns in America? I just struggle to understand how somebody who is adamantly “pro-life” can have such blatant disregard for all of our lives. Somebody who was really “pro-life” would care about the life of a human being after they are born. What is the point in fighting for their life before it is born if you are just going to let them be shot someday after they are born by somebody with an automatic weapon that they shouldn’t even have?

We are fighting for our rights—for our lives—and whether you like it or not, we are equal American citizens with free speech, the right to organize, the right to assemble, and the right to protest.

I would really love to learn more about what you think, and so, while I have been rather firm and harsh in this open letter, I would also like to invite you to an interview with WTP Magazine if possible to sit down and your thought process when you made the statement saying that we teens are not Americans. I am not asking this in an antagonistic way. I am only asking this because I genuinely want to learn why you believe this.

Hopefully, when we are done, you can realize that if we are old enough to be shot, then we are old enough to have an opinion on being shot.

If you are seriously interested, like I am, in taking me up on my offer for an interview, please send me an email at harrison.romero@wtpmag.com. I look forward to hearing from you.