Am I Doing Enough for Black Lives Matter?

Written By Lauren Curet

Growing up, I always wondered what I would have done during the Civil Rights movement. I realized during the course of this past week that whatever I was doing now is exactly what I would have been doing during the Civil Rights Movement. When I told my best friend that I was going to write a blog post about the Black Lives Matter Movement she told me that I could write about my personal experiences with racism. Since I have been trying to pursue a career in acting and opera, she figured that I would have a lot of experiences to work with. The problem with her idea is this is not my story to tell. This isn’t called non-black POC lives matter. This is called BLACK LIVES MATTER. Therefore, I will be using this blog post to address an experience I had with a dear friend of mine. Please read to the end to see ways that you can help with the cause.

When President Trump was elected, a dear friend of mine came to class that trembling in fear. Their eyes looked as if they had seen the depths of hell and have just come back up to the surface. It was almost as if they had become mute. I couldn’t help but be curious as to what had happened to them to cause them to be so distraught. We were all upset about Trump being elected. We even chose to have a discussion about his election rather than have an actual lecture that day. However, this day hit my friend differently because later that day my friend came up to me and told me that they were followed on their way to school by a group of white supremacists. This group of white supremacists targeted them and threatened their lives because they were black. I vividly remember holding them in my arms as they cried out, “why do they hate us?” At that point in my life, I was still innocent to the systematic racism that has plagued our country. They only response that I could muster was, “I don’t know.” Now, nearly four years later, my friend greeted me with a different question after the vicious murder of George Floyd: “Why do they keep trying to kill my people?”  Instead of responding to their pain with, “I don’t know”, I asked them, “what can I do to help?”

During this past week of protests, I was proud to see nearly all of my friends helping, fighting, and aiding in the Black Lives Matter movement. I’ve watched more friends speak up and fight for justice now than I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Yet, with all the good that my friends have been doing, I found that they all have a common concern: “I feel like I’m not doing enough. I wonder what more I can do.” Therefore, I have used this blog post to compile a list of what we can do if we feel like we’re not doing enough for the cause. I will state that a lot of this list comes from posts that I’ve seen on social media and research that I have done on my own. I urge you to scan through the list and continue to: spread education, donate, volunteer, and keep fighting the good fight.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Organizations to Donate to:

  1. George Floyd Memorial Fund

  2. Minnesota Freedom Fund

  3. Reclaim The Block

  4. Black Lives Matter

  5. Bail Project

  6. Black Visions Collective

  7. Campaign Zero

  8. National Bail Fund Network

  9. The Innocent Project

  10. Run With Maud

  11. Justice for Breonna

  12. NCLU NYC

  13. Unicorn Riot

  14. Black Lives Matter of Greater NYC

Organizations to Follow on Social Media: 

  1. blklivesmatter

  2. colorofchange

  3. naacp

  4. showingupforracialjustice

  5. civilrightsorg

  6. reclaimtheblock

  7. unitedwedream

  8. ellebakercenter

Free Mental Health Resources for BIPOC: 

  1. Ethel's Club (@ethelsclub)

  2. Therapy for Black Girls (@therapyforblackgirls)

  3. BEAM (@_beamorg)

  4. Heal Haus (@healhaus)

  5. NQTTCN (@nqtten)

  6. Bright & Salted Yoga (@brightxsalted.yoga)

National Resource List: linktr.ee/NationalResourcesList

Organizations You Can Volunteer To: 

  1. The Audra Lorde Project 
  2. Black Lives Matter of Greater New York 
  3. Brooklyn Community Bail Fund 
  4. Communities United for Police Reform 
  5. NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund 
  6. New York Civil Liberties Union 
  7. The GrassRoots Law Project

    Other ways that you can help with the cause 

    1.  VOTE 
    2. Support Black Arts 
    3. Protest 
    4. Support Black Businesses 
    5. Educate the people around you

What To Watch: 

  1. Do The Right Thing

  2. BlackKlansman

  3. When They See Us

  4. 13th

  5. The Hate U Give

  6. Dear White People

  7. Flint Town

  8. Strong Island

  9. Detroit

  10. Time: The Kalief Browder Story

This list is only a small fraction of what we can do. 
"It's a privilege to educate yourself about racism instead of experiencing it"

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Lauren Curet http://www.thefightingsoprano.com
Previous

Am I A Failure?- A Psychological Study

Next

Nephew