A Quick Guide to Helping BLM From Home

Across our country, there has been a great public outcry. From big cities to suburban towns like Shrewsbury, American citizens are utilizing their First Amendment right to assemble and speak out against the police brutality and institutionalized racism that is all too common in the United States of America. Indeed, it appears that this issue has been enough to bring new strength to the word united, as protests have taken place in all fifty states and brought together people from many different backgrounds to stand up for the black community. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic still simultaneously ravages the country, making matters much more complicated. Many Black Lives Matter supporters are therefore unable to go out and protest due to the risk of becoming infected.

This begs the question: what can someone do to support the BLM cause from home? In fact, there is plenty that can still be done.

1. Post and repost useful, educational resources on your social media. Make sure the posts you choose to share are meaningful, and practice what you preach by taking the time to read through whatever you choose to share. Avoid performative activism.

2. Sign petitions. For websites such as change.org, it is incredibly easy to sign many in a short period of time once you log into your account, and every signature matters. Here are some Twitter threads of petitions that are in need of signatures.

3. Donate to bail funds and other causes related to Black Lives Matter. Every little bit counts, and you can find many lists of good organizations that need your help. If you don’t have any money to spare, you can still help contribute by encouraging others to donate and by streaming these YouTube videos. Do not skip the ads, as the revenue will go towards BLM causes. Keep your volume at 50% or higher— if you would rather not actually watch the videos, plugging in headphones works— and watch the whole way through. If planning on rewatching the videos, try to watch a few videos in between so that YouTube understands that you are not a robot attempting to generate views artificially.

4. Educate yourself on racism. There are a great many books, podcasts, documentaries, movies, and other resources that can help you with this, and it’s okay to go slowly. What’s important is that you’re trying. Understand that racism is taught and learned, and that it is better to attempt to unlearn prejudice than to pretend it doesn’t exist in your mindset.

5. Have difficult conversations with family members and friends about race. Social media can become an echo chamber if many of your friends hold the same viewpoints you do. While sharing resources that they will see is great, many of your family members might not see those posts, and so it might be harder for them to work on moving past problematic mindsets. Sit down together and discuss privilege. Talk about what Black Lives Matter means. Bring up police brutality. Not every conversation will go well, and a fair number will certainly be uncomfortable, but racism should not go unchallenged.

These suggestions are simply a place to start. As students, not all of us are able to be out protesting as we might wish we could. If you are able to go to a protest, be safe and be prepared for a variety of situations. Finally, know that by supporting this cause, you are on the right side of history.

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