#blackouttuesday

got a bit fired up this morning seeing all those blank black rectangles on instagram. that doesn't DO anything! I get that you're showing solidarity with the BLM movement, but are you really? this has been said a lot lately, and I'm all for it: it isn't enough not to be racist; you have to be ANTI-racist. and if posting this on your insta is all you're doing, you're doing it wrong.

after some thought, i posted an amazingly still relevant quotation from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates from his book Between the World and Me. 

do you remember Eric Garner? he too was suffocated to death by a cop. his last words were "I can't breathe." that was 2014. the cop, Pantaleo, was finally fired in 2019. AND "A state grand jury declined to press criminal charges." in fact, NY police commissioner James O'Neill actually said that "had I been in Officer Pantaleo's situation, I may have made similar mistakes." um... Pantaleo isn't the victim here. and he broke rules to kill Garner; chokeholds are banned by the NYPD. (short article)

there were a couple other slides from my post, but below is my caption. 

DO MORE. join a protest, help cleanup the next day if looters/rioters hijacked that protest, sign a bunch of change.org petitions, watch a documentary, read a book (Ta-Nehisi Coates @tanehisipcoatesis amazing), EDUCATE yourself, support family owned black businesses, boycott companies that exploit black people (that exploit anyone really!), DONATE! as someone who helps with fundraising for a non-profit, i can tell you that every donation, no matter how small, is appreciated. 
this year i'm donating about $25 a month to a different org/cause. this month i'm choosing Equal Justice Initiative @eji_org which "works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality." I found them on charity navigator @charitynav and they have an incredible 100% overall rating. 
#blackoutuesday