Hello, multipotentialite friends.
As you know, there’s been a lot happening in the last few weeks in the U.S. At Puttylike, we stand in solidarity with Black communities.
As a small editorial team with no Black folks on staff, we want to be mindful of how and how much we’re using our voices right now. This is part of why we decided to remain silent last week rather than publish our regularly scheduled content. We hope that you have been accessing and hearing Black voices.
Today we’re going to use our platform to try to amplify Black organizations and voices, and some resources that might help you in your fight against racism. It’s an intentionally short list, so that you don’t let overwhelm or indecision keep you from taking action today. If you’re looking for more resources around something specific, reach out or comment below, and we’ll try to link you to something if we can.
Mental health support for Black folks
- The Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund provides financial assistance to Black women and girls nationally seeking therapy.
- BlackLine is a 24/7 hotline that provides a space for peer support and counseling, reporting of mistreatment, and affirming the lived experiences to folxs who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens.
- National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network has a Mental Health Fund that provides financial assistance to queer and trans people of color to increase access to mental health support for QTPoC by QTPoC.
Organizations to donate to
Consider donating to any of the organizations in the section above. Here are three more:
- Black Visions Collective in the Twin Cities is committed to a long term vision in which ALL Black lives not only matter, but are able to thrive. Through the development of powerful strategic campaigns, BLVC seeks to expand the power of Black people across the Twin Cities metro area and Minnesota.
- National Bail Out is a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers and activists building a community-based movement to support our folks and end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration.
- The Movement for Black Lives is made up of hundreds of organizations that coordinate actions, messages and campaigns. Their fund supports Black-led rapid response efforts and long-term strategy, policy and infrastructure investments in the movement ecosystem.
Education for white folks and non-Black people of color
- There are scores of books that can jumpstart or continue your education around race. Two in particular I want to recommend are So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. I’ve also heard a lot of great things about How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.
- Watch 13th by Ava DuVernay on Netflix.
- Listen to podcasts like Code Switch from NPR, Intersectionality Matters! with Kimberlé Crenshaw, or 1619 from the New York Times.
Your Turn
What will you do today to take action against racism and for racial justice?
A friend of mine pointed me to the following additional resources:
Redbox is streaming the movie Just Mercy for Free this month. Check out https://www.redbox.com/movies/just-mercy for detail.
Lawyer Bryan Stevenson and his battle for justice as he defends a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. (my friend classifies it as one of the best movies he’s ever seen)
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein https://www.amazon.com/Color-Law-Forgotten-Government-Segregated-ebook/dp/B01M8IWJT2
Yes! I’ve heard good things about Just Mercy. And want to read The Color of Law, too. Thanks for sharing Lara!
I second this recco! I watched it last week – it’s amazing, and heartbreaking at the same time but a really great movie to reflect the inequality we’re living in.
Excellent list of resources. I’ll be sharing this on social media. Thank you for your mindful approach :)
Please be mindful about where you purchase these materials! Let’s support small businesses and especially black-owned bookstores when possible. Here’s a list of some that offer online shopping: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/g32782756/black-owned-bookstores/
Also look for ways to support creators that you learn from on social media via Patreon, donations to them via Venmo, etc.
Hey y’all, I follow this platform in the last 5years since I watched Emily’s TedX video. Regardless context and racial differences reading your puttylike experiences have been inspirational in the process of building self confidence to embrace art. Today I am happy to witness you stepping forward to the anti-racist struggle! I would like to encourage you to reflect not only about the black disporic experience with racism but also the African one with colonization as oppression mechanism still in place in the continent. So, for those who are saying “but, I am not a white American” I want to remind you that your countries are still looting and empoverishing my country and my continent. I have a lot to say so maybe I will write an article and share it to include in ur anti-racism resources. Thanks
…. And because being anti-raciist is Sam attitude so it require conscious actions. I share with you my fundraising campaign. So please support if u can/feel like and spread the word http://gf.me/u/x4pmfg
Thanks
I was appreciative of this email, thanks! As a multipotentialite, I felt like I wanted to do it all, but confused where to begin – refusing to fall into analysis paralysis, I had planned to use my newly launched social platform Reality Bites to put together an achievable study plan, but then, I came across Justice in June.
Two women from the BIPOC community have compiled a bunch of the essential first resources and distilled them down into a month-long daily schedule to learn how to be an active ally and anti-racist – it’s a wonderful resource, especially for multipotentialite people like us who want to do it all.
I’ve launched it on @the.reality.bites IG page to establish an accountability/study group, to learn and grow as anti-racists – I’d love to invite our Puttylike community to join us in doing the study!
I’ll be sharing a weekly outline on the IG platform, and will be hosting weekly chats to touch base on the learnings so far, then at the end of the month, we’ll be hosting a thinktank to come up with ideas and actions to take to make change, plus new habits we can create to implement every day.
Meet you there :)