Today, we sit at the intersection of a global pandemic and a rising tide of voices for racial equality. As advocates, we equip ourselves to pursue and build a better world, and there are many ways we can advocate for a better future.
Advocacy work can require every part of who we are as people: our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our bodies. We bring our whole selves to the advancement of all kinds of social and policy goals.
Below is just a starting point for how you can start advocating with your whole body now. If you have additional ways, please let me know in the comments section below.
As advocates for racial equality, we use our:
Eyes to read history and learn how to advocate better.
Suggested books:
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Suggested articles:
- The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true. By Nikole Hannah-Jones
Ears to listen to and hear the lived experiences of people of color.
Suggested podcasts:
- Still Processing from The New York Times
- White Lies from NPR
- Floodlines from The Atlantic
- 1619 from The New York Times
- Code Switch from NPR
- Radical Imagination hosted by Angela Glover Blackwell
Hands to put our money to use wisely, and to sign petitions.
Suggested organizations:
- The Color of Change
- Movement for Black Lives
- NAACP
- The Bail Project
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Equal Justice Initiative
- Organizations addressing policy accountability and racial justice
Resources for Locally Businesses:
- Search Engine for Black Owned Businesses
- Ways to Find Black Owned Restaurants
- 47 Black-Owned Independent Bookstores
- 30 Black Owned Businesses
Petitions to Advance Racial Equity:
- Color of Change’s Petitions for Justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor
- Black Lives Matter’s Petition to Defund the Police (learn more about what “defund the police” means here)
- Pass Georgia’s Hate Crime Bill
Feet to attend and participate in protests and vigils to the many lives lost to police brutality and health-care inequity.
Find a gathering near you:
Voice to speak out against racial inequality in our communities, our offices, our homes, and with our elected officials.
Suggested resources:
- Talk about Trayvon from Black Lives Matter
- Talking about Race from the National Museum of African American History & Culture
Contact your elected officials:
- To support a bill to study and develop options for slavery reparations
- To protect Black owned businesses
- To protect Black voters
How else are you advocating for racial equality? Please let us know in the comment box below:
