With the current civil unrest that is going on in the world right now, it is important that everyone is educating both themselves and one another and staying aware of current issues as well. Here are ways that you can help support the BLM movement and the many other issues that are occurring in the world right now.
REMINDER: it is better to continue to educate both ourselves and others and listen to those who are trying to tell us the right things to do instead of staying silent and staying ignorant.
Ignorance is not always bliss, especially when it comes to issues that need to be talked about. In this article, I will be telling you about the ways that you can help solve these issues: through petitions, donations (even if you don't have much money), and other resources that you can use to further educate yourself or people around you.
Petitions
Petitions are a very quick (and free) way to show support and to help kickstart change. Though there might not be changes that are able to be seen right away, it is still a step in the right direction. Typing in your name for an online petition may seem like it doesn't do much, but it's actually quite the opposite.
On August 30th, 2019, 23-year-old Elijah McClain wrongfully died by cardiac arrest after police officers applied a chokehold and used ketamine to sedate McClain. This event happened due to a neighbor putting in a 9-1-1 complaint about McClain who was seen wearing a ski mask and flailing his arms. (McClain had anemia, and would sometimes wear a ski mask to protect his face from the cold. The flailing that his neighbor saw was most likely dancing.) Now, this was going just to be another unfortunate death that was going to be swept under the rug.
That is until in June of 2020, when many people began making petitions and social media posts about this wrongful death. Due to the massive social media outcry, Colorado governor Jared Polis called for Elijah McClain’s case to be reopened.
This shows that petitions may seem trivial or that they are not going to be able to do much, but in fact, they can make a gigantic difference. There are many websites that allow you to start your own petition in favor of a movement, or cause, if it pleases you. Even you can speak up about issues that you see going on in our world, your state, your city, and even your community, and be able to make the world that we live in a little safer and a whole lot better.
Here are some petitions that have yet to reach their goals:
- Justice for Breonna Taylor
- Justice for Elijah Nichols
- Stand With #BLM
- Speak Up in Schools
- Abolish anti-LGBT lawd in Poland; and Implement Laws that Will Protect the LGBT
- Put an End to LGBT+ Persecution in Poland
- To the EU: Stand With LGBT communities in Poland
- Stop the War and End Famine in Yemen
- Save Yemen from Extinction
- Start the Peace Talks and End the War in Yemen
- Support Peace and Justice in Palestine
- Put Palestine on the Map
(These are only a few of the many petitions that you can sign! There will be some carrd links at the end that include more petition links and other resources)
Emails
Another (free) and easy way would be by writing emails. There are tons of resources on the internet that have email templates and the email addresses of local and federal government officials. Through these emails, you are able to speak directly with officials and inform them that there are things that need to change.
Writing emails or filing out the templates is so easy! It's great to have something to do that is not a complete hassle or extremely time-consuming.
In the carrd below, you can click on any of the names being mentioned and an email template will appear in your mail app. Next, you fill out the portion that is indicated in brackets (EX: [Insert name], [city state]), and send it! It is nice if you add some of your own words and a unique subject line, so that that way these emails don't get counted as repetitive or spam!
I find this especially helpful because technology is one of the big ways that people everywhere can quickly spread information as well as talk to the source of where things need to be changed. A small improvement in government law is better than no change at all. We are fighting for justice to be served to not only the families of these victims but to the communities that the victims are from as well, in the best way possible.
CARRD: https://sayitagain.carrd.co/
EXAMPLE EMAIL TEMPLATE BELOW:
Donations
A great way to give assistance to these issues would be by donating!! These donations can help fund these organizations to relieve themselves from some of the conflicts that they are experiencing or to help spread more awareness of their cause or situation. These funds can go towards things such as funeral expenses, money for those in need after a horrific incident, or food for those who are unable to afford it themselves.
There is no such thing as a donation too big or too small, so please don't feel bad if you aren't able to donate too much. Anything counts. Whatever amount that you are able to give still means a lot, and you are still making a difference.
Here are a few funds that need donations:
1. The Palestine Children Relief Fund
3. Black-led LGBT+ Services and Activist Groups (Twitter Thread)
7. Send Food, Water, and Aid to Yemen
9. COVID-19 Relief in Afghanistan
Donating Another Way
If you don't have any money to donate, that is perfectly fine! There are many YouTube videos available that you can watch all the way through (ads included) and the revenue made will be donated to the foundations or organizations that the websites are set up for. Easy as pie!
For many of these videos, you just need to play them through. You can open them in multiple tabs, mute them and let it play in the background while you are doing something else. Additionally, you can also refresh the video and play it through as many times as you would like.
I think that this a really convenient way for me becuase I do not have that much money on me right now, and being unable to donate does sting a little. However, it is still nice to know that \by watching a couple of youtube videos I can help pitch in with these donating efforts. Just the other day, I played two videos while doing some writing, and would just replay them every time the video was over.
It felt good knowing that my efforts were counted! This action of only watching a video of a couple of times was able to help many. Here are a few links to videos that I watched, and some other videos and YouTube playlists that are going towards donating. There are also some YouTube fundraisers that are a big help as well,
WATCH TO DONATE TO YEMEN: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixwshn_Ix-g
WATCH TO DONATE TO YEMEN (2): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixwshn_Ix-g
WATCH TO DONATE TO BLM: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5JB-hfDchkU
WATCH TO DONATE TO BLM (playlist): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4yEVxFa-vQb8g1IOB7YCXvqhN4bMOyUz&feature=share
More Resources
Here are some more carrds that are full of useful information and more resources than the ones provided in this article. Some of these carrds even include resources for you to further educate and better yourself with what is going on. Share these carrds with friends, family, your followers on social media, and spread the word!
Maybe put a link in your bio or on your Instagram or Snapchat story! That way people can see it, become interested, and want to help! Things will never get back to how they were before March.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. Now we are able to learn more about issues and get people more involved instead of being indifferent about what is going in the world. Activism is not a trend, and though it may be hard sometimes, it's important to show out even when everybody seems silent!
By coming together for these causes, we are able to ensure that we are able to move forward from the way that life used to be and work towards a better America and a better world.
https://educateurself.carrd.co
https://helppalestine.carrd.co
https://trans--rights.carrd.co/
