Hi all. We stand with the BLM movement and have been focusing on solidarity efforts in our personal lives. When the weekend rolled around, when we usually check in if we have capacity to record a new video, we felt that it doesn’t feel like an appropriate time for us to put up more jokes without acknowledging the police violence. While we understand if this puts people off because this is usually a lighthearted space, we would rather not be silent when we can be purposeful and be allies.
If you have the financial stability to do so, we encourage you to donate to:
- Bail funds (local funds are great, but double check if the fund has recently posted that they’re fully funded and requesting that donations be directed elsewhere!)
- Memorial funds (same thing to double check!)
- Mental health resources for black people
- Organizations such as Reclaim The Block that organize community and city council members to move money from police departments into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety
- Organizations such as Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, because after the current protests subside, the systemic issues will remain, and continuing to support Black artists and communities will remain a piece of the puzzle
And listen to Black voices on what’s needed right now and moving forward. All of the resources we’re sharing here have been compiled over a week of listening to what support Black people are asking for.
As for us, send a screenshot of your donation to anything listed here or to Black Lives Matter, either a national fund or local chapter of anything, to badbooksgoodtimes@gmail.com with the subject line “BLM2020”, and we’ll email you back with a copy of all of our eBooks. We will also be donating all of our profits from merch sales for the month of June to Black Lives Matter.
6/9 Update: For an example of what I mean by double checking, Reclaim The Block has begun to request that donations this week be made elsewhere, and has compiled a list of other organizations still in need of support. I’d also like to highlight the Black Trans Travel Fund, a mutual-aid project developed to help Black transgender women access safer travel options out of direct response to violence against Black transgender women across the country.