How You Can Help Black People Today, Tomorrow & Forever

Published in

Refinery29

4 min readJun 3, 2020

This year has brought sadness and hardship among the Black community. Not only have Black people been forced to mourn the deaths of family and friends as the deadly coronavirus sweeps the globe but we’ve also had to grapple with the fact that Black men and women in the US are being brutally murdered by police in their own homes, choked to death on the streets and racially profiled as they mind their own business.

Thousands of people have joined demonstrations around the world to protest the brutal murder of 46-year-old George Floyd after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin crushed Floyd’s neck with his knee for eight minutes, cutting off his oxygen supply.

Marches, vigils and protests have been held in the US and in cities around the world in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with activists calling for justice following the deaths of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

On Sunday, thousands took part in a Black Lives Matter protest in London and further protests have been scheduled this week across the country, including on Wednesday 3rd June at London’s Hyde Park at 1pm, on Saturday 6th June at the Grey’s Monument in Newcastle Upon Tyne at 1pm, on Saturday 6th June at London’s Parliament Square at 1pm, and on 7th June at the US embassy in London at 2pm.

If you are unable to attend the protests due to shielding or lockdown rules, there are plenty of ways you can take action to demonstrate your support, such as by donating to a bail fund or a fundraiser set up by George Floyd’s family, or widening your knowledge of Black history.

Here is an extensive list of all the ways you can help to support Black lives today, tomorrow and forever.

Donate

Donate to Official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Donate to Belly Mujinga’s family, including her daughter.

Donate to The Minnesota Freedom Fund, which provides funds to pay bail for those protesting in Minnesota.

Donate to UK Black Lives Matter.

Donate to Black Lives Matter.

Donate to the Black LGBTQIA Therapy Fund.

Donate to the National Memorial Family Fund, for the families of victims of police brutality.

Donate to The Movement For Black Lives, a global initiative which aims to support Black organisations to conduct conversations about current political conditions.

Donate to North Star Health Collective, which coordinates and provides healthcare services, resources and training to those protesting in Minnesota.

Donate to the UK Black Protest Legal Support fund.

Donate to Unicorn Riot, which supports journalists on the front line.

Donate to Black Visions Creative, which centres its work to develop Minnesota’s emerging Black leadership to lead powerful campaigns.

Donate to Reclaim The Block, a grassroots organisation that works to provide the Minneapolis community with the resources they need to thrive.

Donate to Say Her Name, a campaign that calls attention to police violence against Black women, girls and femmes.

Donate to Black Journalists’ Therapy Relief Fund.

Sign Petitions

To demand justice for George Floyd, you can sign the petition here.

To demand that the police officers involved with George Floyd’s death are arrested and charged with second degree murder, you can sign the petition here.

To demand the immediate arrest of the three officers who were present when Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck, sign the petition here.

To demand justice for Belly Mujinga, the railway worker who died from coronavirus after she was spat on by a man claiming to have COVID-19, you can sign the petition here. You can also email your MP to ask them to support further investigation into Mujinga’s death. You can find the template here. You can find your local MP’s contact details here.

To demand justice for Breonna Taylor, the black emergency medical technician who was fatally shot in her apartment by the Louisville Metro Police Department, sign the petition here.

To demand the UK government publishes and delivers actionable results relating to the BAME COVID report, you can write to your MP. You can find your local MP’s contact details here.

To demand the UK takes a stand against police brutality and racism, use this email template to write to your MP here. You can find your local MP’s contact details here.

To demand the suspension of UK exportation of crowd control weapons to the US, sign the petition here. You can also write to your MP using this email template here. You can find your local MP’s contact details here.