LARENCORE: U.S : Five anti-racist actions for the week of September 28.

samedi 3 octobre 2020

U.S : Five anti-racist actions for the week of September 28.

Dear friend,

It has been a trying couple of weeks, with white supremacy on full display : from the heartbreaking grand jury ruling on Breonna Taylor's murder by the Louisville Metro Police Department to Donald Trump's effort to ram through a Supreme Court nominee who once clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.¹ Justice Scalia held many problematic anti-Black positions, including opposing affirmative action and recommending that Black students attend a "slower-track school."²

Adding insult to injury, Trump bullied and interrupted his way through the first presidential debate, and refused to disavow white supremacist misogynists, including the Proud Boys, a far-right group.³

We know that dismantling white supremacy requires intentional daily and long-term actions from all people from all walks of life, from the ground up. We will not give up. Right now, please consider taking one or all of the following five anti-racist actions :

Learn how to become an election defender. The Frontline is hosting a series of virtual events to help volunteers defend the right to vote by de-escalating disruptions at polling locations, busting disinformation and voter suppression narratives, and giving voters access to attorneys and other voter empowerment tools.

¿Habla Español? Become a poll worker. If you speak Spanish, please consider signing up to become a poll worker. Typically, Spanish-speaking poll workers tend to be older, and are at greater risk in the COVID-19 pandemic.⁴ Newer Spanish-speaking voters have expressed confusion or concern about voting in this election and during the pandemic, which is why multilingual poll workers will be critical to get out the Latinx vote.⁵

Demand that these four companies divest from the Louisville Metro Police Department. UPS, Humana, Ford, and Kroger all invest in the arming of the LMPD, which is responsible for murdering Breonna Taylor and has a pattern of brutality in Louisville.⁶ UPS, Humana, and Kroger also have employees on the board of the Louisville Metro Police Foundation, which funnels corporate money to the LMPD.⁷ Ford faced protest from its own employees for providing police cars to the Louisville police since Breonna's death.⁸ Sign the petition demanding these corporations cut ties with LMPD and LMPF.

Donate to support Black organizing in Louisville. Following the secretive and appalling grand jury ruling in Breonna Taylor's case, BLM Louisville made the following recommendations for donations to help the community heal and keep organizing for justice : Louisville Community Bail Fund, Standup Sundays community-building coalition,Eviction Prevention Fund, and Healing for Louisville.

Host a vigil to #FreeTheFamilies. Thousands of immigrant children, parents, siblings, and grandparents are locked in cages right now. Two weeks ago, a brave nurse exposed widespread forced sterilizations of immigrant women in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Georgia. Make your voice heard to stop this cruelty and abuse by hosting a vigil to demand that ICE #FreeTheFamilies.