This week we are committed to listening. As allies, we will not only stand up for change but use our platform to amplify voices. Here are a few that are inspiring us and others.
People
Leaders and activists making a difference
President Barack Obama
Along with President Obama’s post this week—which was widely shared—he hosted a Obama Foundation Town Hall on Wednesday. He thanked protestors and urged Americans to feel “hopeful even as you may feel angry.”
Danielle Coke
Danielle Coke, an Atlanta-based illustrator and social media strategist, uses art and colorful doodles to address social inequities and start difficult conversations about faith and racial injustice.
Patia’s Fantasy World
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Patia runs Patia’s Fantasy World, an Instagram meme account that is both funny and thought-provoking, with her friends River and Laina. Intent on using their platform for good, Patia has started The Fantasy World Master List Of Resources On How To Dismantle Racism, which does what the name says.
Check Your Privilege
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Myisha T is a mental health activist, speaker, and entrepreneur passionate about the mental wellness, and the empowerment of women. In 2018, Myisha became curious about white women and privilege after ending a relationship with a co-worker that negatively impacted her mental health. This led her to identify her own internalized oppression and racism. Not interested in throw-away culture, she decided to seek out safe ways that white folks are showing up for BIWoC.
Ava DuVernay
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Ava Marie DuVernay is an American filmmaker, director, and film distributor. She won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere, becoming the first black woman to win the award.
Organizations & Nonprofits
Inspiring us with their relentless fight for change
Shifting the Culture
Shifting the Culture is a racial justice and gender justice consulting firm run by three Women of Color. The group provides various Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) workshops that help build a critical understanding of how race, power, privilege, and gender affect you, your colleagues, and your work environment.
My Brother’s Keeper
President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people can reach their full potential. Through this initiative, the Administration is joining with cities and towns, businesses, and foundations who are taking important steps to connect young people to mentoring, support networks, and the skills they need to find a good job or go to college and work their way into the middle class.
The Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation works to raise poetry to a more visible and influential position in our culture. The Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry.
Know Your Rights Camp
Started by Colin Kaepernick, the mission of Know Your Rights Camp is to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.
The Conscious Kid
The Conscious Kid is an education, research and policy organization dedicated to reducing bias and promoting positive identity development in youth. The group partners with organizations, children’s museums, schools, and families across the country to promote access to children’s books centering underrepresented and oppressed groups.
Equality Labs
This South Asian technology organization is dedicated to ending caste apartheid, gender-based violence, Islamophobia, White Supremacy and religious intolerance. The group builds power through multiple strategies including community organizing, art, research, and digital security.
The Leadership Conference
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society – an America as good as its ideals.
Companies
Taking a stance and backing it by pledging to donate
Peloton
The Black community is hurting. Our Black Members, instructors, music partners and employees are hurting. #BlackLivesMatter, and it’s time to take action. To start, we’re making a $500,000 donation to NAACP LDF. We have more work to do. Will you join us? pic.twitter.com/SXaQWzljCt
— Peloton (@onepeloton) May 31, 2020
Peloton is an American exercise bike and media company that was founded in 2012 and launched with help from a Kickstarter funding campaign in 2013. The company is based in New York, New York.
Everlane
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Everlane is an American clothing retailer that sells primarily online. The organization is headquartered in San Francisco, California and also has stores in New York City, Los Angeles, and Palo Alto. The company was founded with the mission of selling clothing with transparent pricing.
Nike
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Nike doesn’t need an explanation — you likely have shoes or apparel by the popular brand in your closet. This week, they flipped their motto in support of Black Lives Matter.
If you have more ways to help, or suggestions for how we can best use our platform, please contact us. We are here to support, listen and amplify all voices.
