Last updated at 7:45pm on Thurs, Sept. 10.
Update: As of today, I am no longer updating this page. Please check out the “Who to follow online” section to find what events are happening and what the needs are for protestors. These groups are on top of it! The rest of this is pretty static, though, so if this is your first visit to the page or your hundredth, this whole page is filled with great organizations who are worthy of your contributions and support.
Louisville, and indeed our entire country, has hit the breaking point when it comes to violence perpetrated by police against Black people. David McAtee, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor…The list is long. Too long.
Many of you have asked what you could do, particularly if you are limited by social distancing requirements. I will try to keep a list here with various ways you can be supportive, broken down into various categories depending on your desired form of participation.
Click here for a really cool one-stop website where you can volunteer, donate, provide food, or buy things off the Amazon wishlist for protestors!
Categories:
- Who to follow online
- Financial Donations
- Donations & Deliveries of Food and Goods
- Online/Phone Activism and Events
- Working on your own stuff as a white person
Who to Follow Online
- Injustice Square on facebook.
- Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice (LSURJ) on instagram, facebook and twitter. And sign-up to get their emails!
- Black Lives Matter Louisville on instagram, facebook and twitter.
- Kentucky Alliance Against Racist & Political Oppression on facebook.
- Parents for Social Justice on facebook.
- The national group Until Freedom is in Louisville. Follow them on their website, facebook, twitter and instagram.
Financial Donations
- Black Market KY is proud to partner with Change Today, Change Tomorrow to subsidize groceries for #FeedTheWest. We’re working to raise $300k in 30 days so we can hire at least 60% Black staff and give each employee a #LIVINGWAGE. Donate Now!
- You can split a donation between 70+ community bail funds, mutual aid funds, and racial justice organizers through one super-easy form.
- Donate money to the Louisville Bail Fund to get those protestors (and others!) out of jail!! This is especially urgent DURING THE PANDEMIC!!!
- Kentucky Alliance Against Racist & Political Oppression has been doing civil rights and racial justice work for over forty years and is collecting money for its ongoing work.
- Donate directly to Black Lives Matter Louisville through their Stand Up Sunday campaign.
- Give money to our Louisville SURJ online or by sending a check to LSURJ, 120 N Jane Street, Louisville, KY 40206
- Donate to the Hope Buss, which is always doing good work in West Louisville and has hosted grocery store runs, health fairs, community conversations on mental health, mental health conferences, and church growth workshops.
- Support Change Today, Change Tomorrow, which provides access to resources, education, and community engagement to all African Americans in the Greater Louisville area.
Donations & Deliveries of Food and Goods
- Check the Louisville Street Medics Facebook page for the most up-to-date list of what they need or just send them money. Also, Louisville Street Medics have had folks in Breonna Square round the clock. They’ve asked for real meals, individually packed if possible, with some Vegetarian options. Here’s a meal train for them that a supporter put together.
- Bridge Counseling and Wellness is partnering with Parents For Social Justice and collecting supplies for protestors who need them at Building A: 540 Baxter Avenue (back of the building at the corner of Baxter and Payne) until 6PM daily. Generally, they are requesting masks, cooling towels, card tables, plastic storage bins, ice, Gatorade, powdered electrolyte drink packs, soft drinks, snacks and water or you can order stuff off their Amazon Wishlist.
- They generally need the following supplies at Breonna Taylor Square: snacks, ice, water, soft drinks, grill Items (hot dogs/burgers/veggie options), food (hot & cold), desserts, serving utensils, masks, volunteers for event support, storage containers, speakers and performers, card tables. Plus ponchos, personal hygiene products, sleeping bags.
- The Kroger in West Louisville closed and is only now opening for reduced hours. West Louisville was already a food desert, so this is causing food shortages for people in the community. A number of organizations are collecting food and looking for volunteers to help distribute it. One organization is Ag in the City, who are providing assistance in the form of produce and medicine to families impacted by this crisis through their Good Garden initiative. To become a volunteer click the link below https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSfsSPQwguSEY-nAQ…/viewform… and donate at PayPal.me/aitclou or http://cashapp.com/blckmrkt
- #FeedTheWest is also collecting food and donations. Check their website for details, and see donation information in the image on the right (click image to enlarge).
Online/Phone Activism & Events
- Wednesdays, 12-12:30 from now through November. Wake Up Wednesdays Virtual Vigils. This is a part of the A Sacred Calling: Community Safety for All. Click flier on the right for more details.
- Contact KY Attorney General Daniel Cameron and tell him we demand the arrest of Myles Cosgrove, Jonathan Mattingly, and Brett Hankison in the murder of Breonna Taylor.
- Sign the petition and support Breonna Taylor’s family and organizers in calling for justice.
- Another way to #endwhitesilence and to show up is to spread the message that #BlackLivesMatter with a yard sign. Request yours by emailing LouisvilleSURJ@gmail.com. Suggested donation of $25 to SURJ.
- Did you know the city was already planning on redesigning Jefferson Square/InJustice Park? They sure are! Seems like a convenient time to change the name to something like say… BREONNA TAYLOR PARK. There is a nice little comment box where you can leave your thoughts at the bottom.
Working on Your Own “Stuff” As A White Person
- Let Them Eat Cake: An Open Letter to Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. by Hannah Drake.
- The Get Together: Ep.1 White Women On Defunding The Police. This is SURJ’s first episode of a new TV show where we’ll discuss race and racism today and what it has to do with white people’s struggle to keep food on the table and pay their bills. Co-hosted by two red-headed femmes, Evelyn and Chanelle, who both come from families that know what it’s like not to have enough.
- Check out this amazing Anti-Racist Reading List from Ibram X. Kendi.
- Starting on June 9, every second Tuesday of the month at 5:30pm ET, join the Grow the Movement with LSURJ video call with Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice (LSURJ) and then join the LSURJ Discussion Group on Facebook. Next one is Tuesday, Sept. 8.
- Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police, “What would the country look like if it had billions of extra dollars to spend on housing, food and education for all? This change in society wouldn’t happen immediately, but the protests show that many people are ready to embrace a different vision of safety and justice.”
- Read this article listing 9 Reasons Why Acting in Solidarity for Racial Justice is Preferable to ‘Allyship’
- SURJ has a call to white people: Withdraw your Consent: Defund the Police
- Here is an online antiracism training that is free for the general public, and $30 with 6 CEU’s approved by the NASW-KY.
- Need some rebuttals for when someone around you says something racist? There is a great set of them right here.