A Guide to Action in Response to the Murder of George Floyd
On Monday May 25th, George Floyd died shortly after being arrested and pinned to the ground by officer Derek Chauvin’s knee. The four officers involved in the incident (Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng) were all fired shortly after a video of the incident went viral on social media. Derek Chauvin was arrested Friday, May 29th 2020, and charged with 3rd degree murder and manslaughter. The other three officers have yet to be charged.
Floyd’s death has sparked protests around the country and a surge in activism. Here is a guide to how you can take action now, as well as educational resources to carry your activism forward:
Sign Petitions
Color of Change
https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforfloyd_george_floyd_minneapolis?source=coc_main_website
Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?source_location=discover_feed
Call
Call 612-324-4499 and demand that Minnesota officials charge and arrest the remaining 3 officers for the murder of George Floyd. Click on this link for guidance on making calls from the Grassroots Law Project.
Donate
If you have the resources to do so, please give money to mutual aid funds and organizations that are doing the work to help achieve justice for black people.
Louisville Community Bail Fund
Educate
Education is essential to dismantling all systemic oppression, and anyone who holds white privilege should be actively and critically analyzing the ways in which they uphold white supremacy. Take responsibility for your own education and don’t count on POC to educate you.
Click here for a Google document of resources (books, podcasts, videos, films, TV shows, etc.) compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein.
If you want more books, here is an anti-racism book list compiled by Jane Mount.
If you want more videos, here is one that is only 3 minutes long, and here is another that is only 6 minutes long.
A Final Note
Please stop sharing the video of Floyd’s assault. Continuing to share it now only further traumatizes POC and desensitizes everyone to this kind of violence.
While there is currently a surge in discussions surrounding police brutality and racism, please remember that this work is something that needs to be continuous if any real change is to be made. We must all continue to engage in these discourses and reflect on our individual privileges. Without continued work, no progress will be made.
When media attention dies down and social media posts start becoming less and less frequent, don’t let your action stop. Challenge yourself to confront the uncomfortable realities of our society and change any individual behavior that may, even inadvertently, be supporting the oppression of black people and other marginalized groups in this country.
Nothing will get better unless each and every one of us chooses to do better.