47 Very Specific Answers to ‘What Can I Do to Help?’
Two questions I keep getting are “What can I do?” and “What resources do I start with?” While the general answers are “anything and everything” and “Google,” I thought I’d drop some specifics for the different situations you may find yourself in. There’s a role for everybody in this, even if it’s not on the frontlines. Find yours and get to work.
If you’re just now joining the fight and not sure where to start:
- Here are some anti-racism articles, books, and media for every age.
- Read The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein.
If you have racist family members or friends who are making sideways comments:
- Respond with open-ended questions. “What do you mean by that?” “Can you explain that word?” (Keep asking “why?” like you’re an unapologetically persistent six-year-old.) Make them feel uncomfortable. And if they keep saying those things, well, it’s time to re-examine your people.
- Understand that silence = agreement.
If you have young children with questions:
- Read A Kid’s Book About Racism together and discuss it with them.
- Seek out multicultural children’s books and toys.
- Have the tough conversations. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones you’d rather ignore and avoid. Trust me, your friends of color have been having these discussions since they were five. Jonah and Anna can have them, too.
If you have all the free time, energy, and righteous anger of a Karen:
- Attend a virtual activist training, like this one, on how to keep protests peaceful and safe.
- March in a peaceful protest and follow the minority leadership there.
