Stand.earth statement on Black lives, police violence & white supremacy

We unequivocally stand in support of Black lives and we denounce white supremacy and police violence in all its forms.

At Stand.earth, we unequivocally stand in support of Black lives and we denounce white supremacy and police violence in all its forms. And we are disgusted to see politicians – including Donald Trump – fueling further violence against protestors who are simply sick and tired of hundreds of years of oppression, death, and political inaction and incompetence. 

As we watch resistance to white supremacy and racism grow around the US and, now, around the world, we truly hope that this will be a moment of transformative change and we stand in support of Black Lives Matter and other racial justice organizations working toward this change. 

To every person reading this, now is the time to do everything in our collective power to disrupt the systems that perpetuate racial injustice in policing, health care, housing, pollution, and more. This is a time where silent agreement is not enough – instead, this moment in history calls upon us to be vocally anti-racist and anti-white supremacist. We need to say loudly that Black Lives Matter and then take action to change the status quo. We need to donate to Black-led community organizations and efforts, support Black businesses, and advocate to defund the police, who have time and time again served to perpetuate inequities and protect the powerful at the expense of people of color. 

To other organizations and businesses, we encourage you to give your staff – especially Black staff – paid time off right now to take care of their health and well-being if they need to, or to attend protests if they choose to.

And finally, we know that systems of racism extend outside US borders, and that all countries need to work to dismantle white supremacy, including Canada. 

Resources

LEARN

If you want to learn more about anti-blackness, police violence and what non-black people can do to support right now, here are some good places to start:

• Wondering what the term ‘white supremacy’ means and how it relates to your life? This illustration does a great job at listing dozens of overt and covert actions that reinforce white supremacy, often unintentionally 
• Want to learn more about being anti-racist? Here’s a comprehensive list of books, articles, and podcasts (including kid-friendly resources). 
• Want to talk with kids about racism? Here’s a great toolkit, an age by age guide, and a list of 31 books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance 
• Having trouble supporting acts of vandalism and looting at protests? You might want to read this article: In defense of looting or this thought piece from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• Check out the divest-invest platform from Movement for Black Lives.
• And finally, this New York Times article is a great primer for the reasons behind asks to defund the police: Why it’s time to stop funding the police 

DONATE 

• The Minnesota Freedom Fund, Reclaim the Block and Black Visions Collective have all been overwhelmed with support, and are asking people to direct donations to other local organizations. If you want to support local organizing in Minnesota, here’s a list of where to donate right now: bit.ly/fundthecommunity
• If you’re in the US, you can split a donation between multiple (38 as of now) community bail funds
• And if you’re in Canada, you can donate to help the family of Regis Korchinski Paquet seek justice in her recent death

SUPPORT BLACK VOICES AND LIVELIHOODS

• Get involved with Black-led racial justice campaigning organization Color of Change
• In the US, shop using WeBuyBlack, Black Wallet, and Official Black Wall Street, which list out and allow you to buy from black-owned businesses
• In Canada, shop using this directory of black-owned businesses in Canada

We also understand that the same systems that uphold police violence have resulted in Black, brown and Indigenous communities suffering the brunt of the impacts of climate pollution and climate change in the US, Canada and around the world. As a member of the Climate Action Network, we support and affirm this statement made today by US CAN.