Black Lives Matter: What We Can Do

George Floyd's death in America chilled us, and the events that followed have made us stop and think. The tragedies and events over the last week represent a pivotal time in history. You're not human if you don't feel the deep, blood-boiling rage of pure injustice when watching some of the videos of late. Like Will Smith said: "Racism isn't new, it's getting filmed". We feel so closely influenced and guided by the sport and music culture that is led by our African Americans. How can they lead us in so many ways, yet face this injustice? 

We want to do more than just use another hashtag and instead explore what value we can add to be part of the change in both America and here in Australia. As a result, we're working on a long-term, series of actions to help make a difference.

To start, here are a few things we're doing right now:

1. For America
   One of the first steps we've chosen to take is by donating to Campaign Zero to support their fight against police brutality. They do that with policy and legislation solutions backed by research and analysis. In addition to that, we've also chosen to donate to #blacklivesmatter who have really helped to amplify this message not only in America, but all over the world.
2. At Home
   Through learning and researching what we can do, we felt like we could also expand our efforts to our own backyard. Therefore, we've decided to donate and support ANTaR. Not only do they advocate for the rights and respect for Australia's First Peoples, they also campaign for justice and a smarter, more humane approach to crime that saves lives and builds safer communities.
   

There's a lot more we can do and we're working on more ways we and our team members can get involved to support this movement moving forward, but in the meantime, if you're wanting to do the same thing, please see some of the resources we've collected below:

Peaceful protests coming up in Australia that you can attend and show solidarity:
Brisbane, King George Square - Saturday 6th June, 1pm
Melbourne, Parliament House Steps - Saturday 6th June, 2pm
Adelaide, Victoria Square - Saturday 6th June, 12pm
Newcastle, Civic Park - Saturday 6th June, 2pm
Sydney, 20 Lee St, Chippendale - Saturday 6th June, 3pm (vigil)
Canberra, USA Embassy - Saturday 6th June, 3pm

A few places you can make donations:
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (US) - the NAACP Legal Defense works on advancing the goals of racial justice and equality by protecting those that are most vulnerable in society. Their work includes court cases that work for a fairer justice system, increasing graduation rates among African American students, protecting voters across the nation, and decreasing disproportionate incarceration and sentencing rates.

ANTaR (AU) - ANTaR has been working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and leaders on rights and reconciliation issues since 1997. ANTaR is an independent, national network of organisations and individuals working in support of Justice, Rights and Respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.

Campaign Zero (US) - Funds donated to Campaign Zero support the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.

Bridging The Gap (AU) - The Bridging the Gap Foundation has been established through the Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) to fund research in health and education in order to address one of Australia’s most urgent issues: the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’ health and education opportunities and outcomes.

Black Lives Matter (US) - #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. 

Join a movement and sign petitions:
Justice For George Floyd - Change.Org, the world’s largest petition platform, allowing people worldwide to join in the “Justice for Floyd” call to action. The petition is not only for US residents, but can be signed irrespective of region.

We Are Done Dying - The NAACP #WeAreDoneDying campaign combats the consistent mistreatment of black people in America with a list of policy demands on criminal justice, economy, voting and health.

Indigenous Injustice - Amnesty International are calling on the Australian Government, in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities, to develop, resource and implement a National Plan of Action for Youth Justice.

This is an ongoing education process for everyone, us included, so we'll keep you updated with more ways in which we plan on taking action. If you have any ideas or suggestions for us and our team, please complete the form below and let us know how you think we can make a difference in supporting equality.