Contents
Words from our Black writers
Performative vs. Productive Activism
Call-to-Action
Social Justice-related Movies & TV Shows
Words from our Black writers
I have grappled with what the right words are to say at a time like this and decided to leave you with a few quotes from Jesse Williams, an amazing activist who I look up to. He puts many of the thoughts I’ve had in the past few days into words that are extremely hard for me to say. I hope this leaves you with an understanding of the sentiment the Black community is feeling.
“We know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm, and
not kill white people
every day, so what’s going to happen is, we’re going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours.”
“I don’t want to hear any more about how far we’ve come when
paid public servants can pull a drive-by
on a 12-year-old playing alone in a park in broad daylight, killing him on television, and then going home to make a sandwich.”
“There has been
no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of
, there has been no job we haven’t done, there has been no tax they haven’t levied against us and we’ve paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. ‘You’re free,’ they keep telling us. ‘But she would’ve been alive if she hadn’t acted so free.’”
“We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people — out of sight and out of mind —
while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment
like oil, black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strained fruit. The thing is though… the thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.”
- Daniele Evans’
In light of the recent lynchings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, David McAtee, and countless other Black lives we unknowingly have lost due to police brutality and white supremacy, we say enough is enough. Institutionalized and systemic racism continues to terrorize the lives of Black, Latinx, Native, and other marginalized communities. As a member of the Black community, I am tired. Tired of always having to fight and stand in the face of injustice and racism. To our non-Black allies, we highly implore y’all to take advantage of the list of movies and TV shows our team has compiled to educate yourself on systemic racism. In addition, we ask y’all to join the fight by donating to grassroots organizations, protesting, and advocating for anti-racism efforts. We need your allyship, more than ever before, to ensure we can accomplish this goal. Lastly, do not expect your Black contemporaries to teach or give you the resources to gather further knowledge. This is an additional burden for them as they cope with the trauma that is currently taking place. Take this time to do the research on systemic racism and educate yourself on how you can continue to contribute to the movement. If you’ve been helping so far, we thank you, but as this wave of protest dies down, please do not let up and keep fighting!
- Jacob Neel
Performative vs. Productive Activism
Recently, we’ve noticed many of our peers, friends, and family acting more performatively rather than productively towards the cause. Please read this article written by a Black woman about performative vs. productive activism.
Performative:
Sharing company’s (ex. Nike) posts on social media
Changing your profile picture on Facebook
#blackouttuesday and other trends
Saying phrases like “I only support peaceful protest”
Productive:
Checking in on your Black friends and sending them love
Having tough conversations with friends & family about anti-Blackness
Joining protests & marches
Donating to good causes (bail funds, legal aid services, etc.)
Making phone calls to public officials
Signing petitions (https://www.change.org/petitions)
Sharing Black Activist’s posts on social media
Call-to-Action
This week, if you make a $50+ donation to any of the nonprofit organizations, GoFundMe pages, community organizations, and bail funds listed in this article we will feature your name in our next edition! Please email us at respectexistence@gmail.com with the receipt. Be sure to submit your receipt to these technology leaders who are matching donations! If you don’t have the financial means to donate, here are ways you can still raise money without directly contributing financially!
Movies & TV Shows
Our team has compiled a list of movies and TV shows you can watch to learn more about Black Lives and systemic racism in the United States. Add them to your watch list!
N = Netflix, P = Amazon Prime, H = Hulu, B = HBO
Our Top Five Movies
Free,P Just Mercy (Drama): Based on Bryan Stevenson and the death penalty
N 13th (Documentary): Racial inequality in prisons
Free,P Fruitvale Station (Drama): Based on the shooting of Oscar Grant by BART Police
P 12 years a Slave (Drama): Based on Solomon Northrop who was kidnapped and sold into slavery
N Becoming (Documentary): The Life of Michelle Obama
N,P Moonlight (Drama): Based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s unpublished play
N,P Miss Virginia (Drama): Based on the story of Virginia Walden Ford
Free True Justice (Documentary): Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative
N Freedom Writers (Drama): Based on Erin Gruwell and “The Freedom Writers Diary”
Free The System (Drama): Racial injustice and corruption
N Barry (Drama): Barack Obama’s Transfer to Columbia
P,H,B BlacKkKlansman (Crime): Based on the Ron Stallworth who infiltrated the KKK
Free Selma (Drama): Based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches
Free The Black Power Mixtape (Documentary): The Black Power Movement
N,P The Pursuit of Happyness (Drama): Based on the story of Chris Gardner
N American Son (Drama): Based on the play American Son
P Dear White People (Drama): The Black perspective on racial tensions at an elite university
TV Shows
Free For Life (Legal Drama): Based on Isaac Wright Jr. who was wrongfully convicted
N When They See Us (Drama): Based on the Central Park Jogger Case
N Time: The Kalief Browder Story (Documentary): Kalief Browder who was held in jail without a trial at the age of 16 and was in solitary confinement for two years
N Who Killed Malcolm X? (Documentary): The assassination of Malcolm X
N The Innocence Files (Documentary): Stories behind eight wrongful convictions
N Self Made (Drama): Madam CJ Walker, the first African American self-made millionaire
Free College Behind Bars (Documentary): Prison Education and the Bard Prison Initiative
N Explained (Documentary): Specifically episode, The Racial Wealth Gap
Other SJ Movies
N Living Undocumented (Documentary): Stories of immigrants in America
N A Three Minute Hug (Documentary): The separation of families by the U.S/Mexican border
Free Stand and Deliver (Drama): The Chicano struggle in the East LA Education system
N Murder to Mercy (Documentary): Cyntoia Brown and criminal justice reform
N Los Tigres Del Norte at Folsom Prison (Documentary): Los Tigres Del Norte and Incarceration
N Indian Horse (Drama): Canada’s indigenous residential schools
Free Reel Injun (Documentary): The portrayal of Native Americans in film
N Joy (Drama): Sex Trafficking
N First They Killed My Father (War/Drama): The Khmer Rouge and Cambodian Genocide
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