06/02/2020
A Statement from the Yale Roosevelt Institute:
The Yale Roosevelt Institute stands in solidarity with the ongoing calls for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, TonyMcDade, and all of the Black lives lost to police brutality and institutionalized racism around the world. We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the fight for racial justice. We hope you and your loved ones are well, and we aim to provide support as an organization to anyone who has been adversely affected by recent events.
As a student organization whose mission is to empower students to effect change and work towards equal justice, the Yale Roosevelt Institute advocates for policies that will improve the lives of those in America and around the world. Now and always, policies that further the cause of racial justice and protect the historically marginalized are not only important, but also necessary.
The Yale Roosevelt Institute pledges to donate $500, split evenly between the following organizations:
The Bail Project - Provides free bail assistance in several cities across America while engaging in advocacy to end the money bail system.
https://bailproject.org/
I Run With Maud - A fundraiser to assist Ahmaud Marquez Arbery’s mother and her immediate family with financial support during this extreme difficult time and in their struggle for justice for the murder of Ahmaud.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud
Reclaim the Block - Organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety.
https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home
Rebuild Lake Street - An organization that donates to help rebuild small businesses and community organizations on Lake Street, Minneapolis. They prioritize the most vulnerable businesses, disproportionately belonging to immigrants and people of color.
https://www.welovelakestreet.com/
Black Mamas Matter Alliance - A Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice.
https://blackmamasmatter.org/
If able, we encourage and call for all our members and the global community to donate to these and countless other organizations – including several listed below – doing crucial work. Other actions that you can take include educating yourself and others by taking a look at the following resources, critically examining your own perspective and trying to unlearn systemic racism, and addressing racism in your own families and communities. We urge you to listen to and amplify the voices of Black people and Black organizers who are doing all the work behind these protests, and who have been working for decades. You can also engage in other forms of advocacy and political action for racial justice, including phone banking, reaching out to representatives, voting, and starting and signing petitions. Finally, we urge you to take care of yourself and participate in therapy and self care when necessary.
Sincerely,
The Yale Roosevelt Institute.
Resources:
Learn:
1) Read free literature on the criminal justice system. This includes Angela Davis’ book Are Prisons Obsolete? (https://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Angela-Davis-Are_Prisons_Obsolete.pdf) and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow (https://www.sciencetheearth.com/uploads/2/4/6/5/24658156/newjimcrow-ch-1.pdf). There’s a newer book on policing called The End of Policing by Alex Vitale that Verso Publishing is offering as an e-book for free (https://www.versobooks.com/books/2817-the-end-of-policing) right now.
2) If you can, we’d also encourage you to spend money buying other books on racial justice to learn and support the authors. You can find some selections through these anti-racism reading links: Anti-Racism Reading List (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/books/review/antiracist-reading-list-ibram-x-kendi.html) and 10 Best Books on Anti-Racism (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g32733124/best-books-on-anti-racism/). There are countless other important books, including many region-specific ones. Every place in America has a history that isn’t talked about and someone trying to bring it to light.
3) This (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/opinion/george-floyd-police-funding.html) is a great article about why we should defund police by Philip V. McHarris and Thenjiwe McHarris.
Advocate:
1) List of petitions to sign: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
2) List of places and people to call - We also encourage people to look beyond this list and advocate in their state and local governments to reduce funding to the local police force and redirect those funds to non-punitive public services. https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
3) Take this time to have uncomfortable conversations with family members, friends, and loved ones about the centrality of racism in our society, including but far beyond the criminal justice system.
Donate:
In addition to the organizations we’re donating to above, we’d also encourage you to consider the following:
1) National Bail Fund Network - Sixty community bail and bond funds across the country that help get protestors out of jail. Note, the Minnesota Freedom Fund and the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund have recently posted that due to the amazing influx of donations following recent protests, they’d recommend you direct your money to other organizations. https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory
2) List of funds for the families of victims of police brutality: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
3) NAACP Legal Defense Fund - America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.
https://www.naacpldf.org/
4) Black Visions Collective - Black-led, Q***r and Trans centering organization whose mission is to organize powerful, connected Black communities and dismantle systems of violence in the Twin Cities, MN.
https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/
5) Video project - All proceeds from the ads on this video will go to Black Lives Matter chapters, bail funds, and resource providers. It’s a way to donate without spending any money at all. The description under the video provides petitions and other ways to help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCgLa25fDHM&feature=youtu.be
