I don't usually post twice on the same day, but I felt this song couldn't wait. Here is 12-year-old Keedron Bryant singing an original song from the heart, in a video that has lit up the Internet in the last few days.
And here's a video of Black parents having conversations with their children about how to avoid death at the hands of the police. It's heart-wrenching, but please watch and bear witness. Please don't look away.
No child should have to sing Keedron's song. No child should need to be taught to reassure an armed cop that they're harmless. No parent should have to plead tearfully with their child to "do everything that you can to get back to me." No family should lose a father, a mother, a daughter, or a son to the callous brutality we see far too often from the police. And none of us should accept a world in which George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown—among an unbearably long list of human beings—are no longer alive because of the state-sanctioned violence upholding the racist society that shames and stains us all. A while ago I wrote about "The Next Right Thing"—a song about feeling helpless and overwhelmed in the face of the wrongness of the world and choosing to do something about it in small steps, one action after another. We can choose to do this now. It is easy (and I know this personally to be true) to get caught up in raging against the headlines, letting off steam with like-minded friends, preaching to the choir online. But we can and must do more. Let's make sure every eligible person we know is registered to vote. Let's make sure we're teaching the children in our lives to value fairness and love, and to speak up for the rights and lives of others (it shouldn't just be families of color having these tough conversations). Let's reach out to family members with whom we have political or ideological disagreements and try to win them over; I know I've personally been avoiding those arguments, but a little family friction feels like a small sacrifice when lives are literally at stake. Let's donate to organizations fighting for justice. Let's call our representatives and urge them to pass laws that protect the vulnerable and hold the powerful accountable. We aren't blameless bystanders in these tragedies. We're part of the system that allows them to happen. And that means we can choose to change it; the time to speak up, and help build the world we say we want, is now. Here are some ideas for doing the next right thing. (Thanks to my daughter for the "How to Deal with the Police" video above and many of the links below; other links are from Brooklyn Councilmember Brad Lander.)
IF YOU WANT TO DONATE: Minnesota Freedom Fund Providing direct bail to arrested protesters.
Reclaim the Block Working to redirect funds away from the Minneapolis Police Department towards other areas of the city budget that better promote community health and safety. Black Visions Collective Black-led and queer and trans-centered organizing work for Minnesota's African American communities. George Floyd Memorial Fund
Organized by George's brother Philonise.
I Run with Maud
Fundraiser to support Ahmaud Arbery's mother Wanda Cooper-Jones, organized by Ahmaud's best friend Akeem Baker.
Communities United for Police Reform
Campaigning to end abusive and discriminatory policing practices in New York.
Black-led Organizations in NYC and Nationwide
Consider supporting the Audre Lorde Project, Life Camp, Brooklyn Movement Center, Black Youth Project (scroll to the bottom to donate), and Color of Change. And check out this map and guide for other Black-led activist organizations across the country.
IF YOU WANT TO SIGN PETITIONS:
#JusticeForFloyd
Color of Change petition to demand that all four officers involved in George Floyd's killing be charged with murder.
#JusticeForBre
Color of Change petition to demand that the Louisville officers who killed Breonna Taylor be fired.
IF YOU WANT TO EMAIL OR MAKE CALLS:
The campaign #Justice4Floyd provides the public email addresses and phone numbers for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and the Minneapolis Police Union, along with a script you can read demanding accountability for George Floyd's murder. The ACLU also provides contact information and scripts for Governor Tim Walz and MN Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Thank you for reading this far, and for anything you do, however small, to help build a more just world.
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Listen to the Spotify playlist here.
Watch the YouTube playlist here.