Stand Up for Racial Justice

This weekend saw hundreds of "alt-righters" (although I loathe that term, because let's be real, we're talking some literal Nazis and Klan members) marching through Charlottesville, Virgina Friday night.

White supremacists banded together under chants of hatred, tiki torches ablaze.

Saturday, counterprotestors gathered in preparation for part two of the "Unite the Right" alt-right rally. A grey Dodge Challenger shot down a crowded street at high speed and rammed into a crowd of counterprotestors. It then backed out of the street immediately. The suspect was arrested later that afternoon. Heather Heyer died in the attack.

This is a time when Nazis and the KKK no longer feel a need to explore their hatred in secrecy. They march in our streets--proudly, openly, and sans hoods.

This weekend proved that it doesn't take the threat of a nuclear war for POC to feel like they can die at any given moment. Protect your POC and Jewish friends. Educate the people around you. The time for being a moderate and not wanting the rock the boat is over. Making a difference doesn't mean you need to march every day or donate tens of thousands of dollars. That's not feasible to some of us who need to work daily, or aren't able-bodied, or live on a budget. We can do good in our lives by sending a few bucks to causes that speak to us and sitting down and talking to our racist/misguided friends (Showing Up For Racial Justice has their entire site dedicated to facilitating this conversation).

Here are some ways to support from afar via donations:

- The NAACP in Charlottesville

- Beloved Community, a direct response created to counter Unite the Right's rally (UPDATE: The pledge has been successfully completed, and the site is updated with other organizations to donate to).

- Black Lives Matter Charlottesville

- United Jewish Fund for Charlottesville

- The Anti-Defamation League

- Legal Aid Justice Center, which provides legal representation to lower income incomes in Virgina.

- Charlottesville Solidarity Legal Fund, a community resource for anti-racism activism in Charlottesville.

- Medical Fund for Comrades in Cville, a GoFundMe created to support the medical bills of those wounded in the counterprotests.

- I'm happy to say Heather Heyer's GoFundMe goal was met, but there is one other that I'd like to present. A young Black mother/full-time student's car was hit and totaled in the attack on counterprotestors Saturday. As we all know, having a means of transportation is crucial to upward mobility. She is emotionally, physically, and financially injured, and not only did she have her car destroyed, she is also missing a considerable amount of work. Please donate here to show her support.

Thanks for reading, y'all. Let's make this world better.

Special thanks to Allie Kelley (Insta here and Twitter here) for her illustration.

xx