The Nearly Nine!

The Nearly Nine!

things you can do from home

to advance the cause of anti-racism

Including suggestions from musician, human-rights
advocate, and general bad-ass Benjamin Mertz

-- -- -- -- --

The ongoing global pandemic is one reason you might have not joined the ranks of protestors around the country, who’ve been pouring into the streets lately of cities big and small. But many ways exist to advance the cause of social justice, including actions you can take from your own kitchen table. For example:

1. Let someone know how much you appreciate their stand against racism. These days, our media is flooded with the stories of folks who are doing amazing things, sometimes taking big risks while striving to build a more equitable world. Reach out to them, and thank them for attempting to make a difference.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

And if you've got some disposable income? Donate some of it to Color of Change. If helping to end police violence doesn’t suit you, you might consider assisting organizations more broadly tasked with figthing other effects of racism, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Council of Incarcerated Women and Girls, The Sentencing Project, and the United Negro College Fund. A list of some Black-owned businesses you could support is here.

 

We fought injustice wherever we found it, no matter how large, or how small, and we fought injustice to preserve our own humanity. ~ Nelson Mandela

2. Let your elected representatives know where you want to see money spent, and what your priorities are. Here’s a tool for looking up your own representatives – local, county, state and federal.

A law banning the arrest of drivers for minor traffic offenses was introduced last year in Texas. House Bill 2754 had been nicknamed the Sandra Bland

Sandra Bland, died 2015, age 28

bill, after the woman who was pulled from her car, tased and taken to jail, where three days later her body was found hanging in a cell. Her crime? Failing to signal a lane-change.

When the bill came to the floor, Representative Eddie Rodriguez was marked “absent, no excuse” (even though he’d voted on another bill just 45 seconds earlier); the Sandra Bland bill ended up dying, by two votes. His strategic abstention looks to many of us like pay-back to law enforcement groups, who over the years have shoveled thousands of dollars at Rodriguez. Meanwhile I’m considering volunteering for the woman who’s running to take the seat he’s held for 17 years.

Share more widely your thoughts about what’s going down by writing letters-to-the-editor in your local press. And don't miss this footnote* about the relative impact of email vs. phone calls vs. postcards.

My empathy for the suffering in Gaza does not make me anti-Semitic, nor does it make me pro-Hamas or anti-Israel. It makes me human. ~ David Harris-Gershon

3. Media and Self-Education – Invite friends, family and neighbors to gather and listen to Martin Luther King’s 1967 speech The Other America. It is, unfortunately, as timely as the day more than 50 years ago when Dr. King delivered these remarks. If you ask them nicely, your local community radio station will probably be happy to re-broadcast it (esp. if you contribute to help keep them on the air)!

Consider these movies - 13th, and I Am Not Your Negro - essential viewing.

Benjamin Mertz adds: If folks haven't read White Fragility, they should watch a lecture or interview with Robin DiAngelo, who does an excellent job as a white person breaking down white defensiveness, and white myths around race.

A lot of white folks don't recognize the racist socialization in their own thoughts and behaviors, and DiAngelo’s work is the best possible primer for white folks who want to work on anti-racism. When they feel ready for a bigger picture of how the incarceration state operates, they can move on to something really heavy, like Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow (2010).

And White folks: try just listening. Many of us white folks (esp. us men) are so used to speaking our minds that actually making a space for others requires some practice. It’s important when you find yourself in conversation with POC to resist the sometimes constant urge to reply, esp. to things with which you might not agree. Just listen, without ego, and without defensiveness, to the best of your ability.

Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors. ~ Molly Ivins

4. Quit licking the Corporate Media lollypop for a day or for a week, as an experiment in new perspectives.

Fox, CNN and MSNBC are similarly structured and have identical (bottom-line) goals. They are programmed to provide the corporate perspective, which affects everything they report on: big corporations reporting what they define as newsworthy, according to standards laid down and followed by big corporations.

Finding out from non-corporate media what’s happening can seem liberating, and Democracy Now! is a wonderful place to test-drive that concept. Nearing its 25^th anniversary, DN! features in-depth reporting, and a greater diversity of voices; you won’t hear so many 5-star generals and corporate consultants here.**

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

5. Volunteer for Justice. Figuring out where to dive in can seem overwhelming. So much needs doing, from helping maintain a public garden, to serving the homeless, to working with children’s healthcare, to finding out availability of food trucks to help feed (for example) health-care workers, the unemployed, our undocumented neighbors, etc.

One of the best national organizations for white allies is Showing Up for Racial Justice, which offers an excellent way to find out more about what’s going on in your area.

Following organizations on social media is another great way to learn about upcoming events, and ways to get involved. Once you sign up for the SURJ newsletter, you'll soon have more volunteer opportunities than you can shake a stick at!

From ancient Greece, we have a name for the intrusion of the Excluded into the socio-political space: Democracy! ~ Slavoj Zizek

6. Work to de-fund the Police, which means reallocating funds from chronic over-policing (terrifyingly normalized) to social programs, which many police are on board with.

Society doesn't need cops to deal with the “crime” of homelessness, and we definitely do not want cops - trained to dish out deadly force to anyone not in total and immediate compliance – having to deal with the mentally ill.

A few people are calling for an out-and-out abolition of police, but they are not proposing nothing in their place. Many cops themselves feel overburdened by society’s expectation to solve all its problems. Here's a great place to learn more. (Angela Davis talks about de-funding.)

People who are racist aren’t stupid, they’re ignorant. And the answer to ignorance is education. ~ Jane Elliott

7. Become a Legal Observer. Legal observers monitor and document police actions and arrests during protests, for which the National Lawyers Guild offers training. "The Legal Observer program is part of a system of legal support, designed to enable the expression of political views, without disruption or interference by the police." More info here.

Politics is controlled by those least affected by politics. ~ Edouard Louis (French philosopher, b. 1992)

8. Check to see if your workplace has taken a stance on Black Lives Matter. Telegraphing to their customers their position on the issues of the day is not just for big corporations. If the company you work for has not yet spoken up on the importance of justice for all regardless of the color of one’s skin, they risk appearing like they support racism. Find out if anyone where you work is having that conversation.

There is nothing more efficient for understanding how the social world works than to look at who dies before whom. ~ Edouard Louis (French philosopher, b. 1992)

x. Nearly Nine is the number of minutes George Floyd had left to live on May 25, 2020, before three cops in Minneapolis squeezed the life out of him, while a fourth stood by. The space for this final item is left open, to represent nothing left to do, except to continue breathing, and to continue fighting for justice for all. Courage!

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds. ~ Bob Marley

---

* The time, effort and small cost that go into writing and sending a postcard say a lot more to the recipient than an email does, and its impact is enhanced by others who might see it before it’s delivered. After they’re written, I post photos of them to social media, spreading the word further, while providing an example for others to do the same. Can’t be bothered? Get clear about the message you want to convey, then pick up the phone. No need to get emotional; be respectful, and remember to thank who you've spoken to for listening, and for passing on your remarks to the bigwig who was unavailable to take your call.

** Democracy Now! is broadcast an hour every weekday, and can be heard in Rochester, NY on RCTV; at 100.9 FM (WXIR), and at 106.3 FM (WRFZ), and on Free Speech TV (DirecTV ch. 348; and Dish Network, ch. 9415).