My Twitter bio lists “basic human rights on main” and to be extra clear
Black Lives Matter. Due to COVID-19 risks, I am not able to participate in protests so instead, I have created and supported other fundraisers for bail fund organizations and The Bail Project.
Between being taught A People’s History Of The United States in college and encountering examples of protests working in the entertainment I consume, I know protests lead to change. The WHO also agrees and has said “WHO fully supports equality and the global movement against racism. We reject discrimination of all kinds,”.
I was inspired to start taking more action after coming across this Twitter thread of article links. Below is the Facebook album of screen shots to talk about what I was (un)learning.
https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/no-drugs-no-crime-and-just-pennies-school-how-police-use-civil-asset-forfeiture 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-data-say-about-police-shootings/ 
https://time.com/5628206/police-shooting-trial-knowlton-garner/ 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/police-militarization-fails-to-protect-officers-and-targets-black-communities-study-finds 
https://www.versobooks.com/books/2817-the-end-of-policing
I have had the privilege of having 100% positive interactions with police. When working with community events like San Diego Night Market, FilAm Fest, Art Around Adams, and other events where we have transformed public spaces into event space I have worked with or have hired cops as security. In times when I have been pulled over or more, again my experience with peace officers has been 100% positive. If your experience has been the same as mine, we are in the minority, we are lucky, we are privileged. The number of friends taking tear gas and rubber bullets in peaceful protests in the past few days outnumbers the favorable encounters I have had with law enforcement. I’ve been living with this blindspot thinking that after each national incident that institutions have been working to make improvements when we needed systemic change. I’m posting this to hopefully remove anyone else’s blindspot on this matter. Here are a few articles that I’ve been sharing on Twitter. I have read and researched each article’s author. If you’re unfamiliar with the Pulitzer Center this article was done with St. Louis Public Radio. Here’s a well curated resource of links on how to support: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
Then came this thread of (at the time) 300+ counts of police brutality. This Tweet embed shows over 500+ in such a short time that protesting has started.
At the same time, police violence against reporters were on the rise.
I chose The Bail Project because because they have been on my radar for a few years and have a self service option on their website for help, making it easy to pass this information to friends onsite.
