How To Help Protestors Fight for Justice

Not everyone who supports the Black Lives Matter movement is able to join the protesters in the streets—and that’s okay. We all have different abilities (and vulnerabilities, especially concerning the pandemic), and there are many, many ways to help ground-level activists and the racial justice movement as a whole.

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Give Financial Support

If you are privileged enough to have money to spare, consider making donations to racial justice organizations and community bail funds. Also seek out Black-owned businesses in your neighborhood and online when you need to make purchases of food, essentials, clothing, and more.

• Donate to racial justice organizations. I have compiled dozens of links to racial justice organizations and resources here.
• Support Black-owned businesses. I have also compiled links to websites, mobile apps, and city-based directories of Black-owned businesses across the United States (and Canada, too!).
• Donate to bail funds for protestors. This ActBlue donation page lets you easily donate to 70+ community bail funds, mutual aid funds, and racial justice organizers. You can split your donation evenly or donate to specific funds. Help keep protestors out of jail and safe from COVID-19!
• Support restorative justice initiatives. In this Vox article by Dylan Matthews, criminal justice expert Chloe Cockburn (of the Open Philanthropy Project) recommends national and local organizations involved with the Movement for Black Lives and restorative justice initiatives.
• Give to mutual aid and relief funds. Rolling Stone has also compiled a long list of bail funds, mutual aid funds, COVID-19 relief, and other funds deserving of your donations, organized by city and state (and Canada, too!).

Take Political Action

Systemic change comes from grassroots activism and through empowering politicians, prosecutors, and judges who will take racial justice action on the legislative and judicial level.

• Register to vote. If you are eligible to vote and not already registered, please register now! If you aren’t sure of your status, check your voter registration here.
• Reach out to your local representatives. Contact your local representatives and other public officials and make demands that they enact meaningful change to stop police brutality and support antiracist policies.
• Join a political movement. Many, many organizations have political movements you can join, including Black Lives Matter’s #DefundThePolice, Color of Change, the NAACP’s #WeAreDoneDying, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Find more racial justice organizations here.
• Support progressive prosecutors and DAs. Criminal justice expert Chloe Cockburn also recommends donating to the campaigns of progressive prosecutors and groups working on District Attorney campaigns.

Volunteer During Protests

There are numerous ways to help during scheduled protests, even if you are not marching.

• Share information. Broadcast details about protests through social media to help get the word out. During the protests you can also use apps like Police Scanner Radio & Fire to monitor police activity—and share it with protestors on the ground.
• Offer food. Restauranteurs and other community groups are providing food and water for protestors along the protest route. Read about provisioning efforts around the country here.
• Provide childcare. Connect with neighbors and friends and offer to watch their kids while they are out protesting.
• Be an emergency contact. Give your contact information to protestors and let them know they can reach out to you in case of emergency. @gendervamp has shared tips here.
• Offer shelter. When Washington, D.C. protestors were attacked with pepper spray the night of June 1, residents on Swann Street offered overnight shelter to the protestors outside their doors. Read about their goodwill gesture here and here.
• Offer medical assistance. If you have the skills to be a street medic for protestors, offer your assistance. Read about street medics helping protestors and join the Do No Harm Coalition.
• Offer pro-bono representation. If you are a lawyer, consider offering your services pro-bono, and join this Twitter thread to let the world know.

If You Protest, Do It Safely

To protest safely during a pandemic—and when police are using “less-lethal” weapons against protestors—there are things you need to do before, during, and after the protest.

• Think creatively. The Commons Library has a new post by Iain McIntyre on Tactics in a time of physical distancing: Examples from Australia’s progressive past with different ways protestors can take action while social distancing, including car- and boat-based actions, boycotting, and craftivism.
• Tips for protesting. Amnesty International has shared tips and resources for how to protest safely, what to bring to the protest, and what to do if you experience tear gas and pepper spray. Time Out New York has recommendations for NYC-area protestors with links to resources like the Legal Aid Society.
• Have a protest toolkit. YR Media (a national network of young journalists and artists) has shared an online toolkit with advice for protestors on what they should know, wear, bring, and do during a protest.
• Know your rights. The ACLU has a page dedicated to Protestors’ Rights (in English and Español) for people who are organizing, attending, and filming protests, and for protestors who are stopped by police.
• Protect against COVID-19. NPR shares advice from Dr. Cassandra Pierre, an infectious disease specialist, on how to protest safely during a pandemic. Her advice includes getting tested for COVID-19, wearing masks indoors, and socially distancing from people at home.