Protesters near the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2020. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Racism in the United States has been a longstanding crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has cast into an even harsher light. One of the latest violent examples of this intractable American scourge is the death of George Floyd after a white police officer in Minneapolis pinned his knee against Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Before Floyd were many others: Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia; Breonna Taylor in Kentucky; Eric Garner in New York; Michael Brown in Missouri; Tony McDade in Florida; and black person after black person after black person.
After Floyd's murder, peaceful and violent protests have spread across the country, raising condemnation and sympathy as tensions continue to escalate. Will racist ideologies continue to poison the United States? Can American society reform itself? Will Americans finally stop shrugging off police killing black people? To help answer these questions, SSIR's editors have assembled a list of articles, websites, and other resources to help leaders of social change and activists trying to put an end to this systemic problem.
Understanding Racism
- For a More Equitable America, Understand Race and Racism as Actions We Do and Can Undo
- The Bias of ‘Professionalism’ Standards (part of SSIR's series on DEI)
- Anti-Racism Resources (Google Doc from Sarah Sophie Flicker & Alyssa Klein)
Philanthropy's and Impact Investing's Role in the Struggle Against Racism
- Overcoming the Racial Bias in Philanthropic Funding (and the accompanying free webinar)
- Philanthropy on the Frontlines of Ferguson
- Capital for Justice: Spurring On Impact Investing for Racial Equity
- Equitable Big Bets for Marginalized Communities (opened to non-subscribers)
Building Social Movements
- Protest Movements Need the Funding They Deserve
- Five Ways Funders Can Support Social Movements
- Building Movements, Not Organizations
- Black Lives Matter
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Changing the Criminal Justice System
- Mass Decarceration, COVID-19, and Justice in America
- Philanthropists Must Invest in an Ecology of Change
- The Fight to End Cash Bail (opened to non-subscribers)
- List of Bail Funds for Protesters Across the Country (via @abhiprofen)
- The Bail Project
- Re-Envisioning the Roles of Prosecutors and Attorneys General to Make the Justice System Work for Everyone
- Anti Police-Terror Project
- Campaign Zero
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