#1: Tap In With Your Community: Whether you realize it or not, organizations where you live are doing important liberation work. Whether in food security or environmental justice, do your homework, ask questions, and show up to learn from, contribute to, and support their work. Black Liberation Example: The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted 381 days, during which Black folks organized a carpool system to help transport each other.
#2 Feed The People: With SNAP benefits set to run out due to the government shutdown, millions of people who rely on food assistance will go hungry. If you have disposable income, can you donate to a local food bank? If you only have time, consider volunteering for a Black-led food-fighting organization. Black Liberation Example: When the government stood by and let Black children starve, the Black Panther Party organized, bringing their famous Free Breakfast Program to our communities.
#3: Register To Vote: Anti-Black policymakers are working overtime right now to dismantle the Voting Rights Act that our people fought tooth and nail for. Voting isn’t an automatic ticket to liberation in a country built on anti-Blackness. Still, it’s a tool we can use to influence policies that favor our well-being. Black Liberation Example: Bernice Robinson, a South Carolina hairdresser, secretly used her 1960s salon to prepare women to pass voter registration literacy tests.
We’ve been here before. Those who came before us have already shown us exactly what to do.
The question is, what are you willing to do for our collective liberation?