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Here's how you can support organizations fighting for racial equality and justice right now.
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12 Organizations Fighting For Racial Justice You Can Support Right Now

by Morgan Brinlee

Large-scale demonstrations erupted across the nation over the weekend as millions took to the streets to protest the police killing of George Floyd as well as ongoing issues of police brutality, racial profiling, and structural inequality. Thousands of protesters have been arrested, dozens of cities have implemented curfews, and a number of states have deployed the National Guard in response. While protests are an important means of mobilization, participation in them may not be feasible for everyone. So if you're looking for ways to support organizations helping the Black Lives Matter movement and fighting for racial equality and justice right now, here's where you can start.

Whether you opt to donate to bail funds to help free protesters and activists from jail, choose to support anti-police brutality groups, or donate to Black-centered mental health resources, there are a number of local and national grassroots organizations out there that need your support. But here’s the key — these organizations need support long term. They need donations of time and money after protests and the media attention has died down. They need support when the names of Black people who have been killed by white violence are no longer headline news. They need support next week, next month, next year.

Here are a few organizations you can support to help anti-police brutality protesters, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the fight to end systemic racism in America:

Black Lives Matter

Founded in 2013 following the murder of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of the man alleged to have killed him, Black Lives Matter has since grown into an international organization advocating for the end of white supremacy, systemic racism, and violence towards Black people. They have organized a number of protests and campaigns toward that mission and will continue to do so.

Donate to Black Lives Matter. Even better, get involved with your local Black Lives Matter chapter.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) aims to build a society where all individuals, no matter their race, have equal rights without discrimination. Their mission has been to "secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons."

You can donate directly to the NAACP, or help fund their civil rights legal action with a donation to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. You can also sign the NAACP Legal Defends and Education Fund's petition demanding justice for George Floyd.

The Bail Project

The Bail Project is a national organization with locations in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Washington state, and more. They describe their national revolving bail fund as "a critical tool to prevent incarceration and combat racial and economic disparities in the bail system." To date, they've bailed out more than 10,500 individuals.

Donate to The Bail Project here.

National Bail Out

The National Bail Out is a collective of Black-led and Black centered abolitionist organizers, lawyers, and activists who are seeing to create a community-based movement to end systems of pretrial detention and mass incarceration. You can donate directly to them via Act Blue.

If you'd prefer to donate to a bail fund operating within your local community, source them via this Google Doc or this Twitter thread. Alternatively, Act Blue has a donation link that enables an individual to donate to 38 different community bail funds all at once.

Mothers Against Police Brutality

Mothers Against Police Brutality was founded by Collette Flanagan, a Black mother whose son, Clinton Allen, was killed by a Dallas police officer in 2013. The organization aims to unite mothers in the fight for police accountability, civil rights, and policy reform.

You can donate directly to Mothers Against Police Brutality here.

The National Police Accountability Project

The National Police Accountability Project is a national non-profit that was started by the National Lawyers Guild. They seek to protect individuals' human and civil rights in encounters with law enforcement.

Donate to the National Police Accountability Project here.

Black Women's Blueprint

Black Women's Blueprint formed after organizers began meeting in sister circles in 2008 to discuss the state of Black women in the United States. Since then, they have worked to center Black women and girls and the particular struggles they face in larger racial justice movements.

There are a number of different ways to help them and the initiatives they are leading, such as their Sistas Van mobile healing unit. You can make a donation direct to Black Women's Blueprint or purchase items off their Sistas Van Target registry.

The Loveland Therapy Fund

You can help support Black people's access to mental health resources with a donation to The Loveland Therapy Fund. Started by writer, activist, and lecturer Rachel Cargle, the Loveland Therapy Fund seeks to provide Black women and girls with the financial assistance needed to access therapy when they need it. Why donate to them in light of nationwide mass demonstrations against police brutality, racial profiling, and structural racism? Because today's news cycle is traumatic for Black people and can trigger PTSD-like trauma. As PBS has previously reported, research suggests repeated exposure to the shootings and deaths of Black people can "have long-term mental health effects" on people of color.

The Conscious Kid

Help fund efforts to reduce bias and promote positive racial identity development in children by paying for a subscription to The Conscious Kid's patreon. Donations can also be made directly to The Conscious Kid's efforts to add new titles to their lending library and donate books to Title I and low-income families.

Minnesota Freedom Fund

Since its founding, The Minnesota Freedom Fund, which seeks to end "discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive" jailing, has been raising money to pay criminal bail and immigration bonds for those who cannot afford to pay them themselves. The organization has recently been working with with the National Lawyers Guild and Legal Rights Center to help pay the bails of protesters in Minnesota. You can donate to them here.

It's worth noting that, after raising roughly $20 million through thousands of donations over the weekend, the Minnesota Freedom Fund has now asked potential donors to give their funds to George Floyd's family and other local Black and BIPOC-led organizations working to end police brutality and uplift BIPOC communities.

Reclaim the Block

One of the organizations The Minnesota Freedom Fund has encouraged donors to donate to is Reclaim the Block, a Minneapolis advocacy group focused on diverting city funds from the Minneapolis Police Department into non-police community programs. They seek to center policies that "strengthen community-led safety initiatives and reduce reliance on police departments."

You can donate to Reclaim the Block here and sign their petition urging Minneapolis City Council to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

Black Visions Collective

Another organization the Minnesota Freedom Fund has directed donations to is Black Visions Collective, a black, trans, and queer-led organization working toward "dismantling systems of oppression and violence” in Minnesota. "Black Visions Collective believes in a future where all Black people have autonomy, safety is community-led, and we are in right relationship within our ecosystems," the organization has noted. You can support their work with a donation here.

This list is by no means a complete compiling of all the organizations working tirelessly across the country to eradicate police violence and racial inequality. What's more, monetary donations are not the only ways to support protesters and organizations fighting for racial equality. There are petitions you can sign and on-the-ground advocacy work like texting or calling both elected officials and the district attorney in cities were Black people have been killed by police.