Three Ways to Be a Responsible, Actionable Advocate for Black Justice

I, a young black male living in the United States, am pushing myself to engage for the sake of communities and friends dear to my heart. What is happening is not okay. Many of you, especially non-black ally hopefuls, know that what’s happening is not okay, but don’t know what to do. Maybe you’re paralyzed by your own insecurities, afraid that you won’t be accepted, or simply don’t know how to get involved. If you fit any of these descriptions, or maybe you’re just curious, please. read. on. Here are three things you can do to become a responsible advocate for racial justice.

1. Change your “but’s” into “and’s”. The first and easily helped thing that you can do as a rising advocate is to slowly change your actionable language. Qualifiers are real, but leave what validity they have for sit-down conversations or Facebook posts. In action, “but’s” give you little more than an excuse to stand back. Now, that doesn’t mean you should run forward with reckless abandon. This psychological exercise only aims to recondition your mindset into one unafraid to keep moving ahead. “I’d love to help out, but — “, no. You’d love to help out, and you’re going to try, yes? Okay, how? Well, I’m very glad you asked.

2. Educate yourself. This recommendation is a no-brainer and you have probably seen it a million times over by now. Unfortunately, as is completely natural for areas unfamiliar to us, it is very easy to get overwhelmed at the prospect of diving headfirst into new material. Unfortunate, too, that many resources share large lists of reading material. To be clear, I have seen nothing wrong with anything on those lists. The problem is the list format itself. Our minds get petrified when confronted with too many choices, a phenomenon appropriately called “overchoice”. So, to avoid this overchoice, I want to give you three recommendations I believe do a great service introducing the struggle for black justice. The “Letter From Birmingham Jail” indulges you in six-pages of protest philosophy by MLK. Profound and extremely accessible (like, you can Google it). “We Were Eight Years In Power” gives you a digestible series of essays that chronicle the Obama-era reflections of contemporary journalist, TaNehisi Coates, and observes the developing culture of modern America within and without, yet always about the black community. His essays are almost episodic, so you feel like you’re learning something new after finishing each one. And believe me, you will learn something new. You can find it on Audible (was on Scribd, crazy upset they took it off). Finally, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” is a coauthored effort by Malcolm and Alex Haley based on interviews the former gave before his 1965 assassination. This one is for the challenge-seekers, and if you’re up for it — which you definitely are — you will not regret it. The book is STILL influential, and should you choose it, you will understand why. Less accessible than the previous two, sadly, but cheap to get regardless. Okay, if you need direction, start with those. I’ll end this article with one last piece of advice.

3. Put your money where your mouth is, especially if your mouth isn’t outside. Many have messaged me in remorse about either feeling unable to protest, being physically unable to protest, or feeling too unsafe to protest (be it due to the riots, the pandemic, or both). First, be sad then let it go. Actionable mindsets, remember? You do not have to feel pressure to be on the front-lines, not everyone is cut out for the front-lines, and it is okay to not be on the front-lines. Your responsible advocacy comes from responsible behavior. Confront racism when you can, wherever you see it. Police the police, make sure your employers practice racial equity, hold your friends and family accountable for their less-than-wholesome beliefs. Vote, for goodness sake’s, vote. Then, if you have the resources available to do so, donate; not just to bail funds, but to medical workers, food shelters. I won’t make a list here. If you’ve gotten this far, you can do the research (alright, I’ll give you one — blackvisionsmn.org — but no more freebies). A little or a lot, every dollar, every action counts.

That’s it. Three things that I think will help you get started on a road to responsible advocacy: Change your language. Educate yourself. Put your money, literally and/or figuratively, where your mouth is. The great thing about these steps is that they inform each other. 1 leads to 2 which facilitates 3 and brings you back to 1. Oh, and make sure to rest. Also, on the subject, try to not message your black friends unless you know — and ideally they have made explicitly clear — that they are down for your questions. Many people are just tired, understandably so, and need time to process by themselves or with their own. However, if you really do have thoughts that are best parsed with another, ask for my email. If you know me, text me, though I prefer calls. A few of you already have, and I truly appreciated our conversations. I’m blessed to have the bandwidth, so I’m good to have more. For the sake of George Floyd. For the sake of black lives. For the sake of justice.

Thank you for reading. Now, in the way that suits you best, go out and make a difference.