Please donate to the following organizations that are supporting the affected communities in Minneapolis.
Over the past week, I’ve eaten about 2 pounds of ahi tuna. Most of this has come in the form of poke, which in an attempt to cherish this detour home, I have eaten in bulk. Mercury poisoning’s most notable symptoms include anxiety, depression, and numbness.
Yet, the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department and the force’s resulting abuses throughout the last week are to blame for my current headaches. Originally, I was planning on linking a bunch of articles throughout this newsletter. As I thought about it though, there is nothing that some writer from the NYTimes or The Atlantic could write that you shouldn’t already know. The brutality of policing has not new, only now everyone carries a professional quality camera. The way forward isn’t with more body cameras or implicit bias trainings, it’s with a complete restructuring of how we keep communities safe. I implore you to do the reading and do the homework. It’s on you to be informed, not just to engage at a surface level. Moreover, shut up and get out of the way. You don’t need to have a take on everything, retweet those who know what they're talking about, who are in it; act as a megaphone for their voices.
In turn, this newsletter is also about the way that social media plays into all of this. It’s become customary at a certain point to post a cute social justice graphic or worse, a graphic video, on your feed every time someone is lynched. What does this accomplish? I hate to use right wing language but it’s only virtue signaling, no material difference has been made. The Black Lives Matter movement has been on the national stage for like 6 years now, everyone knows about it, so posting empty platitudes while applying for an internship at Palantir doesn’t help a single soul. Instead, use your platform to direct resources and funds to those who need them. Post the links, post your receipts, make the difference that you’re claiming you want to see. Money matters, and if you have any cash laying around I implore you to put it where your mouth is and donate to organizations doing the good work.
Nothing in this newsletter is new and it’s not all that articulate or great to read. But I do hope it encourages you to rethink the way you’re engaging with this current moment. It’s easy to feel like there isn’t anything you can do to help, but you can you bum. Send cash, read up, and get ready to help those who need it regardless of whether or not it serves your Instagram aesthetic.