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We want to be clear: Black Lives Matter. It is beyond heartbreaking that our nation and world must be reminded of this, but we recognize that our society has a long way to go in the fight against racism, and we as a company are committed to continuing to learn and activate change.
In America, we have a centuries-long history of oppression against Black lives, including enslavement, segregation and other heinous crimes. The recent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and too many others, tell us all we need to know: systemic racism is still alive, and it is killing Black and Brown people every day. In the words of Angela Davis, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.”
At SignUpGenius, our mission is and always has been to empower people to change the world by making it simple to organize groups. Because of what we do, we have a front-row seat to watch how people invest in their communities and support causes they care about.
We have spent the last several weeks focusing on internal conversations surrounding how we can care for our minority coworkers, family members and friends. We’ve also been making sure our site can continue to empower people to change their communities – and we've seen you use sign ups to power the fight against racism. We commit to not only addressing what is going on in the moment but striving toward long-term change.
Below you can find a collection of powerful resources for learning about and taking a stand against racism in our communities, organizations, schools and beyond — and examples of how you’re creating sign ups to change our world from racist to anti-racist.
Books, Podcasts and Articles
Books, Podcasts and Articles
f you’re creating a protest sign up, Black Lives Matter Honolulu created a great template with slots for de-escalation marshals, stations along the protest path providing water, snacks and first aid for protestors, along with shifts for medics and legal aid.
Indy Jail Support created a sign up for volunteers willing to take shifts to staff a 24-hour jail support table outside the City-County Building to provide support and resources to individuals released from the jail. They also shared Zoom links where volunteers can participate in a 30-minute orientation session to learn about volunteer expectations and safety planning.
Not only do Black lives matter, they are beautiful and necessary. We are committed to the long-term fight against racism both as a company and a community, so that lives that have been previously pushed to the margins can be fully celebrated, appreciated and honored.
We want to thank Nikki Williams-Rucker for her contributions to this post. Check out her work with The MSK Experience, a nonprofit that has helped 2,000 girls get to and through college. We also recommend her Genius Expert post about teaching Black history.
