I thought I'd be getting back to blogging with something way more lighter but with what's been happening in the US (the George Floyd case and more), hopping here to talk about just skin care or something felt a little tone deaf. So instead, I'm using my little space on the Internet to share some resources that I've been familiarizing with lately in order to find ways to help people who are victims of racism. Being a (white) Finn, it's hard to picture a society where people have to actively be scared because if their skin color, and moreover to be afraid of police. And that right there is my privilege speaking. Privilege, which I would rather use for greater good - and that's exactly what I'm trying to do with this post.
To be honest with you, I'm not an expert in any shape or form in these issues, but just a person wanting to do something so that people won't have to live in fear. My extended family just recently grew with couple of little babies, and it would break me if they had to live in fear just because of something they're born with - yet that's the reality for too many people. That's not okay, and none of us should tolerate that.
I'm sure that amongst my followers there are also others who are a bit lost on where to start, trust me, I am too, but that's where following links and resoures come into play. The ones I try to highlight here are hopefully some that help with the cause after it's trending on social media. Hashtags and beautiful sentences won't unfortunately protect anyone nor do they help victims unless they're paired with real action and real education.
This is a link that hosts a wide list of things to do to help, there are petitions to sign, funds to donate to, and so much information for educating yourself. I'm currently taking time to read through the resources in order to be able to do better and be better.
This may be written from more or less US perspective (understandably, taken the situation), but the points feel internationally valid.
A list of resources for being a better ally not only now, but always. Because we white people really need to step up our act.
If you have further resources you think I should list here, feel free to either comment them or send me a message (email, social media, any place is equally good) so we can have a comprehensive list. Although, I would even rather you gave attention to influencers that are POC when it comes to these issues. They know what they talk about when they talk about injustice and discrimination because unfortunately they have to face it in their daily life. They are the ones I feel we should support instead of patting fellow white people on the back speaking up now that it's popular again.
So, on that note, below are three posts that have made me reflect on my actions as well as three accounts who will keep educating people and fighting for rights no matter how many or how little people are talking about the issues. These kinds of accounts are the ones to praise, not the little white me waking up to her ignorance just now. And there are many, many great ones, these are just ones to maybe start with.
And why I'm posting here instead of my bigger platform, Instagram? First, this is not about me even if the whole post is (narcisitically) written from first person perspective, I don't deserve the praise, the attention nor the validation for this. Second, Instagram caption is too short for all this and all the links wouldn't work - it would defeat the purpose.
Please take this time to learn what you can do even when it's not documented on social media. I see too many of us shouting the hashtags loudly right now, but too many of us fail to do more, especially as preventative measures so we wouldn't have to demand justice for victims, but that there wouldn't actually be victims in the first place. I've fallen to that before, and for that I'm sorry. I will do better.
We must do better.
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