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What Can I Do to Stand Up for Racial Justice?

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What Can I Do to Stand Up for Racial Justice?

Photo source: Jonathan Bachman Photography

It’s been a few weeks since Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were killed by police in acts of excessive force.

With the way our news cycle works, it’s easy to get swept up in the next big piece of news, and become removed from tragic events that quickly become part of the past. But the conversation can’t stop when the news coverage dies down. We can’t wait for another tragedy to occur to take action.

Right now, it’s crucial that we continue to move forward for change around racial injustice in this country. We must continue to do three things: educate ourselves, talk about it with others, and take action. To help keep the momentum going, we’re pulling together a list of resources based on what we’re learning from our research, conversations, and peers.

Please note that this list is not comprehensive by any means. It’s meant to grow and evolve as we continue to learn, talk, and act. If you have any resources to add, or want to talk about a specific resource that we’ve shared here, please feel free to reach out on social – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn – via email, or in the comments below.

Educate Yourself

If there is any doubt in your mind that you don’t know enough about racism in America, which is true for many of us, it’s time to keep learning. It’s not enough to look at each individual killing in isolation – we each need to better understand why they continue to happen. The onus is on us to seek out information, to take in different perspectives, fact check, and develop thoughtful, well-researched opinions based on those facts.

Ready to educate yourself? Here are some resources that we’ve come across that we think are worth checking out:

Racism, Prejudice & White Privilege

Looking for resources for kids or teens? Try these:

Police Brutality

Talk About It

Talking about these complex topics can be challenging, especially when it means confronting people we know about them. But when we consider the fact that lives are being lost because of our fear to confront these issues, our own discomfort becomes inconsequential. We’re working to step outside of our comfort zones and talk about what’s happening in our country right now, and we encourage you to do the same. Talk about it on your own online platforms, with your friends and family, and in community settings. Encourage others to connect and discuss racism in America, police brutality, and what needs to change. Your knowledge empowers you to speak up confidently in the face of racist and inaccurate statements.

If you’re looking for some support, here are some resources that might help: 

Take Action

While education and discussion are absolutely crucial, they aren’t enough to create systemic change.  We need to be advocates, activists, and allies in practice, and that means taking it a step further – showing up and putting in time.

If you’re ready to take action, here are some ways you can get started:

 Sign and Share Petitions

Give Resources and / or Time to Relevant Organizations

Push for Change in Your City

  • Learn about your city’s police conduct review process and speak up for change where it’s needed – here’s how
  • Research your city’s government officials and vote for those who are reform-minded 

 

Do you have something to add to any of these lists? Please share them with us – we’ll add to this post and continue to spread the word. Also, hit share on this post! We need to get these resources out there.

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Much gratitude to Dr. Cora Neumann of RESET and The Global First Ladies Alliance for sharing resources and knowledge. 

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The Role of Corporations in the Clean Water Crisis

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The Role of Corporations in the Clean Water Crisis

by Kate Vandeveld

Did you know that 1.8 billion people do not have access to clean water worldwide?

It’s a major issue, and one that’s close to home – today, over 1.6 million Americans don’t have indoor plumbing at all. And in some places, like Flint, Michigan, water sources are so contaminated that even with indoor plumbing, consuming it poses a serious health risk. 

There are a number of incredible nonprofit organizations that are working to address these issues, but they often lack the necessary funding to implement effective, sustainable change. One solution to this problem is corporate partnership, and in recent years, a number of large-scale corporations have opted to partner with nonprofits focused on solving water issues. Here are a few:

H&M Foundation & WaterAid

WaterAid is an international nonprofit organization focused on improving access to safe water, hygiene and toilets in impoverished communities, with a goal of getting safe water and sanitation to everyone by 2030. They work with these communities to find sustainable solutions to their water issues, financing the work of local partners on the ground. They also advocate for policies that will end the water and sanitation crisis.

The H&M Foundation is an independent foundation that supports initiatives focused on women, children and water. In 2014, the H&M Foundation and WaterAid launched a three-year global program meant to bring safe water, hygiene and toilets to 250,000 of the world's poorest students. Together, they’re also working to drive change at the policy level, aiming to integrate these necessities into education policies. WaterAid reported that after the first year, they were able to reach 75,000 students through the program.

Bank of America & Water.org

Water.org, a nonprofit founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, focuses on expanding access to clean water around the world by working within communities to find sustainable solutions. Rather than attempting to implement a one-size-fits all solution to places that are so different from one another, Water.org works to understand each community’s specific barriers and develop innovative solutions that address them, and empower those communities to maintain them.

In 2015, Bank of America provided Water.org with a $1 million to go toward their microfinance program Water Credit, which provides affordable loans to those who need to purchase water connections and toilets. The goal of the grant was to help 100,000 people in South India get access to safe water and sanitation solutions. While we look forward to the reports that show the impact of Bank of America’s grant specifically, we’re happy to see that Water.org has reported that grants like Bank of America’s have helped them to empower more than 2.5 million people in 9 countries to obtain access to clean water.

Nestle, Walmart, Pepsi & Coca-Cola & the Flint Crisis

In 2015, drinking water in Flint, MI, was exposed as containing over two times the EPA’s limits for the amount of lead in safe drinking water. This dangerously high lead count has resulted in a variety of health issues for those who’ve consumed it, including skin lesions, hair loss, hypertension, vision loss and depression. All children under the age of 6 were “exposed to toxic, lead-tainted water that may cause life-long damage.” In light of this, the city’s water was declared unsafe to drink, and many were left with few hydration options.

In January of 2016, four large-scale corporations, Nestle, Walmart, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola, provided 6.5 million bottles of water to the city’s students. These corporations, which are generally in competition with one another and often under scrutiny for various reasons, came together in a time of crisis to make a life-saving contribution. As the city seeks long-term solutions, this donation will allow students and their parents to focus on education and meeting other basic needs.

World Water Day: Keep the Conversation Going

This past Tuesday was World Water Day, a day developed by UN Water to raise awareness about today’s most pressing global issues around water access. We encourage you to use the tools and resources they provided to educate yourself about these issues and keep the conversation going.

Do you know of a business or corporation that has chosen to focus on water in its CSR efforts? Comment below or share with us on social (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) – we’ll help spread the word about their work.

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Our Favorite Moments from The Social Good Summit

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Our Favorite Moments from The Social Good Summit

For the past five years, Mashable has hosted The Social Good Summit. a two-day conference during UN Week in conjunction with The United Nations Foundation, 92nd Street Y, UNDP, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This year, we were thrilled to join hundreds of other global leaders, changemakers, and activists, in discussions about technology as a means for bettering our world. For those of you who were unable to be there, we thought we'd pass along our feelings of inspiration and progress by sharing our favorite key messages. 


 

Day One, alone, generated online conversation in 144 countries & 31 languages

Day Two

  • "Companies can have a social good agenda, and make money. They can drive down cost of tech but scale up." - Michael Dell, CEO of Dell
     
  • "Volunteering for more than two organizations can decrease your mortality rate by more than 40%." - Sheryl WuDunn, Author, Journalist, Speaker & Executive, and Nichola Kristof, Author, Journalist, Columnist
     
  • "Women do most of the work & earn the income; however, only own 1% of the land in Africa. Let's empower them." - Connie Britton, Actress, Singer & Producer
     
  • "For every $1 women make, they invest 90% back into their children, their communities, their world."  - Vicki Escarra, CEO of Opportunity International
     
  • "We're talking about human dignity, and that should be without borders." - Geena Rocero, founder of Gender Proud 
     
  • "The same people who contribute the least to climate change are the ones impacted the most." - Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda
     
  • "We have the power to choose. What are you doing with your power?" - Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, Brain Scientist, Public Speaker & Stroke Survivor
     
  • "We know that students learn 90% of what they teach, but only 20% of what they consume." - Mike Soskil, Teacher
     
  • "When you invest in a girl, you're also investing in her brothers, her family, her community, in society." - Michele L. Sullivan, Director of Corporate Social Innovation of Caterpillar and President of Caterpillar Foundation

Have others to add? Pass along the positivity by sharing in the comments below!

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