Hey Everybody!

How are you? These are tumultuous times we live in. All over the nation, people are protesting police brutality, racism, and injustice. The videos and coverage we’ve seen have my emotions all over to place. They have ranged from sadness to anger to disgust to dispair. If you’re like me at some point you asked yourself, “What can I do?” I decided to share a few ideas.

1. Educate yourself on a particular movement or cause. Find out the facts of the situation and the people involved. If an organization is addressing that cause or causes research their agenda, how they plan to address the cause, what they hope to achieve from their efforts.
2. Examine your own habits and beliefs. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask tough questions about your belief system. Examine how you were raised and if you in any way have ever contributed to the problem — even if it’s just ignoring it. If you find that you need to adjust take the time to do the heart work. Address your bias and dismantle those beliefs that shouldn’t be.
3. Research the local presence. This basically means find out how that injustice is affecting where you live and how it’s being addressed?
4. Take action in your community. If you see injustice, you and others can organize to take action or join an already existing organization.
5. Donate to those organizations to help them fund the work.  Every organization needs funds to operate and do the work. Don’t ever minimize the difference your dollars can make.
6. Go to a peaceful protest or demonstration. United voices are more likely to be heard. Add yours to the cause.
7. Use social media to express how you feel and disseminate positive, useful, and accurate information. Information is power but it needs to encourage, educate, and inform. Let’s stay away from using our words and images for negativity and divisiveness.
8. Volunteer your time. Whether you are on the front lines or behind the scenes change comes when a dedicated group of people decides they aren’t going to stand idly by and watch injustice continue to occur. People are needed on every level and by people, I mean you.

Whatever way or ways you decided to join the fight for justice and equality, I ask that you keep it positive and peaceful. Let’s also keep one another lifted up during this time. Change doesn’t happen overnight and the journey isn’t going to be easy.

I recently did a spoken word piece called “Soul On Fire” about the current events. Feel free to take a listen.
Be Blessed!

Jae Henderson
www.jaehendersonauthor.com
www.literaryjewels.net