Dear Friends and Supporters, 
Science has long shown that the negative consequences of climate change will be borne disproportionately by people of color and disadvantaged communities. Yet we don’t need science to understand that those communities have been marginalized, penalized, and brutalized by hundreds of years of systemic racism. We need only listen to our hearts to know this injustice is deeply wrong and merits urgent attention.

Many of the beneficiaries of Climate Ride work to support racial justice and their work is more important than ever. As the Climate Ride community is characterized by can-do, hopeful people who are driven to take action, we wanted to amplify the voices of two Climate Ride beneficiaries, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and 350.org, that have been working tirelessly for climate justice. Each non-profit has provided information and actions that we can take to learn and deepen our anti-racism advocacy. We have included links to all of these resources below as well as places where you can learn more and donate to organizations on the front line.
Dominique Thomas with 350.org said it precisely:
“The murder of these Black individuals simply living their lives – jogging, driving, breathing – is beyond horrific. Incidents like these aren’t new – they’re part of a long, painful history of oppression that’s designed to maintain white privilege in this country.
 
These sanctioned murders are the symptom of a broader virus in this country that oppresses and vilifies Black people in order to maintain white supremacy. The officer who murdered George has been arrested and charged. But that is not enough. We must address the violent and non-violent racism in America that has made being Black living in a constant traumatized state with no reprieve in sight. 
 
There is no just recovery from this pandemic or climate justice without addressing systematic extraction, harm, and violence towards Black communities. To build the world we want, it requires more than transitioning our energy sources. We have to live and breathe in the defense and justice for Black lives every day, not just when their lives are taken on video. That means being more radical, more nimble, and intersectional in our work in order to confront white supremacy in ourselves and in every facet of our society.”
Watch 350.org’s online conference  “What We Must Do to Dismantle White Supremacy”.
We’d like to encourage members of our Climate Ride community to join us in giving money to organizations dedicated to racial justice and those supporting protestors. Here are some places to give:
  1. Black Lives Matter, find your local chapters 
  2. Reclaim the Block has put together this great list of organizations you can support in Minneapolis
  3. In Montana, where Climate Ride is based, there have been calls to help fund the African-American Studies program, the third oldest in the country
  4. Give to a rapid response fund or bail fund
We would also like to amplify the words of the team at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN):
“We also condemn all statements that condone or incite violence against those who are exercising their First Amendment rights to protest this and other recent deaths of African Americans across our country. 
 
The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. We at CCAN have participated in dozens of demonstrations that have been essential for growing momentum for climate solutions. Yet, too often, African Americans are disproportionately targeted at these protests. When CCAN Board Member and frequent climate justice advocate Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr. participated in the March for Science, he was targeted and assaulted by the police. When we joined with the #ShutdownDC Coalition to temporarily block traffic around the nation’s capitol to draw attention to the climate crisis, our largely white group was able to block off several intersections without trouble from the police — while the Black Lives Matter blockade was immediately targeted for arrests during the protest and hassled afterwards. 
 
Everyone should have a right to protest without fearing being killed. Everyone should have a right to walk down a street or sleep in their own bed without fearing being killed.” 

You can read CCAN’s full email here, which also has a comprehensive set of resources, including anti-racism resources for white people and parents compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein, and more information about the link between racism and the climate crisis.

With love and support,
Your Climate Ride team: Caeli, Blake, Patrick, Russ, and Mackenzie

One Reply to “Anti Racism Resources to Deepen Our Advocacy. Black Lives Matter. Always.”

  • There can be no climate justice without social justice and there can be no social justice without climate justice!

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