With everything going on back home in Minnesota and around the country, I will not be blogging for a few days or weeks. It’s not the right time to write stupid meaningless lists about movies I’ve watched during quarantine or make dumb sports arguments or whatever other utterly meaningless shit I write on this website when George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight in Minneapolis, a place I love and call home.
Instead of reading the stupid crap I usually write about on here, please take the time to learn about the incredibly important issues at hand.
You can read an op-ed that Kareem-Abdul Jabbar wrote in the LA Times here. Before you ask why you should be reading something written by the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Abdul-Jabbar has been a leading civil rights activist in the community for the better part of 50 years. Take a look at a few other articles to get educated about the reasons black people have been killed by the police, history of systemic racism and police brutality in America for 400 years, or the racist origins of the phrase Trump used in a tweet “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
If you have the means I encourage you to donate to some great community programs as well.
George Floyd’s brother Philonise set up a GoFundMe page which goes to funding funeral and burial costs for George and taking care of his children.
Reclaim the Block is a Minneapolis community group committed to defunding the MPD and using those funds to invest in community health and safety initiatives.
If you want you can donate to help Minneapolis communities directly affected by the protests, think about making a donation to We Love Lake Street or Support the Cities.
Just a couple of thoughts to wrap this up. If you find yourself watching the violent protests across the Twin Cities and the country and saying “that’s not the right way to protest”, remember that Collin Kaepernick silently took a knee and was told to stand up and respect the flag. Remember that Black Lives Matter protested the Philando Castile killing by peacefully protesting on I-94 and were told that is not how you protest. Remember when LeBron James and other NBA players stood up after the killing of Eric Garner and wore shirts that said “I can’t breathe” during warm-ups and were told to shut up and stick to sports.
To my friends, family members, neighbors, and community members who are protesting throughout the Twin Cities, and my journalist friends covering the protests across the country, I just wanted to say that even though I’m 4,000 miles away I love you, I’m with you, I’m proud of you all, stay safe and keep fighting.
Dunking on Oxford 