Black Lives Matter.

In no uncertain terms, Black lives matter--now and forever. The recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless other Black people are reprehensible and reflect the abhorrent reality of systemic racism in America.

We previously updated our COVID-19 resource page with links to educational media, petitions, and organizations to donate to. However, that was not nearly enough, and the Black Lives Matter movement deserves not only a highlight of its own but also much more--from amplification of Black voices to monetary donations to petition signatures to raising awareness and spurring action on as large a scale as possible. We reiterate that we understand that as non-Black people, we will never fully understand the racism and brutality that Black people have been historically subjected to, and we fully acknowledge the privilege inherent in this lack of understanding. We unequivocally stand with the Black community and against the senseless murders of its members by police. 

That said, words can only do so much. Here are some concrete actions we are taking:

• We are matching donations of up to $1,600 in total to organizations that support the Black Lives Matter movement. Email receipts to info@linghacks.tech. Examples of organizations to donate to:
  • Black Visions Collective
  • Black Girls Code
  • National Society of Black Engineers
  • Black Founders
  • Black Female Founders
  • Code2040
  • Your local bail fund (find it at https://bailfunds.github.io)
  • Reclaim the Block
  • ... or any organization that explicitly supports Black Lives Matter.
• We will be using this blog as well as our social media platforms to amplify Black voices through sharing their work. This will include highlights and retweets on Twitter, shares on Facebook, and stories and posts on Instagram.
• We will continually update this post (and publish new posts) with new educational resources and links to petitions to sign and organizations to donate to. That said, given our backgrounds, we are by no means the authoritative source on all resources related to BLM. We acknowledge our shortcomings and welcome any feedback if we make a mistake. If you feel that any of our content does not help the BLM movement or if you have a BLM-related resource you would like to share, feel free to email us at team@linghacks.tech. To that end, we hope that acknowledging our shortcomings and mistakes normalizes the practice of changing behavior given new information--systemic racism will not be solved overnight, and a lot of uncomfortable and gradual change and growth is required to work towards a solution.

Here is a starter list of resources with concrete actions that you can take:

• This website has one of the most comprehensive collections of petitions, educational media, and organization links for direct action. Donate as you are able, read up on the resources, and sign all of the petitions.
• Emphatically encourage your family and friends to take action as well. This includes not only getting them to take a few seconds to sign petitions and donate what they are able to right now, but also making it a habit to call them out on their racist behaviors and have those uncomfortable conversations with them to the extent that you are able while staying safe.
• Attend protests to the extent that you are able.
• If you are able, consider offering some normally paid services in exchange for receipts of BLM donations. Examples include college application help, art commissions, tutoring, and more.
• If you have a leadership role in an organization, encourage your organization to take a stand, match donations to the extent that they are able, and use their platform to suspend normal programming and amplify Black voices. 
• Do avoid solely engaging in performative activism, but if you have a social media platform, use it to share resources and amplify Black voices (in addition to signing, donating, and learning offline). We have come across several great resources through seeing others' posts on social media, so spreading awareness while not drowning out important information does have benefits.
• To the extent that you are able, encourage your universities, dorm communities, student clubs, or any other organization to be proactive about BLM within their means.
• Continue being actively anti-racist in the long term--not just today, this week, this month, or this year. Persistence is crucial to making real change.

Thank you to all of the organizations and individuals that have stepped up, spoken out, and acted. The fight for racial equality certainly didn't start here, and it doesn't end here either. Black lives matter, now and forever.

Update 6/10/20: a previous version of this post failed to capitalize the word "Black" as it referred to the Black race. Per this article, we realize that this was wrong and apologize for the mistake. We have edited this post accordingly.