Eight minutes and 46 seconds: That’s how long it took an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department to take the life of George Floyd, a cheerful father of two who was a great athlete and loved to dance. What can you do with that amount of time?
As the reset of America is underway, understanding the role you can play in a system of change can be difficult, but we encourage you to listen, learn and be active — as we are also trying to.
While this is not a comprehensive list, we encourage our readers, especially non-Black ones, to use the time you have to take steps toward justice. To start, spend more than eight minutes and 46 seconds a day to be part of this change.
Day 1
- Read “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” by Peggy McIntosh.
- Sit in the discomfort of confronting your own privilege. Consider not only the privilege you have but how it affects your life.
Day 2
- Sign the petitions for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery and others.
- Register to vote or confirm you are already registered.
- Call your senators and urge them to back the Emmett Till Antilynching Act.
Day 3
- Watch Megan Ming Francis’ “Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice” TEDx Talk.
Day 4
- Listen to the “Keep the Fight” episode of Pod Save the People.
Day 5
- Read “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Ibram X. Kendi.
Day 6
- Dinner and a movie: Order food from a local Black-owned restaurant and watch Ava DuVernay’s 13th on Netflix.
Day 7
- Watch Alfre Woodard performing Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech.
Day 8
Day 9
- Read “The Bridge Poem,” by Kate Rushin.
Days 10–16
- Read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander, after buying it from a Black-owned bookstore.
Day 17
- Give your copy of The New Jim Crow to a friend and spend a day reflecting on what you’ve learned.
Day 18
- Explore and read pieces from History Is a Weapon.
Day 19
- Donate to the Movement for Black Lives.
- Call your local elected leaders and police chief to advocate for police de-escalation training, if they don’t require it already.
Day 20
Day 21
- Watch Britney Cooper’s “The Racial Politics of Time” TED Talk.
Day 22
- Support Black-owned businesses. Here’s a list of places you can support from afar.
- Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative.
- Dance to music made by Black artists. Here’s a playlist from OZY:
Days 23–26
Day 27
- Buy children’s books featuring diverse characters and donate them to a local school. Here’s one list; you can find many more online.
Day 28
- Read “The Case for Reparations,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Day 29
Day 30
- Send this list to a friend and challenge them to see whether they can devote a small portion of each day for a month to supporting a more just America.
Compiled with inspiration from Justice in June, by Bryanna Wallace and Autumn Gupta, and Anti-Racism Resources, by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein.