Together, We Can Create Change

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Our collective motto at OTM: “1% Better Every Day”

Today, that phrase has taken on a larger meaning for all of us. It’s no longer just a driver for professional inspiration, it now serves as a guide for bettering our morality and integrity as a business, a team, and as individuals.

We are learning, growing, and guiding together each and every day.

In doing so, we came across an excerpt from a recent article shared by creatively charged outlet ‘It’s Nice That’ which has resonated heavily with us: “There’s nothing we can say that hasn’t already been said far more poignantly by countless others. So instead of rehearsing those thoughts and sentiments, we want to use our small corner of the internet to share resources; to amplify black voices, and to support the demonstrations currently going on in any other ways we can.”

We felt this – along with so many other incredible perspectives – at our core. While we don’t have all (or any) of the answers, we are listening and learning to source ways we can show support, however that may be. To us, the only wrong approach is taking no approach.

Below are ideas, resources and more that we are utilizing to learn and show our support. We hope that you find them helpful, and we welcome you to share your thoughts and ideas with us as well.

Donating doesn’t always mean dollars.

Look into donation efforts in your city, and if you have a car, consider volunteering to drop off supplies to people in need. A seemingly small gesture can have the biggest impact. Ask yourself: “What do I have available?”

  • Is it money?
  • How about goods and services?
  • What connections or networks are you involved in that you can channel to prompt support?
  • Do you have a meeting space you can donate to a group?
  • Can you be a driver for groups and delivery of goods?

Below you’ll find a list of links, categorized into charities, funds, and initiatives accepting donations, people and organizations to follow, books and articles to read, and ways to show support on a local level:

National organizations fighting racism

Colorado-specific relief funds

Funds for victims and their families

Join a protest, if you feel you can do so safely.

If you have symptoms of the Coronavirus, or if you have been exposed, or if you live with or regularly come in contact with people who are at particularly high risk of contracting the virus, the best thing to do is isolate yourself. And while it is generally true that we should continue to keep our distance from others right now, the desire to show up for your community and your loved ones is understandable. If you decide to participate in a local protest, it is recommended that you:

  • Wear a mask
  • Bring hand sanitizer
  • If you can, pack extra water bottles, for yourself and for others who might need them
  • Try to maintain as much of a safe distance from others as possible

Offer resources to protestors and affected communities in your area.

As protests flared around the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday evening, neighbors offered participants water, food, and stoops to sit on during the demonstration. If you have the means, you might consider:

  • Providing bottles of water, food, masks, hand sanitizer, and other basic supplies ahead of protests in your area is one way to help support
  • Donate groceries, household goods, first-aid supplies to local relief organizations

Help with clean-up efforts.

You can also help by supporting community businesses in damaged areas. Volunteers are in need of supplies like:

  • Shovels
  • Trash bags
  • Brooms
  • Gloves
  • Water
  • Plywood

Educate yourself and others.

Anti-racism demands that we identify the hierarchies and power structures that have always awarded the privilege to white people, and look at them honestly. Showing Up for Racial Justice has tips for calling people into conversations in a manner that doesn’t prompt defensiveness. Remember to always lead conversations with empathy to create a platform for positive change:

  • If you hear someone griping about the riots and violence at certain protests, talk to them about the despair, the pain, and the anger at the center, and where that comes from.
  • If you hear someone wonder what privilege a broke white person has, talk to them about what it’s like to not have to worry about your personal safety while moving through your day: jogging down a residential street or walking home from a convenience store.

Books, articles, and resources to read:

  • Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
  • Good Talk by Mira Jacob
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Anti-racism resources for white people (via Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein)
  • 75 things white people can do for racial injustice (via Medium)
  • Ways to help (via Black Lives Matter)
  • IG: George Floyd: How can I help from the UK? (via Das Penman)
  • IG: 10 steps to non-optical allyship (via Mireille Harper)
  • IG: Transform Allyship into Action: A Toolkit for Non-Black People (via Social Justice in Medicine Coalition at USC)
  • Twitter Thread: UK-based charities, organizations and platforms whose work aims to eradicate racial injustice (Via Black Ballad)
  • Twitter Thread: Advice for companies from Sheree Atcheson, Monzo’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion (Via Sheree Atcheson)
  • Why I’m No longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge⁣⁣⁣
  • I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
  • Natives by Akala
  • Dark Days by James Baldwin
  • Diversify by June Sarpong
  • How To Be Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
  • Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri
  • White Supremacy and Me by Layla F. Saad
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
  • Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
  • They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery
  • Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
  • White Girls by Hilton Als
  • White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
  • Blindspot by Anthony Greenwald & Mahzarin Banaji
  • STAMPED by Ibram X. Kendi & Jason Reynolds
  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • Just Mercy by Byran Stevenson

Watch and listen:

People and organizations to follow:

As a group of passionate partners and advocates for positive growth, we hope this article and its list of resources will inspire others to be ‘1% Better Every Day’ no matter their location, experiences, upbringing and current environment.

We leave you with this:
“Remember sitting in history thinking ‘If I was alive then, I would’ve…’? You’re alive now and whatever you’re doing now is what you would have done.” – David Slack

 

 

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