A Cool Way To Donate
Hi everyone! I've been very vocal about how I feel about the BLM movement and the protests in response to George Floyd's murder. I cannot protest because I'm at risk for COVID-19, and so is my close friend, Alexx. We're also both artists and he happens to be an Adult who can run an online store.
So, we made a Teespring shop with a bunch of designs and more on the way (we're still figuring out a couple things like how to make different colors available and add clothes to the store) where 100% of the profits will be donated directly to the Black Lives Matter organization.
Here are a few images from the shop:
Currently all the available designs are mine, but there will be more soon (as well as more buying options). If you want to get something cool out of donating and something from this movement to call your own, this is a great way to do it! If you can't, any amount of sharing or boosting is appreciated.
There will be more pride related designs up eventually as well, but anything queer will be focused on allyship with the Black community until further notice. The money from every design in the shop, though, regardless of what it is, is currently going to the BLM organization.
Update!
Hey, just trying to cycle this post around a bit again. There are a couple more designs up in the shop by both myself and Alexx, and we've raised a total of around $100. Still, I have a bit to say regarding the store and everything else.
So, yes, the news cycle in many ways is beginning to end with the recent charges against George Floyd's murderer and those who assisted in it. However, our work is far from over. In the next few weeks I'll likely be going back to making content again, but I am not going to stop speaking and lifting up voices on this issue, or any other issues for that matter.
Today, in my teeny tiny town in Michigan, a group of around 50 kids (everyone under the age of 18, but everyone was older than 13) gathered in protest. It was 100% peaceful and organized by honors students, FFA kids, community members. I am happy to announce no one was hurt, but these kids were run out by the police on public property in a town with a total population of like 1200, at 3pm. This is illegal. They had every right to be there. I was invited to the protest but was unfortunately unable to attend.
This is ridiculous. And my friend Alexx and I agree that after the news cycle ends and our dashes go back to normal, the support will still be necessary.
It is not enough to support black lives when it's on the news, when it's popular, when it's convenient. We, especially us white people, must show support often enough that it is obvious. Radiate the energy of activism.
Alexx and I have decided that this specific store will stay open and continue donating all proceeds to the Black Lives Matter organization until... well, until we can't anymore. As long as people are purchasing, we will be donating. Because where will all of the supporters be in a week when it stops being on the news? In a few months, when the protests slowly begin to come to a stop? In a year, when some of this is going to mush with the mess that 2020 was?
No. We will be here. We will continue donating. I'll soon be going back to my normal content, but I will not be going back to business as usual, because hearing about my friends and cousins getting chased off public property by police when most of them are freshman in high school has made me realize that business as usual can never be the same again.
I am a writer, but first and foremost I am human. I can never again be a silent observer of injustice and quietly think that it's wrong. I hate that it took my own friends and family being in danger for me to realize this, but I know now. You have to do what's right all the time. Advocate all the time.
So, this blog is writing and activism now and forever. I don't think any of my followers or mutuals are going to have an issue with that, considering today is the first in weeks I've seen any normal content for more than two posts in a row.
If you buy from the shop now, next month, next year, anytime, the money will be donated. Black lives have mattered, do matter, and will always matter, and we will continue to be there as allies as much as we can. If you have any tips on being a better ally (now or any other time), anon is always on and my messages are always open.