Addressing Racism: a Resource Guide for the Ohio Chapter Sierra Club

June 8, 2020

Addressing Racism: a Resource Guide for the Ohio Chapter Sierra Club

Our hearts are heavy with the deep grief, pain, violence, and death our Black and Brown family, friends, neighbors, partners, and communities continue to experience as a result of systemic racism, inequity, and police brutality in this country. This guide is intended to provide resources and information to help everyone in the Sierra Club family stay informed and take action.

“Enacting racial justice change requires every person outraged by the recent attacks against black people to practice active anti-racism, and become an ally for racial justice in the outdoors and beyond.” - Michael Brune

Sierra Club has signed onto the climate letter of solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) demands and week of action. The final letter has more than 230 groups signed on. The aim of this solidarity letter is not to center ourselves as environmental organizations, but to add our voices in a helpful way and push for real solutions.

Final Solidarity Letter at https://bit.ly/EnviroEndorseM4BL

Environmental Justice

Why the environmental justice field has a responsibility to participate in change and stopping racism.

- Racism is Killing the Planet by Hop Hopkins, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Sierra Club

Black Birders Week Responds to Racism With a Celebration of Black Naturalists

- I’m a Black Climate Expert. Racism Derails Our Effort to Save the Planet

Resources To Do Your Own Anti-Racism Work

This is not the time you seek advice from people of color on how you can be an ally or take action. There are plenty of resources you can access and suggest you have these conversations with white allies. Remember this is a lifelong journey.

Protesting In The Streets

People coming together to raise their voices and demand change within the structures and culture that define our society is how this country was formed and how we the people have chosen to govern ourselves. Hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. and the world have engaged in peaceful protest since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis MN by a police officer while other officers stood by. Protestors and many who watch from their homes and send money, talk with friends or say prayers are wielding their rights and shouldering their responsibilities to stop the ongoing violence against Black people. This is a moment for real change.

Please be mindful, if you express your feeling of sadness around property damage you are deflecting conversations about the root of the issue: racism and the murder of George Floyd. Instead you are focusing the conversation about property and your personal feelings rather than ongoing harm to people and systematic racism that has persisted and caused us to be here.

ACLU: Know Your Protest Rights
There Isn’t A Simple Story About Looting
SURJ: Calling People In About “Violence”
Stop Focusing on Looting and Start Focusing on Police Accountability
Race Class Narrative Guide on Messaging Around Policing, Protest, and Racial Injustice
How Today’s Protest Compare to 1968, Explained by a Historian
26 Ways to be in the Struggle Beyond the Street: This list is designed to celebrate all the ways our communities can engage in liberation

Ways to Support Locally

Show your support for People of Color with your dollar! It is an easy way to express a thriving community is best when represented by all of those who live in it.

Columbus:

15 Black-Owned Restaurants and Cafes to Support in Central-Ohio
70+ Black-Owned Businesses to Support in Columbus
Donate to the Columbus Freedom Fund- paypal link and a brief explanation of CFF: The Columbus Freedom Fund is a community bail fund centered on Black liberation and freedom started in 2019. Fiscal sponsor is Women Have Option - Ohio, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations are tax deductible.

Cincinnati:

Dayton: If You’re Looking to Shop Black-Owned Businesses in Dayton

Cleveland: