“There Is No Pride For Some Of Us Without Liberation For ALL Of Us” - Marsha P. Johnson

“guys!!!! trump is stressed out!!!!! please leave him alone!!!!!!”

um if trump is stressed out so easily about this... then hm.... maybe.... just maybe.... he shouldn’t be president????? and maybe he shouldn’t oppress his people???? maybe he should shut the fuck up and step down??????

Blackout Tuesday! ⚫️✊🏾

a friend texted me like 5 days ago and we aren’t even that close but i feel SO BAD I JUST DIDNT HAVE THE WILLPOWER TO RESPOND FUCK

man depression SUCKS because i either isolate myself from everyone i know and get nothing done or i stay up so many nights with ideas and jotting those ideas out. and then sometimes it’s LITERALLY BOTH AT THE SAME TIME

anyway i’m saying sorry here to my friends who i didn’t respond to messages to during this time ✌️ been a shitty time

#Blackout for Minneapolis. For Louisville. For Toronto. For Brooklyn. #Blackout for Us All.

To the #Blackout Community and Tumblr at large, 

We know you must have a lot of questions or are feeling distressed about the news. The world has been dealing with a lot this year, and it is an especially harrowing time for Black Americans and Black folks abroad. We know your biggest question right now could be summed up by a quote from Toni Morrison:

“What can I do where I am?”

Here at #TheBlackout, we have decided to help you start finding an answer to that question - we feel that we need each other. We need unity, organization, a clear sense of direction, but more importantly, a space where you can be yourself without judgement or fear.

So, in addition to boosting your art and businesses, our highest priority right now is to provide you all with resources to help you start from where you are.

This is a masterpost of places you can donate, find mental health + spaces for radical self-care, and just do something fun. We will be adding on as things change. 

Donate/Boost/Sign:

Minneapolis Freedom Bail Fund  & Louisville Community Bail Fund 

Reclaim the Block

Black Visions Collective

The Official GoFundMe of George Floyd’s Family

Official Petition for Breonna Taylor 

Justice for Regis Official Fund

Tony McDade’s Memorial Fund

Black Lives Matter Network

Mental Health Resources:

Ethel’s Club - Black-owned and operated social club offering access to Black therapists and a multitude of creative events for People of Color. 

Crisis Text Line - A different approach to crisis intervention, Crisis Text Line offers you help when you text 741-741. You’ll be able to chat with someone who is willing to listen and provide you with additional resources.

Shine Text. – Black-owned! Sign up to receive cheerful texts and tips every day. 

Therapy For Black Girls - A Black-owned a directory to help you find Black therapists in your area. 

Tips for Organizing/Protesting:

Knowing your rights - ACLU

How To Prepare for a Protest. (Remember to wear a mask in or to protect yourself!)

A Twitter thread of suggested readings

Fun Online Communities and Things to Do:

Some of our favorite online communities. 

Nerd Culture: @blacknerdproblems, @superheroesincolor

Poetry and Literary Spaces: Cave Canem Literary Balms program for Black poets,  Nuyorician Online Open Mic Events, Well-Read Black Girl

Podcasts: Therapy For Black Girls, Strong Black Legends by Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, The Read with Crissle and Kid Fury.

Hobbies: #BlackBirdersWeek by BlackAFinSTEM (5/31 - 6/8), Wellness Week by Black Girl Gamers. 

Join us for the 5/31 Emergency #Blackout/#BlackoutDay here on Tumblr and Twitter. 

the gays getting ready to spam dreamworks after noelle said that she wants to do a she-ra movie and that it is a possibility if we keep asking for it

Black Lives Matter

Last week we reacted with feeling. This week we’re channeling that feeling into fuel for action. 

The ongoing protests against police brutality are not just a response to the unnecessary deaths of a few. They are a response to 401 years of racism. The unequal treatment of BIPOC was built into the blueprint of the United States, and we still see the indirect and direct consequences of that fact. 

Tumblr has a moral obligation to our community to use this platform in a socially responsible manner. Staying silent about our solidarity with the police brutality protests last week was not an option. Simply spreading our message of solidarity without actionable follow-up this week was not an option, either. 

What Tumblr is doing

Diversity and inclusion will remain an ongoing open and honest conversation within our company. This week we have come together as an organization to make sure the necessary conversations are being held. Dialogue is great, but action is needed. 

Hate speech is not allowed on Tumblr. That sort of hateful rhetoric leads to violence. White supremacists, Nazis, and other purveyors of hate can fully fuck off. They are not welcome here. As we promised last month, hate speech will not go unchecked. If you see hate speech, report it to our Trust & Safety team. They will remove all content against our Community Guidelines.  

Tumblr is a platform. The small team of <200 employees behind Tumblr are people. People who are scared, hopeful, angry, sad, and impassioned. People who care. As individuals, many of us are marching, protesting, and donating. We wanted to share some of the places we’ve donated to over the last two weeks in the hopes that you’ll check them out yourselves:

Color of Change demands justice and equality for Black people in the United States.

Black Girls Smile is dedicated to providing young Black women with mental health resources.

Equal Justice Initiative works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality. 

Homeless Black Trans Woman Fund provides Black trans women in Atlanta with housing, food, and necessities.  

Our social advocacy team is seeking more activists to do Issue Times on issues that affect the Black community. So often, the best suggestions come from all of you. Let us know who you want to hear from. As always, we will read the reblogs from this post.

Our official Tumblr for all things social advocacy, @action​, will continue to reblog posts from the community on more ways to help support the protests. 

Ways we can all help

Over the years, the Tumblr community has solidified itself as being passionate advocates for social justice. Through your posts, group chats, and messages, you educate yourself and others. If you’re not Black, commit to being a better ally. Listen to the Black community. 

Last week @theblackoutofficial​ collected a nice list of resources here on Tumblr. You can stay further informed by following the Black Lives Matter, BLM, and protests tag.

There is a place for everyone in the Black Lives Matter movement. You may be unable to march or attend rallies, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit on the sidelines. You can pass out water, masks, and hand sanitizer if you can’t march. You can donate to a charity you believe in or give money to your local mutual aid organization. 

Contact your officials to encourage our communities to invest in areas we know can prevent crime before it even happens: youth services, education, adequate housing, trauma services, counseling, and restorative justice programs. You can use these easy pre-filled form emails for a number of cities.

Just yesterday, U.S. House and Senate leaders introduced the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. This legislation may work to hold police accountable for their actions. We’re watching the developments of this closely, and suggest you do, too. Call your senators and call your representatives to support this legislation. 

Are you an artist of any kind? Or do you just like art? There are tons of artists on Tumblr who are doing commission fundraisers for charities that have an impact on Black communities. Considering buying something or starting one yourself. 

Lastly: Vote!  

Vote! Vote! Register to vote! Even if you missed the deadline for upcoming elections, register to vote now so you can participate in the next one. You deserve to have a say in what happens within your community.

What just happened on CNN? Im at work and so wasn’t somewhere I could watch

Sure I’ll sum up.

So there was a very good peaceful protest by.... Lafayette Park? Right outside the White House. They were chanting, they had multiple reporters in the crowd, it was fucking CHILL, people were waiting for Trump to do a speech in the Rose Garden.

Then, out of nowhere, truly NOWHERE, the cops closed in from three directions and threw gas into the crowd. They used rubber bullets on the crowd IMMEDIATELY. One dude told the reporter “They don’t care about news, move.” They drove out the totally fucking peaceful, pre-curfew protestors.

They moved them all out, and Trump started speaking, and you could hear the fucking gas going off over his speech. CNN fucking did a splitscreen to show the peopple being shoved back as the motherfucker stood up there and said he would protect our rights and would mobilize the military against people.

Then back to the reporters, and everyone was forced further and further away. One woman on a bike told the reporter “They are getting the water cannons ready, you wanna move.”

TURNS OUT.

ALL OF THIS.

WAS BECAUSE TRUMP WANTED A PHOTO OP AT THE CHURCH ACROSS THE STREET. HE WANTED THEM OUT OF THE WAY SO HE COULD STAND WITH A BIBLE IN FRONT OF A CHURCH.

Even CNN is calling him a dictator, at 7PM.

Then the Illinois governor came out and called him a racist, xenophobic, misogynistic failure.

ETA: OH AND AFTER THE FACT one of the CNN ppl said that the cops claimed they gave three warnings to the crowd to disperse. There were reporters literally in the crowd, and didn’t mention hearing anything along those lines and where as shocked as anyone when the crowd was forced to move. So they’re fucking lying.

okay so apparently there are SOME dumbasses in the black butler fandom that still think grell is a male. so uh, this is targetted towards the people who think grell is a uwu gay white boy because i got some NEWS FOR YOU

so: grell. is a trans mtf, and don’t even try to argue about it, because the writer of the series, Yana Toboso, points. it. out. very clearly. evidence:

THIS IS LITERALLY ALL THE PROOF YOU NEED!! I should not be arguing about this because it is clearly said in the manga that grell, sweet lady, is a female (trans, but ultimately female). the people who argue this are most likely people who are so obsessed with grell and sebastian yaoi that they absolutely despise the thought of her being a woman, even it she wants to. now, normally, this shouldn’t be a problem, but it is, and here’s why.

if the fans can’t accept grell as a female when she CLEARLY says she wants to be a female and says “the thing i want to do most is to have a sex change”, how are they to accept a regular mtf human being? “no!! you’re a cute uwu gay man its okay!!” no!! accept people for their preferred genders/pronouns and throw your sebastianXgrell yaoi in the dumbster fire. i’m not even in this fandom, my friend was telling me about it and i got really pissy about it. this beautiful lady deserves more respect and love for who she is, as do all the trans kids out there. also! i’m not saying shipping her with sebastian is bad- buddy, i don’t care about this fandom enough to care about that ship (just don’t ship sebastian and ciel that’s DISGUSTING), just don’t ship them together and call it yaoi when it isn’t. my friend found the image and did the circling.

Artwork by Tumblr Creatr @ellisvanderdoes

Are you struggling to sift through all of the information surrounding the pandemic? 

Check out NAMLE’s brand new graphic series “5 Ways to Cope with the News: Pandemic Edition” created in collaboration with Tumblr and Tumblr Creatr Ellis Van Der Does.

One thing we’ve learned from COVID-19 is that media literacy has never been needed more. As we deal with the pandemic, we also face an “infodemic”—an overabundance of information that makes it difficult for people to identify factual and trustworthy sources from false or misleading ones.

Media literacy can protect us by helping us navigate the flow of information. It teaches us how to ask questions, be skeptical, and be cautious about the information we take in.

Media literacy is the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE, CREATE, and ACT using all forms of communication.

In its simplest terms, media literacy builds upon the foundation of traditional literacy and offers new forms of reading and writing. Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and makers, effective communicators and active citizens.

About NAMLE

The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing media literacy education, guided by the following mission:

As the leading voice, convener and resource for media literacy education, NAMLE aims to make media literacy highly valued and widely practiced as an essential life skill.

Visit the NAMLE to learn about media literacy and sign up as a free member!