In response to the Black Lives Matter movement and its resurface in May 2020, OutLaw has created this section with resources specific to Black folks and non-Black folks. If you would like to add to or update this list, please email [email protected].
Mental health & wellness resources for Black folks:
OutLaw is aware that there are numerous resources on the internet for anti-racism books, podcasts, videos and other media. Check out the Black-owned bookstores list below to purchase your anti-racism media; these businesses deserve your attention more than Amazon! We also encourage you to purchase anti-racism media made by Black creators and authors.
While these book lists are great, we further encourage allies to focus on impact-driven advocacy such as the following:
1) DIRECT WAYS TO MAKE PORTLAND SAFE FOR EVERYONE:
Black-owned Bookstores in the US: Remember to purchase your anti-racism media here.
Afriware Books
AshayByTheBay
Harrietts Bookshop
Hakims Bookstore
Semicolon Bookstore
Key Bookstore
The Lit Bar Bookstore
Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books
Black Stone Bookstore
Black-owned eateries in Portland, OR:
3) KNOW AND SUPPORT LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DEDICATED TO AMPLIFYING ISSUES DISPARATELY IMPACTING BLACK COMMUNITIES: The following organizations are very active on social media and provide more opportunities to voice your concerns and calls to action in Portland.
We leave you with some thoughts about practicing mindfulness in your anti-racism advocacy. Once you have made your statements on social media, how will you take it further? Are these words you strung together reflective of your lifestyle offline? Do you listen to the Black community that surrounds you? Make space for them? Do you protect Black folks from the relentless microaggressions they survive in your school or work environments? Do you address colorism or anti-Blackness in your cultures and spaces? You joined a choir of people online, echoed chants of freedom and justice… Does your voice still carry when you break away from this crowd? Take your activism further.
We hope this guide helps you in some way. Feel free to distribute this list of resources.
Mental health & wellness resources for Black folks:
- Ethel's Club: This organization is frequently hosts free 1 hour healing and grieving group sessions for the Black community. Events are often led by licensed Black therapists to help hold space.
- The Safe Place: free app to download geared towards the Black community to educate and unwind.
- Blackline: A 24/7 hotline with the option to text. Blackline provides a space for peer support and counselling, reporting of mistreatment, affirming the lived experiences to folks who are most impacted by systemic oppresion with an LGBTQ+ Black femme lens. Contact: 1-800-604-5841.
- Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation Free Virtual Therapy Campaign: a foundation offering free therapy to those overwhelmed in the Black community.
- Sista Afya: Offers low-cost community mental wellness services centering Black women.
- Therapy for Black Girls: Mental health podcast and online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls.
- Healhaus: Offers low-cost daily yoga, meditation classes, workshops, and circles of care centered around all folks of color.
- Inclusive Therapists: Reduced-fee teletherapy with therapists for justice and learning series focused on tending to racial trauma.
- The Nap Ministry: An organization who believes rest is a form of resistance and reparations. Includes playlists and tools for self-care and sleep.
- MelaninAndMentalHealth.com: podcasts, articles, therapist search.
- nqttcn.com: geared toward queer & trans people of color.
- Harriet's Apothecary & The Unplug Collective: both of these organizations center around Black women and non-binary individuals.
- Additional resources: National Alliance on Mental Illness & BlackMentalHealth.com.
- Amanda Marshall's office is available to represent Black people in the state of Oregon arrested for protesting pro-bono.
- Don’t Shoot PDX’s Legal Referral Services: for Portland protesters who were assaulted or pepper sprayed.
- The Portland National Lawyers Guild Jail Support hotline is (503) 903-5340. Also view NLG’s Know Your Rights Booklet available in multiple languages.
- If you are interested in legal observing or staffing the jail support hotline, please email [email protected] or [email protected]. - The General Defense Committee contact info which may allow access to the Portland Protest Bail Fund: (503) 442-0866 and [email protected].
- BlackLivesMatter website: justice, action, healing and advocacy toolkits.
- Free video filming and/or editing for BIPOC organization, fundraising, interviewing, calls to action and photo blurring: [email protected] or @seasees on IG.
- Tender Table: Food stories by women, trans & nonbinary folks who are Black, Indigenous or POC in Portland. IG: @tender.table
- Ori Gallery: A Black-owned art gallery redefining the “white cube” through amplifying the voices of trans and queer artists of color in Portland. IG: @origallery
- The Numberz (96.7 FM): Black music created by Black Portland. IG: @thenumberzfm
- Tournament haus Ballroom Microgrants for BIPOC / Trans & NB folks in Portland and Seattle: IG: tournament.haus.
- The Cirri: A platform amplifying the narratives of Black womxn storytellers. IG: @thecirri
- Brown Art Ink: Black, Latinx POC art and cultural workers holding space for a sustainable arts ecosystem. IG: @brwnartink
- Black Trans Femmes in the Arts: A collective of Black trans women and non-binary femmes. IG: @btfacollective
- Activation Residency: Art residency, collective and co-op fund that serves marginalized artists and communities. IG: @activationresidency
- Spicy Zine: A collective led by women of color and queer/trans people of color working at the intersection of art, organizing and publishing. IG: @spicyzine
- By Us For Us: A collective of queer, femme, and non-binary Black and POC artists and organizers. IG: @bufu_byusforu
- House of GG: Creating safe and transformative spaces for community to heal and nurturing them into tomorrow's leaders, focusing on trans women of color in the South.
- Trans Justice Funding Project: Community-led funding initiative to support the grassroots trans justice groups run by and for trans people.
- The Okra Project: Collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home-cooked meals and resources to the community.
- LGBTQ+ Freedom Fund: Posts bail for LGBTQ people held in jail or immigrant detention and raises awareness of the epidemic of LGBTQ+ overincarceration.
- SNaPCo: Builds power of Black trans and queer people to force systemic divestment from the prison industrial complex and invest in community support.
- Black AIDS Institute: Working to end the Black HIV epidemic through policy, advocacy, and high-quality direct HIV services.
- Trans Cultural District: The world's first-ever legally recognized trans district, which aims to stabilise and economically empower the trans community.
- BreakOUT!: Working to end the criminalization of LGBTQ youth in New Orleans to build a safer and more just community.
OutLaw is aware that there are numerous resources on the internet for anti-racism books, podcasts, videos and other media. Check out the Black-owned bookstores list below to purchase your anti-racism media; these businesses deserve your attention more than Amazon! We also encourage you to purchase anti-racism media made by Black creators and authors.
While these book lists are great, we further encourage allies to focus on impact-driven advocacy such as the following:
1) DIRECT WAYS TO MAKE PORTLAND SAFE FOR EVERYONE:
- Support abolitionist reforms to dismantle the existing systems of policing and works to create viable alternatives in Portland. Learn about why this is best for our communities and call mayor Ted Wheeler at (503)823-4120, governor Kate Brown at (503)378-4582, Multnomah county sheriff Mike Reese at (503)988-2300, Multnomah county chair Deborah Kafoury at (503)988-3308 and other elected officials.
- Video record police interactions with other civilians: Whenever it is safe to do so, please take your phone out and video record the PPB at a distance when they interact with our communities. Since 2015, it is legal to film the police in Oregon.
- Report violent police interactions to the FBI: If you witness or have witnessed unlawful violent actions done by PPB against the public, you can submit any information, photos, or videos here.
- End Qualified Immunity: learn about what this means, contact your representatives and sign the petition.
- Speaking of petitions, sign up for regular email blasts from Change.org, Color of Change, and other petition sites, and take the time to sign ones that you find important.
Black-owned Bookstores in the US: Remember to purchase your anti-racism media here.
Afriware Books
AshayByTheBay
Harrietts Bookshop
Hakims Bookstore
Semicolon Bookstore
Key Bookstore
The Lit Bar Bookstore
Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books
Black Stone Bookstore
Black-owned eateries in Portland, OR:
- For all Portland Black-owned eateries, click here.
- Vegan Black-owned eateries: Dirty Lettuce, Plant Based Papi (catering and pop-ups), Queen of Sheba Restaurant, Abyssinian Kitchen, Akadi, Enat Kitchen, Sisters Ethiopian Restaurant, Sengatera Ethiopian Restaurant, Try Me Ethiopian, Dots Cafe, Atlas Pizza, Enjoni Cafe, Blackstar Grill, Marrakesh Moroccan, Blackstreet Bakery
- eatOkra is a free application you can download to find Black-owned restaurants in cities across the US.
3) KNOW AND SUPPORT LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DEDICATED TO AMPLIFYING ISSUES DISPARATELY IMPACTING BLACK COMMUNITIES: The following organizations are very active on social media and provide more opportunities to voice your concerns and calls to action in Portland.
- Care Not Cops Campaign PDX: Grassroots campaign to challenge policing and shift our reliance and resources to self-policing.
- Don’t Shoot PDX: A social justice non-profit that promotes art, education & civic participation to create social change.
- Equitable Giving Circle: Feeding BIPOC families with food from BIPOC farmers.
- Critical Resistance PDX: National organization working to abolish the prison-industrial complex.
- Self Enhancement, Inc.: Dedicated to guiding underserved youth to realize their full potential.
- PAALF: Helping our Black community imagine the alternatives they deserve and building civic engagement and leadership to achieve those alternatives.
- Street Roots: A street newspaper that creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
- NAACP Portland Branch
- Snack Bloc PDX: A community resource and support for rallies, protests, community events, vigils and more. IG: @snackblocpdx
- Black Lives Matter Portland: @blmpdx on IG.
- Urban League of Portland: @ulpdx on IG.
- Nuleaf Project: @nuleafproject on IG.
- Zoe Amira posted a video on YouTube that is filled with art and music of Black creators. It has ads that will rack up revenue to be donated to various BLM organizations so don’t skip the ads and put it on repeat!
- Create a virtual space or event with your friends to solicit donations. Various project ideas include virtual concerts, drag shows, fashion shows, or classes and workshops involving whatever talents or skills you want to share!
- If your birthday is coming up, ask your friends and family to donate to an organization on your behalf. It is easy to set up a donation bank on Facebook as well.
- Some businesses (ex: Sephora) are allowing their customers to donate their “points” to organizations. If you know of a business with a point or reward system, encourage them to adopt this practice.
We leave you with some thoughts about practicing mindfulness in your anti-racism advocacy. Once you have made your statements on social media, how will you take it further? Are these words you strung together reflective of your lifestyle offline? Do you listen to the Black community that surrounds you? Make space for them? Do you protect Black folks from the relentless microaggressions they survive in your school or work environments? Do you address colorism or anti-Blackness in your cultures and spaces? You joined a choir of people online, echoed chants of freedom and justice… Does your voice still carry when you break away from this crowd? Take your activism further.
We hope this guide helps you in some way. Feel free to distribute this list of resources.