i’m white and non-american so my voice isn’t the one that needs to be heard right now, but i’ll just throw this out there: if you’re like me- donate, sign, share. help others be heard who need it more, and support in any way you can. to everyone affected, i hope you stay safe. i can’t imagine what you’re going through.
Here is a compilation of places to donate (IF you can, simply reblogging and sharing this can help) and petition to sign. I found these websites and organizations on twitter.
DONATIONS
THE MINNESOTA FREEDOM FUND: Donate to this to collect funds to pay jail bonds for the protesters who get arrested.
BLACK LIVES MATTER: An organization fighting for the BLM movement. Donate if you can.
BLACK VISIONS MN: an organization that is led by Black, Queer and Trans people. Donate if you can.
Willie Simmons has spent 38 years in prison for a $9 robbery. He had two prior convictions similar to robbery that he served time for. He was prosecuted under the Alabama Habitual Offender law and was given a life sentence for his third strike - stealing 9 (NINE) dollars. Sign his petition.
Breonna Taylor was killed by police who were conducting an UNANNOUNCED drug raid, where they gave no request to enter. They bashed her door and entered, shooting her EIGHT times. They were in the WRONG HOUSE.
George Floyd was killed by a police officer who knelt on his neck and suffocated him to death, after George pleaded with the officer and told him he couldn’t breathe. The officer had pulled him from where he sat in his car on an alleged FORGERY. You can also text “FLOYD” to 55156
ARREST THE OFFICERS WHO KILLED GEORGE FLOYD: The main police officer who murdered George is being kept in PROTECTIVE CUSTODY. You probably have heard he was arrested, but this is NOT TRUE. He was placed under PROTECTIVE custody because of the riots and “threats” on his life.
If you know of ANY other organizations or petitions, PLEASE ADD TO THIS LIST. The fight for justice doesn’t end here, it will never end. Especially when the president of the United States calls white supremacists good people and protesters of a mans death THUGS. USE YOUR VOICE. NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE. FUCK COPS. FUCK “BLUE LIVES”. ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER!
the minnesota freedom fund is asking folks to donate to other organizations instead. the specific ones they listed are black visions, linked above, and these two:
reclaim the block, a collective that aims to redistribute funding away from police and towards more community-oriented projects in minneapolis
these are the links i send to my facebook friends who keep running their mouths about “the protests hurting the community”
minnehaha food shelf & calvary church food shelfare both centered in the south minneapolis area where the riots started. the grocery stores in the area have been decimated, so food shelves and food insecurity charities need a lot of love right now.
northside funders group is a philanthropic group in the twin cities that’s using all its funds right now for helping local businesses
migiziis a native american media/history nonprofit whose office was destroyed in the riots
we love lake street is devoting funds specifically towards rebuilding the lake street area in south minneapolis
some more groups that could use your help
the healing justice foundation is a national nonprofit that’s specifically focusing on mental health resources for bipoc right now
ctulis a nonprofit focused on low-wage workers and workers rights in minnesota
mpd 150 is focused on policing and specifically trying to reroute the conversation from “we need to change police procedures” to “the police need structural reform”
the spiral collective is providing funds for supplies, medic kits, and other things that protesters will need on the ground
unicorn riot is a media collective that has had people on the ground filming every night in minneapolis
This movie has been on-and-off “in the works” for more than a decade and a half now, such that many of us fans have moved well beyond “once bitten twice shy” straight into “it’s not real until a trailer drops”.
Nonetheless, when I saw that yet another incarnation of the cast had been announced back in December, I was intrigued.
There were several things I did not expect:
Judy Dench as Commander Root. Commander Root was most decidedly male in the original novels, so this is a rather large change. “Older woman in a position of military or authoritarian command” is a trope that really only took off after the books were written, but since then we’ve seen it a lot: President Coin in The Hunger Games series, Meryl Streep’s character in the rather ill-advised movie adaptation of The Giver, or even our beloved General Leia Organa in the newest Star Wars films. There’s even a certain look that all of these women share: straight grey hair and outfits with square, suit-like shoulders in an inoffensively neutral color. The casting of Judy Dench rings alarm bells for the movie’s Root to follow in that direction, in the blind “everyone else is doing it so let’s do it too” kind of way. Moreover, I’m worried what this change will do to Holly’s character. A large part of her arc, particularly in the first book, has to do with her being the first female member of the Recon division. A key part of her character’s motivations is the pressure of excelling as a Recon officer, and thereby proving the worth of her entire gender out in the field. If Commander Root is also a woman, then Holly’s no longer the first, and since this female Root is a commander, that means she’s already excelled as an officer, and proven that women can be capable in the field. This version of Holly would no longer have the same kind of pressures, and that to me means a less interesting Holly.
Nonso Anozie as Butler. I’m all for more PoC in films, but Butler was originally described as “Eurasian”, with strongly implied Romani heritage, and it’s not as though Romani and mixed race characters are over-represented, by any stretch of the imagination. If the filmmakers really felt the need to “race-lift” a character to fit some diversity metric, there are far better options than to change a character from one under-represented race to another. Most of the fairies, for example, could easily be cast into PoC without violating any canon. And if you really must change the race of one of the human characters, how about not the character that would play into the “black bodyguard/manservant” trope? John Diggle says hi, and that at least Arrow was self-aware about it. This really isn’t how you achieve diversity and representation in film.
Lara McDonnell as Holly Short. It’s not exactly clear what Holly’s age would translate to in human years, but she’s old enough to have graduated from the police academy and have made the rank of captain. The fact that they cast a 15-year-old has me raising all kinds of eyebrows. I’m sure they did it to reduce the age gap between the two leads, but that by itself is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, more than anything else, it has me the most apprehensive that the story the movie will be telling isn’t the one that I fell in love with.
Josh Gad as Mulch Diggums. Okay this is great and just about perfect.
