International Students: How Can You Help

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the news.

With so much going on around the world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed & lost.

I wrote this blog post with my international community in mind. For many of us, we are half the world away from America. This distance can create an extremely helpless feeling, but it does not excuse you from acknowledging and acting upon this issue.

For many of us international students, America is our second home. Whether you are a dual citizen with the United States or you currently attend college/university there, America has offered us countless opportunities & experiences.

To my fellow international students still in High School, many of you plan on attending colleges in the US… Just because it isn’t your home yet, doesn’t mean it’s not your problem now.

My intention for this blog post is to compile a list of active ways you can help. These are some of the things that my family & I have been doing from Singapore, and I strongly encourage all of you to do the same. The very least I expect from you is to donate and/or sign a petition. Most of us are in a position where we can afford to donate, and all of us have working wifi to be able to sign a petition. Please do your part.

Donate

  1. Northstar Health Collective: northstarhealthcollective.org

  2. Reclaim The Block: reclaimtheblock.org

  3. National Bail Out Fund: nationalbailout.org

  4. Massachusett’s Bail Fund: massbailfund.org

  5. Assata’s Daughters: assatasdaughters.org

  6. Black Visions Collective: blackvisionsmn.org

  7. NYC Aid Society: legalaidnyc.org

  8. Minnesota Freedom Fund: minnesotafreedomfund.org

  9. George Floyd Memorial Fund: gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

  10. Black Lives Matter: blacklivesmatter.com

Sign A Petition

  1. Justice For George Floyd: change.org

  2. Black Lives Matter: blacklivesmatters.carrd.co (this is a useful site that has compiled petitions, places to donate, and resources for further reading)

Read A Book

  1. Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

  2. Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

  3. Beloved by Toni Morrison

  4. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oulo

  5. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

  6. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

  7. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Watch A Movie/TV Show

  1. 13th (Netflix)

  2. When They See Us (Netflix)

  3. Dear White People (Netflix)

  4. The Hate U Give (Hulu)

  5. Hidden Figures (Apple TV)

Follow These Organizations

  1. Color of Change (@colorofchange)

  2. NAACP (@naacp)

  3. United We Dream (@unitedwedream)

  4. The Conscious Kid (@theconsciouskid)

Questions To Ask Yourself

  1. Who taught you about race & culture?

  2. What can you do to support POC in your community?

  3. What are you committed to doing outside of social media to end racial discrimination and systematic oppression?

  4. What do you want to learn more about?

  5. What information could you teach people?

Action Items

  1. Register to vote (to all of my dual citizen friends). Politicians have enormous influence, not only through legislation and legal justice but also in shaping community sentiments and civilian behavior.

  2. Check in on Black friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances.

  3. Educate yourself. It is your job to learn about racial injustices and what you can do to help.

  4. Read the news and pay attention to social media.

  5. Choose action over inaction. Attend protests (if you can) and share your #BlackLivesMatter posts online, regardless of your follower count. Your voice is powerful.

On top of all of that, please stop using racial slurs, please be brave enough to correct your family & friends, and please use your platform. It’s easy to remain silent. It’s easy to not take action. It’s easy to stand back and watch. But just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

We can all be better & do better. This doesn’t go away once the topic stops “trending”. Please do your part & I hope that we can see a change soon.

Note: I just wanted to say a huge thank you and give credit to some of the accounts that have inspired me to write this post. @apelcrib, @goodgoodgoodco, @silvykhoucasian, @njhsdems, @asiangirlsunited, @homefromcollege, @pastemagazine, @domrobxrts, @bluntedboss, @blklivesmatter, @nytimes.