Episode 143: Black Lives Matter

We’re not bringing you an episode about pencils this week, but instead a short message, and some resources for how you can work toward ending systemic racism in your community.Black lives matter. Period.If you’re in the United States, please consider a sustained donation to The Bail Project and other organizations working to bring judicial reform to our government.Being non-racist is not enough: we need to learn how to be anti-racist. Author Ibram X. Kendi has an Anti-racist reading list for us as we begin and progress through our journey.And when you do pick up these books, be sure you do it from a Black-owned bookstore nearest to your community. LitHub has a great list.After the media event around the protests against police brutality inevitably ends, white people need to find ways to sustain our support. Tatiana Mac is a software engineer, a writer, and an activist, and has a great Twitter thread with practical ways to avoid burnout and keep up momentum.Last week, one of our Facebook group members crowd-sourced a list of Black-owned stationery companies or shops that we could support. Here’s what we came up with:GREERChicagoLoyalty Bookstore in Silver Springs, MDFrugal Bookstore in Roxbury, MAPage Eleven Paper GoodsKeynote StationeryEffie’s PaperCloth & PaperDrama Mama BookshopThe Quiet Life Los AngelesSemicolon BookstoreOdin Leather GoodsThe Desiderata Pen CompanyMethodical Stationery UKPaper Penguin CoWe’re sure there are lots more. If you have a Black-owned stationery company or shop, feel free to link them in the comments, and we’ll be sure to add to this list.