A Resource Guide to Help Take Action, Create Change, and Support Emotional and Mental Health
BMI’s open-door policy means more than just supporting different genres of music. It means giving everyone the chance to use their unique voice and join together with others to be heard and create change. At this point in our history, that openness is crucial to share ideas, learn how to connect and take actions that matter to fight social injustice, racism and inequality.
Important first steps include knowing how to help, how to heal, and how to create meaningful change. We’ve compiled a list of important resources taken from many organizations and outlets that are also getting involved. These extensive lists provide information on the issues at hand, ways to support the mental health and rights of those in the Black and PoC community, and how you can engage with, and donate to, leading organizations in the fight against racism. These lists are by no means a comprehensive account of all the organizations out there working to support these efforts, and we will continue to update and add other resources as needed.
We hope you will take action with the information below, as BMI is doing. We’re honored to represent over a million songwriters, composers and publishers…let’s use our collective voice and be heard.
EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
AAKOMA Project - AAKOMA Project believes that healing starts in the heart. They are working to change that perception that mental health is a privilege reserved for the wealthy. They believe that everyone deserves optimal mental health, and they bring a special focus to the unique experiences of people of color.
Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective - BEAM is a collective of advocates, yoga teachers, artists, therapists, lawyers, religious leaders, teachers, psychologists, and activists committed to the emotional/mental health and healing of Black communities. They envision a world where there are no barriers to Black healing.
Black Men Heal - The mission of Black Men Heal is to provide men of color with access to mental health treatment, psychoeducation, and community resources.
Mental Health America - MHA is the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and to promoting the overall mental health of all. MHA’s Racial Trauma division provides information on racial trauma and how to prevent it, as well as how to promote healing within oneself and their community.
National Alliance on Mental Illness - The National Alliance on Mental Illness has comprehensive website dedicated to Black/African American mental health. They provide a range of resources and recommendations to help strengthen the mental health of Black Americans.
National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network - NQTTCN is a healing justice organization committed to transforming mental health for queer and trans people of color (QTPoC).
PsychologyDegreeGuide.org - A culturally relevant info guide created to address the mental health needs of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and AAPI student communities.
Self Magazine - Self magazine has assembled a list of 44 mental health resources for Black people living in America.
Sista Afya - Sista Afya Community Mental Wellness believes that together, Black women across the African Diaspora can sustain their mental wellness through connecting to resources and supporting one another.
The Loveland Foundation - Loveland Foundation is committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Their resources and initiatives are collaborative, and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing.
ENGAGE
ACLU - The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Artists for Peace and Justice - APJ is comprised of artists, advocates, and creatives across all disciplines who believe in the power of artists to change the world. APJ believes that everyone has the creative capacity and voice to make a difference and that it is our duty to leverage our collective talent to help create a more just and peaceful world.
Black Lives Matter – BLM is dedicated to the ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever. They provide official information on the Black Lives Matter movement including tips for protestors, FAQs, places to donate, petitions to sign, numbers to text to demand justice for victims, as well as mental health resources, and more.
Color Of Change - The nation’s largest online racial justice organization helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, Color Of Change moves decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
Equal Justice Initiative - The EJI is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
My Brother’s Keeper - President Obama launched My Brother’s Keeper in February 2014 to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color and to ensure all youth can reach their full potential. In 2015, the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance) was launched, to scale and sustain this mission. Within the Obama Foundation, MBK Alliance focuses on building safe and supportive communities for boys and young men of color where they feel valued and have clear pathways to opportunity.
NAACP - The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. Their vision is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.
*Hour Children Founded over 30 years ago, Hour Children is dedicated to helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their children successfully rejoin the community, reunify with their families, and build healthy, independent, and secure lives.
*New York Common Pantry New York City’s largest community-based food pantry is designed to meet the needs of families by providing culturally-appropriate and nutritiously-balanced food. The overall goal is to serve as a bridge back to health, well-being and self-sufficiency for our homeless and hungry clients.
*Positive American Youth Positive American Youth was established in 1997 with a focus on helping youth through entertainment, sports, education and fund raising events. Positive American Youth uses the strengths and collective experiences of their staff and mentors to educate and enlighten the targeted audience.
*The Equity Alliance The Equity Alliance proactively advocates for African Americans and other communities of color to have a fair and just opportunity at realizing the American dream. They are a Nashville-based grassroots non-profit advocacy group that seeks to equip citizens with tools and strategies to engage in the civic process and empower them to take action on issues affecting their daily lives.
*Headcount HeadCount is a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. They reach young people and music fans where they already are – at concerts and online – to inform and empower.
*Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights The Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity – work that continues to be vital today. Its principal mission is to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting in particular the inequities confronting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities.
VOTE / CALL / SIGN / LEGAL
Don’t waste your right to vote! Make it count and help elect officials that will create change by registering to vote now.
Contact your local lawmakers and speak your mind. They owe it to their constituents to listen. Find out who to contact and how.
The National Bar Association - The NBA has fought for equal rights under the law since its founding in 1925. For 95 years, they have spoken truth to power about unjustified and unpunished killings of innocent African Americans, whether the method of murder was lynching or gun violence. It is the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges, and has instituted a Police Misconduct and Justice Task Force.
Black Lives Matters provides more than 120 petitions that demand justice for those whose lives have been taken senselessly.
*Buried Alive The Buried Alive Project works to help advance the movement of reforming our nation’s criminal justice system through transformative litigation, legislation, and humanization. Their current focus is dismantling profoundly inhumane life without parole sentences handed down under federal drug law.
*Campaign Zero: #8CantWait Campaign ZERO is a data-informed platform that presents comprehensive solutions to end police violence in America. It integrates community demands and policy recommendations from research organizations and President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The campaign #8CantWait is an initiative to bring immediate change to police departments.
*Innocence Project The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and works to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
EDUCATE
Anti-Racism Resource Guide - Compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein, this comprehensive google doc serves as a resource to deepen anti-racism work. Includes podcasts to subscribe to, videos to view, books to read, film and TV series to watch, organizations to follow on social media, and other additional resources.
IG: themanacho – An Instagram account offering a frank and important conversation about the need to understand the black experience.
Music Workers Alliance - Provides anti-racism resources, organizations which benefit black Americans, bail funds to donate to, twitter info, as well as a national resource list #George Floyd, and more.
Time Magazine has put together an extensive list of books to read and movies to watch that experts have weighed in on to help contextualize the current moment.
Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism – The ADL offers a guide for educators to effectively engage in conversations about race and racism.
How to Explain Racism and Protests to Your Kids – A New York Times article with tips and recommendations to start the conversation about race with children, early and often.
DONATE
115 Ways to Donate in Support of Black Lives and Communities of Color – Put together by New York Magazine, this extensive list includes bail funds, victim memorial funds, frontline funds, community restoration and enrichment organizations, youth-oriented community organizations, as well as policy, political, legal defense funds and other related organizations.
* BMI is donating to these organizations on behalf of social justice, voting rights, and equality. Click here for more information.
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