Today, and every day, it is essential to commit ourselves to fighting for racial justice and Black lives.
We hope you’ll join us in taking direct action to root out the evils of racism that are so deeply embedded in every feature of our society. It takes all of us to create a safer, more equitable world for Black Americans.
This page is not exhaustive, but it is offered to provide all of us with some options for ensuring we each continue to act. It will be updated with additional resources as they become available.
Organizations to Support
- Equal Ground is a community-centered organization focused on engaging the rising American electorate, with the goal of building and expanding current capacity in underserved communities.
- The Dream Defenders was founded in 2012 after the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Today, the Dream Defenders is organizing Black and Brown youth to build power in our communities to advance a new vision for the state.
- Florida Rising is a people-powered organization fighting for economic and racial justice across Florida.
- Color of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, helping people effectively respond to the injustice around us.
- Black Voters Matter is building power in marginalized, predominantly Black communities.
- The Black Collective is a movement committed to elevating political consciousness and amplifying the economic power of Black communities.
Petitions
Black Lives Matter has a list of petitions you can sign here.
Stay W.O.K.E Go Vote: Voter Registration, Education, and Mobilization Campaign for Black Floridians
The Stay W.O.K.E go vote campaign is a statewide movement to tell the story about the destruction imposed on Black communities by Ron DeSantis and the Republican legislature in the state of Florida.
Stay W.O.K.E and Vote! Pledge to vote in 2022.
Anti-racism Education
Educating ourselves on America’s history of racism is one way we can take steps to undo the damage that systemic racism has inflicted on our society. “The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist,” Ibram X. Kendi writes in How to Be an Antiracist. “It is ‘antiracist.’”
Reading anti-racism literature is a great way to deepen your anti-racist journey, but also make room to support and uplift work by Black educators, activists, and creatives. Find some anti-racist literature here and popular books by some talented writers here.
You can also find a collection of films that confront American racism here.
Black Leaders in Florida
Black history is American history, and Black history is Florida history. Meet some of the Black leaders who have shaped our state’s history and made the Sunshine State a better place for all.
Arthenia Joyner
Senator Arthenia L. Joyner has not just lived history, she’s made it. Passionate about creating change, Joyner was arrested twice for demonstrating against segregation while attending Florida A&M University. She entered politics in the ‘70s as Chair of the Shirley Chisholm presidential campaign. Among her many achievements, Joyner was Florida’s fifth Black female lawyer, the first Black female lawyer in Hillsborough County, and the first Black female State Representative and State Senator elected from Tampa.
Gwen Cherry
Born in Miami, Gwen Cherry earned her bachelor’s degree and law degree from Florida A&M University. In 1970, after careers as a teacher and lawyer, Gwen was elected to the Florida House, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as a state legislator in Florida. She introduced the Equal Rights Amendment there in 1972, chaired the state’s committee for International Woman’s Year in 1978, and co-authored Portraits in Color.
Harry T. Moore
An educator and civil rights activist, Harry T. Moore founded the Brevard County, Florida chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as president of the state chapter of the NAACP. His leadership led to the registration of 116,000 new black Florida registered voters.
“We seek no special favors; but certainly we have the right to expect justice and equal protection under the laws.”
Carrie Meek
Carrie Meek was the first Black woman elected to the Florida Senate. She served from 1979 to 1982 in the Florida House of Representatives, and from 1982 to 1992 in the Florida Senate. As a state senator, Meek served on the Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Her efforts in the legislature also led to the construction of thousands of affordable rental housing units. She served as the United States Representative for Florida’s 17th congressional district, from 1993 to 2003.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of formerly enslaved people, was an influential educator and activist who — among her many accomplishments — founded the National Council of Negro Women, advised multiple U.S. presidents and created a boarding school for Black children that would later become Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.
Carrie Patterson and Wilhelmina Jakes
On May 26, 1956, Florida A&M University students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson were arrested in Tallahassee because they refused to give up their bus seats next to a white passenger. Their actions spurred the Tallahassee bus boycotts of 1956.