We demand justice.

At Knack, we stand in solidarity with the fight against police brutality, systemic racism, white supremacy, and the historic oppression of the black community.

As we have seen just this past week, racism is deadly, and we must act now to stop its growing boldness. This call to action includes: holding police forces accountable for acts of violence against the black community, all communities of color, as well as transgender and gender-diverse people; changing an economic system that consistently oppress large segments of our populations; and recognizing that our right to be comfortable is not greater than someone else's right to live.

We all need to remember their names. We need to say their names.

At Knack, we often talk about human rights for all, but especially now, and as a largely white community, it is essential that we understand and acknowledge our privilege, and therefore our role in eradicating racism and protecting the lives of our black community. We also often talk about ourselves as allies. It is our responsibility as allies to be loud and visible, even when it is uncomfortable. It’s also our responsibility to take true action and not be guilty of “performative allyship,” which only perpetuates the systems of oppression we seek to dismantle. Together, we can do this, but it must be a priority and it must be now.

At Knack, we pledge to:

1. Learn up

2. Speak up

3. Show up

4. Donate

5. Take action

Learn up:

Research & Statistics

• NAACP: Criminal Justice Fact Sheet

• McKinsey on Covid-19: Investing in Black Lives & Livelihoods 

• Washington Post: Imprisonment on Black at Five Times the Rate of White

• The Antiracist Research & Policy Center

Podcasts

• 1619 by the New York Times

• Code Switch by NPR

• Race, Bias, and Justice with Sherilynn Ifill 

• Seeing White: How Race was Made.

• The Diversity Gap

Films, Shows, Documentaries, Videos

• 10 Must Watch Black History Documentaries list by PBS 

• When They See Us on Netflix 

• A Riot is the Language of the Unheard - Speech from Martin Luther King Jr.

• Before You Call the Cops

• Trevor Noah: George Floyd and the Dominos of Racial Injustice

• The Hate U Give

• 13th

Books/ Articles

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

• How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X. Kendi

• White Fragility: Why It’s Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD   

• Anti-Racism Education, Work and Stories Reading List & Bookshop

• The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs

• 1619 Project by Nichole Hannah-Jones with the New York Times

News Outlets

• Blavity

• Colorlines

• The Grio

• The Root

Speak up:

• Contact your Local, State, and Federal elected officials

• Demand Mandatory Life Sentences for Police Brutality

• Support the Hands Up Act

• Support efforts to redirect police funding

Show up:

• Find your local Black Lives Matter chapter

• Register to vote

Donate:

• Official George Floyd Memorial Fund

• Minnesota Freedom Fund

• Black Visions Collective

• Reclaim the Block 

• Campaign Zero 

• Unicorn Riot

Take Action:

• A New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing from the Obama Foundation

• Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual from the ACLU

• Look for local opportunities to get involved through the ACLU