Fellow equality-loving bookworms, what is it we’ve been shouting for the past few months?
“When they go low, we go high.”
We still can.
Sorry to be cheeseball in this time of mourning, but the cure for hate and oppression is the same as it always has been: compassion and education.
Peaceful demonstrations are a nice gesture to show off how much we care, but if you really want to stick it to bigotry, here’s a list of organizations that can help you put your passion and skills as book lovers to constructive use right now, helping the people who need allies most.
So consider protesting in the form of…
Helping ESL immigrants study for the citizenship test:
http://www.montereypark.ca.gov/264/Literacy-Citizenship
Mentoring girls on their way to becoming authors, and making their voices heard through storytelling:
http://www.writegirl.org/join-us/
Mentoring girls in underserved areas on their way to a college education:
https://moste.org/want-to-join/be-a-mentor/
Helping homeless students pursue better futures as an afterschool tutor:
https://www.schoolonwheels.org/volunteer/
Helping low-income kids reach grade-level reading proficiency and fall in love with books early:
http://readingpartners.org/volunteer/
Volunteering at your local library to read to kids, help them with their homework, or tutor adults who want to improve their literacy level:
http://www.lapl.org/get-involved/volunteer
Most of these organizations are LA-based, but a few are nationwide, and there are more like them wherever you happen to be.
I chose them for their ability to put reading and writing skills to good use, as this blog is mainly for readers and writers, but there are many other ways of helping groups currently under attack through methods as simple as filing and answering phones.
There are options for people who want to dive in headfirst, and options for people who have a couple hours a month to spare, or who prefer to make monetary donations.
If you have other suggestions for worthy ways to contribute, feel free to post below.
Peace, love, and books, my friends <3