As you've seen, there is a huge issue with racism that has existed for centuries and at the moment the world is undergoing (I can't remember where I read it, but I saw it somewhere!) the biggest, or one of the biggest civil rights movements in history! I asked on Instagram how you thought us calligraphers can specifically help the movement and here are some of your ideas, along with some of mine! Of course these are just ideas, if you think of any better ones or how we can improve them to make them more effective please feel let me know in the comments on here or on Instagram!
Thank you to everyone who contributed with ideas!
1. Hand write or address an envelope to write yout local MP/ politician.
When we first learnt calligraphy our teacher told us how he sent a handwritten letter to his local politician and when he met them afterwards, they were particularly impressed by his envelope and remembered his letter for the pretty envelope! You could do something similar too, with one of the many templates available online for letters to send regarding the movement!
2. Share quotes or important statistics using your calligraphy
You know how much people like sharing pretty things, so if you can write out the names of victims of police brutality and share their stories, quotes or important statistics nicely, people may be more likely to share it and hopefully more of their followers too will learn about the important stories, movements and statistics that have happened and are happening today
3. Share stories and information in your Instagram stories
No matter how small your audience is, keep sharing the stories of people who've lost their lives, IGTV videos where people talk about what we can do to be actively anti-racist and petitions/ fundraisers!
4. Donate a portion of your profits to charity if you're able to
I've seen some amazing prints, T-shirts and name-writing specifically for charity. If you're able to, that's a great way to raise money!
5. If you can create resources to educate people or find any that you like, share them!
I love reading people's stories where they are sharing what they've learnt about racism in their own countries, history etc. You could share what you're reading/ watching/ listening to as well to give people ideas!
6. Diversify your feed!
@calligraphersofcolor is an AMAZING page to follow! Amanda of @amandareiddesigns is sharing resources there and has an amazing IGTV video about racism in calligraphy.
These are all the ideas from you all and I've added a few too! I hope these are useful and that you can use them to make a difference! Please share your ideas or give feedback if you've got any too!