Support Black-owned businesses in Chicago:

There are a few things I can offer in exchange for charitable donations. In return for these services, I request that you show me a receipt for a donation of any amount to one of the charities listed below. This way you can still receive tax deductions for your donations and there is no new platform to navigate. You can also donate your credit card rewards to organizations you care about.

Many national organizations get a large amount of press and attention. Taking care of our local communities can help us gain traction close to home in this overwhelming atmosphere. We need persistent efforts on a local level in addition to macro level efforts. We cannot claim to care and then not use our dollars and actions to stimulate change on a daily basis within our own neighborhoods. 

Therefore, I have chosen the charities below based on the criteria that their missions contribute to social justice for Chicago communities. Anyone who is critical of my selection of organizations is welcome to start a conversation with me, educate me on a Chicago-based charity that is not listed that you prefer to support, or patronize local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) -owned businesses instead (see list above). While many of these organizations do not have a specific focus on BIPOC racial justice, I have intentionally chosen these charities because they address multiple facets that contribute to systemic injustices towards BIPOC communities. Food deserts (apartheids), housing, poor education, deficient mentorship, inadequate healthcare, insufficient legal representation, discriminatory housing, voter suppression, and police brutality contribute to the oppression of BIPOC communities everywhere. Systemic injustice means that there is not simply one dimension that can be addressed to solve these problems. There is a foundation of multiple, interdependent issues that need to be tackled simultaneously rather than only one at a time.

We have no excuses and we are all a part of this.