This week, like too many before it, has been extraordinarily painful. 

Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. We hope their names will be said, and more importantly, remembered. More than ever, it matters who is filming whom, the digital safety of our people, access to modes of communication, responsive government, and representative media. 

COVID-19 has also exacerbated structural inequalities which have disproportionately impacted people of color, people living on low incomes, LGBTQIA+, elderly, unhoused, indigenous, disabled, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals for generations. It is a disservice to say they are “historically marginalized”. They have historically been the leaders of movements, creating change for racial, economic, and gender justice—media justice. 

Like many organizations, MediaJustice has been grappling with rapidly shifting realities, but we have continued to prioritize our responsibility to support and serve our 103 MediaJustice Network member organizations, which are doing essential work at front lines which existed even before the pandemic. Even as the world has seemingly slowed, MediaJustice and the MediaJustice Network have hosted digital security trainings, organized against a facial recognition technology bill in California, advocated for the inclusion of the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act in a federal stimulus bill, and signed on to a bill that would force the NYPD to disclose every surveillance tool it uses. 

The MediaJustice Action Fund is a key tool for MJ Network members, and we are proud to have been able to disburse larger grant amounts and rapid response funds in the last few months, providing critical resources from portable radio kits to bail funds. 

Here’s where you come in. The MJ Action Fund is funded solely through individual donations, and any money donated goes directly and quickly to where it is needed most. Our goal is to raise $30,000 to meet our Network members’ needs and ensure the resources required to protect our communities and dismantle discriminatory systems on the ground and in the digital space. 

Please donate what you are able, or consider becoming a monthly sustainer. 

This is an overwhelming time, but it’s not a powerless one. Please help us right the balance by donating to the MediaJustice Action Fund, follow us on social media, or take an action.