The past few days have been incredibly emotional to say the least. The killing of both Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights not only brings more pain and anger but the videos of both also show the graphic violence of police brutality and fatal nature of white supremacy. I won’t be linking to either video and you don’t have to watch either to fully understand the violent nature of how these two men and many like them were murdered.

There are many people who are writing and tweeting about all of this in a significantly better way than I ever could so here are the things I’ve been reading and keeping in mind:

• Larry Wilmore on the Alton Sterling Shooting – Alex Abad-Santos, Vox
• Alton Sterling Protesters Remind You What America Keeps Forgetting – Kim Bellware and David Lohr, Huffington Post
• Philando Castile’s Mother Says She Tries to Teach Him “How to Survive” a Police Stop – Anna Swartz, Mic
• 23 Everyday Actions Punishable by Death if You’re Black in America – Jamilah King, Mic
• Dallas Police Shooting Started as a Peaceful Protest, Not a Black Lives Matter Attack – Alexi Kleinman, Mic
• Philando Castile Was a Role Model to Hundreds of Kids, Colleagues Say – Melissa Chan, Time
• Why I Will Not Share the Video of Alton Sterling’s Death – April Reign, Washington Post
• Diamond Reynolds Spoke to Reporters About Philando Castile’s Death: “I Want Justice” – Brianna Provenzano, Mic
• After Dallas, We Don’t Need to Say ‘Blue Lives Matter’ – Natasha Lennard, Rolling Stone
• Dallas is a tragedy for all of us and shouldn’t shut down calls for justice – Ijeoma Oluo, The Guardian

For those healing from this past week and others like it:

• 17 Poems to Read When the World is Too Much – Hannah Giorgis and Tomi Obaro, Buzzfeed
• We Can Help Each Other Cope: One Simple Way to Be With Each Other Through Pain Right Now – CarmenLeah Ascencio
• What To Do When They Don’t Want You to Exist – Rembert Browne

Things to read if you’re white like me:

• Concrete Ways to Be an Actual Ally to Black People – Avital Norman Nathan, Maximum Middle Age
• 12 Ways to Be a White Ally to Black People – Janee Woods, The Root
• I, Racist – John Metta, Huffington Post
• This is What White People Can Do to Support #BlackLivesMatter – Sally Kohn, The Washington Post
• Police Officers Explain They’re Encouraged to Act in Racist Ways – German Lopez, Vox
• 15 Things Your City Can Do Right Now to End Police Brutality – Zak Cheney Rice, Mic
• The Massive Toll of Police Brutality: These Fatal Shootings Destroy Minority Communities, Both Physically and Mentally – Sirry Alang, Salon

Other things to keep in mind:

• The FBI’s COINTELPRO has done a lot of work in the past to discredit movements similar to Black Lives Matter. They’ve infiltrated the Black Panthers, targeted Brown Beret activists, and have jailed and killed many in an attempt to maintain the status quo. I would not be surprised if COINTELPRO or another similar program was going on right now to discredit both the Black Lives Matter movement and organization and to eliminate any threat they deem dangerous. After all – there continues to be surveillance on activists.
• White fear and white supremacy play a big part in everyday life.