The Gaming Community Is Here For #BlackLivesMatter

On May 25th, George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis. His death is sadly one of many instances where Black people have been killed by the police. This has been the catalyst for the #BlackLivesMatter movement to come out in protest across the world over the past week. It is important to not just express solidarity, but to prove it: provide resources, stand up for others, make donations, and to take what action you can. Phennix Gaming stands with #BlackLivesMatter, as do others across the gaming community.

These are just a few examples of members of our community raising money, and some information on how you can follow their lead.

Outside Xbox – NAACP

On June 1st Outside Xbox and its sister channel Outside Xtra, which is dedicated to the fun of video games rather than the grind, have raised nearly $50,000 for the NAACP. The NAACP is a civil rights organisation founded in 1909. You can watch their stream here where their donate button remains active, or donate directly through NAACP’s website.

Black Girl Gamers – The Bail Project, Color Of Change

For the week of June 1st, Black Girl Gamers, streamers and advocates for Black women in gaming, will be hosting a wellness week. This wellness week will be creating a safe space with chill games and raising money. Originally, they were fundraising for for the Minnesota Freedom Fund, but amazingly that organisation is currently overwhelmed by donations. Instead, Black Girl Gamers will be raising money for The Bail Project, which works to disrupt the bail system by providing free bail assistance, as well as Color Of Change. You can join them on Twitch, or donate directly to The Bail Project and Color Of Change.

Critical Role – NAACP LDF, Race Forward, and Color Of Change

The Dungeons and Dragons actual play show Critical Role has paused their programming in favor of making donations and highlighting other voices. Dungeon master Matthew Mercer has donated $2,050 to the Community Justice Exchange, who work to end incarceration through multiple avenues, and you can donate through their website. Critical Role have also suggested supporting the following organisations. You can donate through the websites linked below:

NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund is a legal organisation fighting for racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and education.
Race Forward is dedicated to research, awareness, solutions and leadership to further racial justice.
Color Of Change has 1.7 million online members and lead campaigns to build power in Black communities and further real change.

They have also been providing donation incentives for ongoing Fundraisers. For example, Mercer has promised to perform a song from Hamilton if streamer Cypheroftyr’s The Bail Project fundraisers reaches $75,000. At the time of writing, the fundraiser has reached nearly $90,000 and still climbing; you can donate here.

GamesDoneQuick – We Love Lake Street, NAACP LDF

For the month of June, GamesDoneQuick, an organization who runs multiple yearly speedrunning marathons to raise money for charitable causes, are donating all of their Twitch subscription and bit revenue to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, linked above. They’ve also made an immediate $2,500 donation to Lake Street Council’s We Love Lake Street, to support small businesses in Minnesota, which are predominantly owned by immigrants and people of color. You can join them on Twitch, or donate directly to We Love Lake Street through their website.

These are not even close to the only people in the gaming community raising money, this is just a scant selection. There are a lot of people doing the work that is so necessary right now to help enact social change. There is always more to be done, and there are more ways that you can help. I’ve set out a few of those below.

What else can you do?

Listen to Black creators, friends, family, survivors, and protestors. If you are nonblack, use your privilege to support, uplift, and defend them. However small, whether it’s 20 followers or 200, use your platform.
Engage. If people are saying anti-black things, or being complicit through silence, call them out. Use what you’ve learned to educate others, and show that racism and silence are intolerable right now.
Sign petitions. Here is a document compiling petitions and places you can donate.
Educate yourself if you are unfamiliar. Google is your friend, but be wary of people and outlets that may be promoting anti-black rhetoric.
To that end, fact-check everything, especially claims about protests. Buzzfeed News has an ongoing article debunking as much false information as it can.