RPG Sales for Black Lives Matter

If you would like to give something to the Black Lives Matter movement, there are some great RPG-related options!

• DMs Guild has a Black Lives Matter spotlight. You can buy D&D material from people of color. There are 11 items in the spotlight, including a couple of bundles. One of them, a Black Lives Matter bundle, has nearly 30 D&D supplements heavily discounted.
• DriveThruRPG (DMs Guild's sister site) has a spotlight page too. This includes some awesome products like the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit, and a bunch of bundles which include Rocket Age and Shadows Over Sol.
• Itchio's MASSIVE bundle has raised nearly $5M so far, and contains over 1,000 products for just $5! They're not all tabletop RPGs, but there's a whole bunch in there including Lancer, a mech pilot RPG I've been meaning to pick up for ages!

As a side note, as I've said elsewhere on EN World, if you feel the burning need to declare that hearing about the suffering of others infringes on your gaming pleasure in some way, or that fundraisers for charity are somehow bothering you, I'd suggest you find somewhere else to say it. It's not welcome here.

 

[Deset Gled]

I am genuinely worried that this will soon turn into RPG.net.

User name checks out.

 

[Morrus]

This is where I remember the wisdom of Eric Noah for having the Eric's Grandmother rule: No religion or politics.

I am genuinely worried that this will soon turn into RPG.net.

I'm shocked that somebody with five warnings for anti-inclusive posts, insulting other members, and challenging moderation would object to a charity. I made myself clear. Don't post again this thread.

 

[Sacrosanct]

@Morrus, I hope this is OK and I don't mean to hijack your thread, but it seems this is an opportunity for a teaching moment here. For the past decade or so, I've given workplace presentations on diversity and privilege, and I've found that once people start learning the background, history, and aspects of this topic, it helps create inclusion and a better understanding of why things like BLM came about and are important. I pulled up my most recent and up to date reference list that I used to create my presentations, and while it encompasses more than just race relations, there is some really good reading here for those who might be mistaken in their assumptions and biases (we all have biases and mistakes in our assumptions; not just picking on one group).

ACLU (2020). Police Militarization. Police Militarization

Akpan, Nsikan (2018). Police Militarization Fails to Protect Officers and Targets Black Communities, Study Finds. Police militarization fails to protect officers and targets black communities, study finds

Alberta Civil Liberties Research Center (2020). Anti-Racism Defined. Anti-Racism Defined — Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre

American Psychological Association (2018). Harmful Masculinity and Violence. Harmful masculinity and violence

Associated Press (2020). 3 Men with Ties to Right Wing Extremists Plotted to Terrorize Las Vegas Protests. 3 men with ties to right-wing extremists plotted to terrorize Vegas protests, prosecutors say

Berkman, Brenda & Floren, Teresa, & Willing, Linda (1999). Many Faces, One Purpose, A Guide to Women in Firefighting. Pgs 68-70.

CNN (2020). LGBTQ Rights Milestones. LGBTQ Rights Milestones Fast Facts

Edmondson, Catie (2020). Democrats Unveil Sweeping Bill Targeting Police Misconduct and Racial Bias. Democrats Unveil Sweeping Bill Targeting Police Misconduct and Racial Bias

FBI (2020). FBI Clearances Statistics, 2017. Clearances

George, Alice (2018). The Kerner Commission Got it Right, But Nobody Listened. The Militarization of America's Police: A Brief History | Brian Miller

Gross, Terry (2017). A ‘Forgotten History’ of How the US Government Segregated America.
Grim, Ryan & Schwarz, Jon (2020). A Short History of Law Enforcement Infiltrating Protests. A Short History of U.S. Law Enforcement Infiltrating Protests

Grisales, Claudia (2020). Led By Tim Scott, Senate Republicans Begin to Draft Their Own Police Reform Plan. Led By Tim Scott, Senate Republicans Begin Drafting Their Own Police Reform Plan

Hess, Peter (2016). Research Shows That Toxic Masculinity is Harmful to Mens’ Mental Health. Sexism may be bad for men's mental health

Holck, Lotte (2018). Diversity Leads to Greater Social Coherence and Well Being. Diversity leads to greater social coherence and well-being

Keshtan, Miki, Ph. D. (2016). You’re Not a Bad Person: Facing Privilege Can Be Liberating. You’re Not a Bad Person: Facing Privilege Can Be Liberating

Libman, Alyn & Marzullo, Michelle (2012). Hate Crime and Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People. https://assets2.hrc.org/files/asset...50.2146892124.1591819492-714082728.1591819492

McKesson, DeRay & Sinyangwe, Samuel (2020). Police Violence Mapping. Mapping Police Violence

Meade-Kelly, Veronica (2015) Male or Female? It’s Not Always So Simple. Male or female? It's not always so simple

Miller, Brian (2019). The Militarization of America’s Police, A Brief History. The Militarization of America's Police: A Brief History | Brian Miller

Mintchev, Nikolay & Moore, Henrietta (2016). Super Diversity and the Prosperous Society. SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals

Mottola, Gary R, Ph.D. (2012). In Our Best Interests: Women, Financial Literacy, and Credit Card Behavior. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women

National Sexual Violence Research Center (2020). https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics

Payscale (2020). The State of the Gender Pay Gap. https://www.payscale.com/data/gender-pay-gap

People Management Editorial (2017). Diversity Drives Better Decisions. https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/experts/research/diversity-drives-better-decisions

Reynolds, Katie (2019) 13 Benefits and Challenges of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace. https://www.hult.edu/blog/benefits-challenges-cultural-diversity-workplace/

Schepers, Emile (2017) Agents Provocateurs and the Manipulation of the Radial Left. https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/agents-provocateurs-and-the-manipulation-of-the-radical-left/

Stanley, Jay (2015). We Need to Move Beyond the Frame of the Bad Apple Cop. https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/we-need-move-beyond-frame-bad-apple-cop

Stop Harassment (2020). http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/statistics/

The Guardian (2009) G20 Police Used Undercover Men to Incite Crowds. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/may/10/g20-policing-agent-provacateurs

Toohey, Karen (2013). Waiter, Is that Inclusion In My Soup?. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/d...oitte-au-hc-diversity-inclusion-soup-0513.pdf

Turner, K. B. , Giacopassi , D. , & Vandiver , M. (2006) . Ignoring the Past: Coverage of Slavery and Slave Patrols in Criminal Justice Texts. Journal of Criminal Justice

Walker, Laura (2012). Workplace Violence and the Bad Apple Myth. https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21915030/workplace-violence-and-the-bad-apple-myth

Waxman, Olivia M (2017) How the U.S. Got Its Police Force, https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/

Williams, Timothy (2019). What Are Red Flag Laws, and How Do They Work? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/us/red-flag-laws.html

World Health Organization (2017). Violence Against Women. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women

 

[Xaelvaen]

I recommend using Charity Navigator (Charity Navigator - Your Guide To Intelligent Giving | Home) to anyone who wants to review where their dollars are going.

I've used them before in a pinch, but they only report on 501c companies and their filed 990s. It doesn't help when corporations use a payment processor 501c to collect money, sadly. All charities are required to disclose their financials publicly, this site puts them all in one convenient location though, which is very awesome.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I've used them before in a pinch, but they only report on 501c companies and their filed 990s. It doesn't help when corporations use a payment processor 501c to collect money, sadly.

I don't understand what you are saying, again. This has nothing to do with payment processors. This makes as much sense as someone saying, "I love looking at the financials of corporations that deal in cash, but unfortunately corporations that use credit cards do not have financial reports."

EDITED. Anyway, here is a list of some very good charities.

Where to Give Now

Charity Navigator provides lists of highly rated organizations working to help those affected by disasters and crises as they occur. These charities are extraordinarily effective in relief and recovery, giving you the chance to have an impact.

www.charitynavigator.org

 

[Xaelvaen]

I don't understand what you are saying, again. This has nothing to do with payment processors. This makes as much sense as someone saying, "I love looking at the financials of corporations that deal in cash, but unfortunately corporations that use credit cards do not have financial reports."

More specifically to use one example, the Equal Justice Initiative can be donated to using a payment processor (ActBlue), and is also one of the top-rated charities for defending civil rights on Charity Navigator. There are other, collateral, reasons for not doing that, but I really don't understand whatever is driving this point?

Where to Give Now

Charity Navigator provides lists of highly rated organizations working to help those affected by disasters and crises as they occur. These charities are extraordinarily effective in relief and recovery, giving you the chance to have an impact.

www.charitynavigator.org

I already explained it in my actual reply to you. EJI (which is the charity I actually personally supported during this movement by the way) is an actual 501(c) company. So any money they receive is held accountable by the IRS because charities in the U.S. are required to, annually, disclose their financial accountability. Black Lives Matter, Inc is NOT a 501(c). Money they collect through ActBlue is given to them as a private corporation. They are NOT held accountable, and forced to disclose their financial accountability annually. They can literally use that money to pay their CEOs anything they like, and do with the money anything they please, and not meet the charity requirements of the IRS, because they are a private corporation.

I am saying, that I support #BlackLivesMatter completely. I do NOT support "Black Lives Matter, Inc" as a private corporation. I am careful with where I donate my money, to ensure it ends up helping solve the crises of the black community being prejudiced against. EJI is an amazing charity, a private corporation is not.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I already explained it in my actual reply to you. EJI (which is the charity I actually personally supported during this movement by the way) is an actual 501(c) company. So any money they receive is held accountable by the IRS because charities in the U.S. are required to, annually, disclose their financial accountability. Black Lives Matter, Inc is NOT a 501(c). Money they collect through ActBlue is given to them as a private corporation.

I apologize, but we seem to be miscommunicating on a few points.

This is what you said that I do not understand and that I quoted:

It doesn't help when corporations use a payment processor 501c to collect money, sadly.

First, charities (501(c)3s) usually are corporations; they are just a specific type of non-profit corporation. Charities can be other things to (trusts, for example), but it has nothing to do with being a corporation.

Second, this has nothing to do with third-party processors, so I don't know why you keep inserting it.

To sum up- most charities (not all, but most) are corporation, and using a payment processor has nothing to do with anything.

 

[Xaelvaen]

I apologize, but we seem to be miscommunicating on a few points.

This is what you said that I do not understand and that I quoted:

It doesn't help when corporations use a payment processor 501c to collect money, sadly.

First, charities (501(c)3s) usually are corporations; they are just a specific type of non-profit corporation. Charities can be other things to (trusts, for example), but it has nothing to do with being a corporation.

Second, this has nothing to do with third-party processors, so I don't know why you keep inserting it.

To sum up- most charities (not all, but most) are corporation, and using a payment processor has nothing to do with anything.

Yes, but if a corporation IS a charity, it is required to advertise itself as such. "Black Lives Matter, Inc" would have to say, somewhere on its page, that it is a 501(c) non-profit. So clearly, it is not a non-profit. That it uses a payment processor is part of the problem, because I find it misrepresenting its collection methods. By using a payment processor that is a non-profit, but not being a non-profit itself, that (to me) feels VERY misleading.

"Oh look, I'm donating to a nonprofit!" In fact, you aren't, because the payment processor is just giving the money back to a private corporation that doesn't have it's own 501(c) status. I find this a very deceptive tactic of collection.

Thus why I originally said I'm not inserting my will. I specifically said its not GOOD or BAD - it was a reason I chose to look at other charities instead, because that particular corporation would not be held accountable for their donations. I find the entire method of their collection to be a very deceptive practice. I do find this information relevant. If someone disagrees, and doesn't find this deceptive, more power to them. However, people shouldn't blindly donate to something without understanding there will be no transparency about the use of their donations.

If it felt I was trying to call out ActBlue for being one political axis or the other, that was in no way my intent. I couldn't care less about any of that - would have done the same even if it was ActRed, I assure you. The payment processor wasn't my issue in the slightest, only how the funds were going to a private corporation in what -feels like- a deceptive practice with no financial accountability.

 

[darjr]

@Xaelvaen do you have a suggestion for an alternate?

 

[Xaelvaen]

@Xaelvaen do you have a suggestion for an alternate?

Absolutely!

EJI (as @Snarf Zagyg mentioned) is highly efficient with their spending. Equal Justice Initiative
I like that they focus on righting the wrongs already present in our society, to boot.

EDIT: I have another to add, sorry for the delay on it - had to break for lunch.

I also recently made a donation to National Urban League which isn't as efficient as EJI, but they focus on "Empowering Communities, Changing Lives" and have a strong base in education with an "85% increase in college attendance rate" through their programs. I feel like this is a major way to help create future equality. Their 2019 financial report is available on their website to check for yourself, if its the sort of program you'd like to support.