From 14 to 27 March 2022, the annual European Action Weeks Against Racism will take place. It’s one of the central campaigns we focus on here at UNITED.
Every day, we are reminded that racism is still very much around in our societies. In crisis situations, people of colour are discriminated against, making them even more vulnerable. We sadly witnessed it recently during the war in Ukraine, when, for example, African students were stopped at the border because they were not white and did not look ‘European’. We call for solidarity with all those that are facing racism in our societies.
That’s why our theme for this year’s action weeks is “Show your heart”.
Wear your heart on your sleeve: display your anti-racism activity like a badge of honour! Call out racism, microvolunteer, micro-campaign, do a random act of kindness and take a picture of it with the hashtag #ShowYourHeart – and don’t forget to tag us, whether on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
MICROVOLUNTEERING
UNITED calls on you all to participate in offering your time to your fellow people in the form of microvolunteering.
What is microvolunteering?
We have all been in the familiar situation of needing help and having to ask a close family member or friend for help. However, there are many who don’t have this option. This is where you come in – you can microvolunteer and make someone’s day a little bit better.
Microvolunteering is volunteering done in palatable, bite-sized chunks. It’s donating little bits of your time when and where you can, from wherever you are at, to contribute to a worthy cause. It’s more than retweeting a tweet, reposting a hashtag, signing a petition, taking a photo, or attending a webinar. It’s seeing someone in distress and offering help, it’s taking out the trash when your neighbor is sick, volunteering to share food, signing up at a hospital to donate blood. Anything with a good intention counts. It’s actions on a micro-scale that build up to something grander and larger with enough time and enough numbers. This is where our campaign comes in.
You are more than welcome, and also encouraged, to microvolunteer with us!
RUN YOUR OWN MICRO-CAMPAIGN
Your organisation can organise your own micro-campaign! For example, ask members of your organisation to create a picture or creative output related to anti-racism, and share it on your social media. Don’t have inspiration? Use our slogan for inspiration! You can ‘show your heart’ in many nice creative ways. And don’t forget to send us the outcomes so we can share them as well!
We would love to hear about the activities you are planning for the European Action Weeks against Racism! Let us know through this form, or send an email to 21march@unitedagainstracism.org. Need more inspiration first? Take a look at our suggested activities.
