An Open Letter From Afterglow

Afterglow stands in firm solidarity with everyone in Austin and across the nation protesting state violence and police murder of Black people. 

Written by the Afterglow Editors-in-Chief

We encourage all who are able to donate to the 400+1 bail fund. Image courtesy of 400+1.

We want to thank so many of our community members right now. Several of you have been educating us on police violence and abolition efforts, donating to worthy funds supporting Black people, and holding each other accountable to doing better. 

Last week, we donated $100 of Afterglow funds to the Austin-based bail fund created by 400+1 to support people protesting on the ground and provided links for our individual staffers to give what they can. We have asked all UT student organizations with available funds to match us, or exceed our donation in organizations that are well-funded. 

If you don’t have the money to donate, now is the time to start these conversations with your organizations and communities. Pass along the information to anyone who can give, and ask each other how you are combating anti-Blackness in your daily lives. 

We want to continue doing what we can with our platform to support the Black Lives Matter movement. With that in mind, we’re temporarily pressing pause on promoting Afterglow content on our social media.  We plan to keep using these accounts to share relevant resources, especially those with an Austin focus. 

If you need a break from the news, our website is always here. We will continue to publish the music journalism that we’re passionate about and evaluate about when the time is right to resume sharing more of our own content. Until then, thanks for reading.

Afterglow has always been about sharing community, and right now, this is what that looks like. We hope you’ll join us. 

Love,

Annie Lyons, Delaney Davis, and Selome Hailu
Afterglow Editors-in-Chief