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Advocate for legislative bills, support Black-owned businesses, and other efforts you can make from home.

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Night after night this week, Americans have masked up and met up in Boston and across the country to protest racial inequality and police violence, and to make the unequivocal statement that Black Lives Matter. But you dont need to physically stand next to the protestors to stand with them. Everybody can help build a more equitable society by committing themselves to better understanding historical contexts and Black experiences; listening to and amplifying Black voices; and recognizing ways to actively practice antiracism in your own life. In the words of Emerson College president Lee Pelton, This is not a black problem, but a structural issue built on white supremacy and centuries of racism.

Here are five ways to demonstrate support for the Black Lives Matter movementeven if youre not at a demonstration.

The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans at the hands of white police officers and vigilantes ignited this most recent round of protests, but flames of racial injustice have burned in our country for centuries. It will take action on every level of government to create meaningful change. Heres an online resource to help you find your representatives on the local, county, state, and federal levels. Send them emails and/or make phone calls asking them to support criminal justice reform, invest in community services like schools and public health facilities, and work toward equitability.

On the state level, you can ask your representative to support a bill currently being drafted by state Rep. Liz Miranda to limit police use of force, as well as three current bills sponsored by Boston Rep. Russell Holmes: Boston.com reports that members of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus called on their colleagues this week to pass a bill which would set standards for the hiring, training, ethical conduct, and retention of law enforcement officers. Two other pieces of legislation would establish an office to review and reform the existing diversity plans of all state agencies, as well as commission a study on how institutional racism has fueled the criminal justice system in Massachusetts.

Defund.Email, meanwhile, uses Instagram to share suggested language to use to ask local representatives to defund law enforcement agencies. The web archive offers a one-click way to email Mayor Marty Walsh and the Boston City Council to demand they reduce the Boston Police Department budget and reinvest the money in local Black and Brown communities.

On the national level, Bostons own Rep. Ayanna Pressley has co-sponsored, along with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a House resolution condemning police violence, racial profiling, and the use of excessive force. Has your representative added their voice to Pressleys call? Contact their office to ask your representative to speak out now about the need for the House to pass this resolution immediately.

Color Of Change is a national, online organization that aims to fight racial injustices around crime and policing, voting and democracy, economics and housing, media and culture, and beyond. Right now, it is spearheading a campaign seeking justice for the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by Louisville Metro Police in her own apartment during a misdirected, no-knock warrant search; among other causes such as asking Congress to protect Black-owned businesses during the COVID crisis. Check out its resources designed to help people respond effectively to injustices all around us.

And remember: To really hold officials accountable, you need to be registered to vote.

Now is a good time to think critically about how you use your platform on social media. Prioritize voices from Black leaders, artists, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, athletes, and other people you admire. Looking for some new namesand book titlesto add to your offline reading list? Boston has compiled plenty of recommendations chosen by Black local authors, and Boston Public Library has some ideas, as well. You should also check out The African American Literature Book Club, which is a treasure trove of resources. When it comes to understanding systemic inequalities and social movements, theres always room to go deeper.

This is a really tangible way to invest in the Black community in Boston. Here is Boston magazines list of local black-owned restaurants currently open for takeout, and here is the story behind the local Black Hospitality Coalition formed to financially help support them through the COVID crisis. The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts also works to advance the economic well-being of Black residents in the Bay State. On Instagram, @BlackOwnedBos shares information and links about local Black businesses, creatives, entrepreneurs, spaces, and resources; and Black Boston has a robust web directory of minority-owned companies, as well.

Here are places in Boston where you can donate to support either the ongoing movement to protest police brutality, or more broadly work to improve Black lives around Boston.

Not able to join in this weeks protests? Dont let that deter you: Fighting systemic racial inequality in America isnt a week-long effort. Its long-term work. Build up your networks and resources, commit to spending the time, and keep moving forward.

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Besides Protesting, Here Are Five Ways to Actively Support the Black Lives Matter Movement in Boston - Boston magazine

Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos addresses the audience during a keynote session at the Amazon Re:MARS conference on robotics and artificial intelligence at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas on June 6, 2019.

Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement by posting an email exchange with an upset customer.

In an Instagram post, Bezos posted a screenshot of an email from a customer who said it was "disturbing" and "offensive" that Amazon posted a message on its website in solidarity with the movement. The customer, whose name was blurred, wrote "ALL LIVES MATTER!"

Critics of the Black Lives Matter movement often seek to counter the phrase by saying "all lives matter" or "blue lives matter," referencing fallen police officers.

"I have to disagree with you," Bezos replied.

"'Black Lives Matter' doesn't mean other lives don't matter. Black lives matter speaks to racism and the disproportionate risk that Black people face in our law enforcement and justice system."

Unlike black parents, Bezos said, he will never have to worry that his son "might be choked to death while being detained one day." He added that he supports the recent protests around police brutality.

"I want you to know I support this movement that we see happening all around us and my stance won't change," he added.

In recent days, protests have erupted nationwide over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. On Wednesday, three former Minneapolis police officers were charged with aiding and abetting murder in connection with the killing of Floyd.Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck before he died, was also charged with second-degree murder, after he was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Many companies have spoken out against Floyd's killing and police brutality, including Amazon. On Wednesday, Amazon announced it would donate $10 million to social justice organizations. The company also tweeted that the "inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people" must stop.

At the same time, organizations have criticized the company for its ties with police and development of facial recognition technology. Over 1,000 police departments across the U.S. have partnerships with Ring, the smart doorbell security owned by Amazon. Additionally, human rights groups have called for the ban of Amazon's facial recognition technology, Rekogntion, which they argue poses a threat to immigrants and religious minorities.

WATCH: Protests against police brutality spread beyond the U.S.

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Jeff Bezos responds to Amazon customer who was angry over Black Lives Matter message: 'My stance won't change' - CNBC

Infinity Ward just released an update for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that adds a splash screen message in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Players are being told they need to update their client upon finishing multiplayer games, and once they do, the message appears on screen.

Our community is hurting, the statement reads. The systemic inequalities our community experiences are once again center stage. Call of Duty and Infinity Ward stand for equality and inclusion. We stand against the racism and injustice our Black community endures. Until change happens and Black Lives Matter, we will never truly be the community we strive to be.

The Verge has confirmed that the message subsequently appears every time you launch Modern Warfare on a PS4. It also appears on loading screens and when switching to a separate mode like Warzone.

Several video game companies have issued statements of support for black communities this week following protests against police brutality in the US and the killing of George Floyd. Placing the message in front of everyone playing a hugely popular first-person shooter, however, could help it reach a wider group of people.

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Call of Duty adds screen that says Black Lives Matter - The Verge

When David Choi, owner of the street food chain Seoul Taco, pulled up to one of his Downtown Chicago restaurants on Sunday morning, he saw doors and windows reduced to a pile of shards, a vandalized flat-screen TV, and the cash register and several iPads missing, presumably stolen.

Choi had been preparing to resume dine-in service after a two-months shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. The looting not only delayed that indefinitely but also halted to-go service. Hes now hemorrhaging cash while looking to hire a contractor on short notice to board up the shop. Once his insurance company assesses the damage, hell have to pay the deductible, too.

Its been devastating and frustrating on our side, Choi told NBC Asian America. We should be making food and serving the community, but this is taking away from all that.

Still, in his first message to customers, he made clear that those who ransacked his store in no way weakened his support for the fight against police brutality.

EVERYTHING IN MY STORE WILL BE REPLACEABLE, he wrote on Facebook within hours of the incident, while lives are being senselessly lost, on a way too regular basis, is the way bigger issue.

In the week since George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in the custody of Minneapolis police, hundreds of largely peaceful demonstrations have erupted across the country with many followed by looting and arson. From California to New York, scores of Asian businesses were caught in the crossfire, suffering extensive property damage atop already prevalent anti-Asian racism.

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But owners young and old continue to express solidarity with protesters and vocally draw the distinction between material and human loss.

Last Wednesday, the family of Gandhi Mahal, a fire-damaged Indian restaurant in Minneapolis, wrote in a widely shared Facebook post: Let my building burn. Justice needs to be served. When looters broke into Teaism, an Asian cafe in Washington, its founder tweeted: Before anyone puts a single word in our mouths. Black lives matter.

For Choi, the black and brown Americans who have long been abused by the police are not just victims of a racist, dysfunctional system but also close friends of his. We have to look at the bigger picture, he said. Injustice and racial inequality just needs to stop.

At the same time, he said, plundering small businesses like Seoul Taco does no justice to the cause and ends up hurting people from vulnerable communities. Every day the restaurant is closed, for example, translates to more lost wages for his 20 employees, many of whom are black or Latino.

I understand the anger and frustration, but there has to be a better way to resolve this, he said.

Since Saturday nights mayhem, Seoul Taco has received an outpouring of aid from the community. After seeing Chois Facebook post, one customer started a GoFundMe page that has already raised more than $3,000. Some neighbors showed up at the restaurant with brooms and sweepers to clean up debris. Others helped board up glass.

The support from neighbors, customers and complete strangers has, in fact, offset the anger that some owners had for rioters.

Win Latt, who runs Win Asian Market in Buffalo, New York, said he was already in bed when a customer called on Saturday night to say his shop had been raided. The next morning, a contractor offered to board up his windows free, sparing him hundreds of dollars.

As a Burmese refugee, Latt said he was arrested at age 13 for peacefully protesting against military brutality. So he understands and backs the Black Lives Matter movement. He realizes, too, that the help hes received from others also stems from solidarity with the activists.

He said he supports the movement but points out that he feels protesting and breaking property are not the same thing.

Theres no such thing as perfect system, but together we can rewrite law, he said.

With no foreseeable end to the protests and no guarantee if they turn violent some business owners have shelved hopes for a speedy return to normalcy.

On a personal level its very upsetting, said Russell Brunton, the founder of Indochine Asian Dining Lounge, a Thai restaurant in the greater Seattle area that was vandalized Monday evening. For the last 15 years, he and his wife have invested all their time and money into the business, and its hard to see that taking a back seat to another cause.

But there are other priorities right now, he said. And I think everyone has a right to live free from persecution and violence, and to express that right in protest.

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Damaged Asian businesses show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protesters - NBC News

As protests show no signs of halting more than a week after George Floyds death, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors says only radical shifts can stop law enforcement violence.

While she understands the desire to hold individual officers accountable for their actions, Cullors says the demand to defund law enforcement and reinvest the money in black communities is what can achieve justice for black Americans.

The demand of defunding law enforcement becomes a central demand in how we actually get real accountability and justice, she says, because it means we are reducing the ability of law enforcement to have resources that harm our communities.

Many viral videos from protests display police officers kneeling in solidarity and marching with protesters.

Cullors says she doesnt take the disingenuous act of police officers taking a knee seriously. She recalls that taking a knee to call attention to how law enforcement violence impacts black people lead to the end of Colin Kaepernick's career in the NFL.

[Police officers] taking a knee is not stopping the deaths of our community members, she says. We need transformation. These things dont happen through police taking a knee at protests and then right after they take a knee, getting up and tear-gassing us and rubber bulleting us and beating us with batons.

On what would constitute justice for this moment

For a lot of people, they want accountability for what these officers have done. Some people are asking for prosecuting law enforcement. I think thats a fine demand and thats not a demand rooted in us being able to change this system, its holding an individual accountable for their actions. An individual that is tied to an institution that has caused a lot of destruction. I get that demand.

But I do think that the demand of defunding law enforcement becomes a central demand ... And, with that demand, its not just about taking away money from the police, its about reinvesting those dollars into black communities. Communities that have been deeply divested from, communities that, some have never felt the impact of having true resources. And so we have to reconsider what were resourcing. Ive been saying we have an economy of punishment over an economy of care.

On the argument for restructuring police funding to help the communities they serve, rather than defunding law enforcement

Its not possible for the entity of law enforcement to be a compassionate, caring governmental agency in black communities. Thats not the training, thats not the institution. We have spent the last seven years asking for training, asking for body cameras. The body cameras have done nothing more than show us whats happened over and over again. The training has done nothing but show us that law enforcement and the culture of law enforcement is incapable of changing.

And so what were asking for is a reinvestment in how we understand whats needed in our communities. Why is law enforcement the first responders for a mental health crisis? Why are they the first responders for domestic violence issues? Why are they the first responders for homelessness? And so those are the first places we can look into. Let alone, lets talk about law enforcements ability to surveil the community and how much money theyre given in surveillance dollars every single year. We have allowed, the public has allowed, for us to have militarized police forces in our communities and we have to stop it.

Chris Bentleyproduced and edited this interview for broadcast withKathleen McKenna.Allison Haganadapted it for the web.

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Defunding The Police Can Achieve 'Real Accountability And Justice,' Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Says - Here And Now