‘We come for our own’: How Black volunteers rallied online to help African students in Ukraine

Black Women for Black Lives, a new coalition focused on helping Black residents escape Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion, amplified the students’ pleas to the international community with the hashtag #SaveSumyStudents. The group started a Change.org petition, which received thousands of supporters, calling on governments to urgently respond to the crisis. And it dispersed upwards of $55,000 dollars in donations to nearly 500 stranded students for food and necessities. Within about a week, the group was Attaochu said her direct messages immediately filled up with people from around the world asking what they could do to help. Among them was Ephraim “Phoenix” Osinboyejo, who offered to help translate maps online and coordinate evacuation routes for African students. In its push to help Black students in Ukraine, the group has also had to confront the pitfalls of social media — namely, that information shared online isn’t always accurate. The group is now doing its best to act with the urgency that wartime requires while working to vet and amplify messages from students, and eliminate red tape in dispersing aid as quickly as possible. “This is my job, always trying to ensure that we verify details,” said Anthony. “So nobody, none of us in the group, will be accused of peddling false information.”Black Foreigners in Ukraine now includes 27 volunteers who are using whatever tools they have to provide direct support to those seeking safe passage. They run a handful of Telegram group chats, including one for those who are undocumented and attempting to flee the war. The group helps students connect in groups to travel together more safely and coordinate housing. It also offers tips on its website, such as a guide for how to open a crypto wallet to receive donations or charge a smartphone without a cord. The group has raised some $15,000 in donations, mostly via cryptocurrencies, and shares a public spreadsheet of how those funds are being dispersed to help those on the ground. Going forward, Anthony says it’s crucial to provide legal assistance, visa support, and academic relocation services to these students and refugees so their lives aren’t derailed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.Black Women for Black Lives is also working to verify requests for donations while acting with life-or-death urgency. The group vets financial requests for assistance via a Google Form on its website and then disperses the funds directly to the students and refugees trying to get out of Ukraine. It mostly issues grants of $50 or $100 at a time.Kolki, the cofounder of Black Women for Black Lives, said she is amazed at the outpouring of support that has flooded in from Black women and allies all over the world, offering whatever talents, time and cash they can. “You get to see the worst of humanity,” Koiki said. “But you also get to see the best of humanity, responding to these tragic circumstances.”Beyond helping those trapped in Ukraine, these efforts are helping to build a community. Anthony may have only just met the fellow volunteers she’s working with or students she’s guiding to safety, but she says, “I don’t think we’re strangers anymore. We’re family, and family sticks together.”