Updates for June 3, 2020 patch and Black Lives Matter

Updates

Updates are available for the following mods: Sorcerer | HABIT | Child Traits | Thinking Skill | Child and Teen can Quit or Rejoin School 

Black Lives Matter

If you live in America, or have been following its news in the last week or so, you're probably aware of the ongoing protests surrounding police brutality. Black people in particular have been systemically abused by a racist, white supremacist system throughout the history of America and have been the primary victims of an out of control, abusive, and militarized police force that racially profiles them and treats them as sub-human. Across the country, peaceful protesters have been getting brutalized by the very police they are protesting the brutality of; getting pepper sprayed, tear gassed, hit with rubber bullets, beaten with clubs, and arrested under contrived pretenses, setting up people to fail by enacting curfews that make it illegal for them to be out past a certain hour. And protesters are not the only ones who have been brutalized; journalists have been targeted too. 

I know you come here to play a game, have fun, escape, create, whatever your motivation may be. But as I went to update my mods today, I struggled to concentrate. My mind kept going back to the clips I've seen of police abusing their power and I found myself going back to social media feeds to check, trying to amplify voices and messages that need to be heard. But my issues with concentration are trite in the face of people who are risking their lives out there, risking arrest, injury, or death, to protest and force change. Our games will continue to be there, but the black people who have lost their lives to police murdering them can't get those lives back. The kids who have lost parents, and the parents who have lost kids, can't get them back. The protesters who have suffered permanent injury trying to fight for victims of police brutality can't undo that injury.

The best thing I can think to do with the platform I have is direct you to important leaders, in the hope that you will see what is happening, be more informed, and, where possible, be able to help. The following are some people I recommend following:

Cornel West: https://twitter.com/CornelWest 

Bree Newsome Bass: https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome 

Tim Black: https://twitter.com/RealTimBlack | https://www.youtube.com/user/TimsTakeLive/videos 

Benjamin Dixon: https://twitter.com/BenjaminPDixon | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-benjamin-dixon-show/id954648487 

Briahna Joy Gray: https://twitter.com/briebriejoy 

These are just some prominent voices I can recommend. There are many others worth following.

I would keep an eye out for funds you can donate to, coming from trusted sources. I thought about trying to share some myself, but it's tricky to keep track, and priorities or places best to donate to can change quickly, so I think it's better to direct you to people instead.

Stay safe, stay strong, and please do what you can.

In solidarity,

Triplis