Thread by @andreagonram

Alright, kids. My anxiety is through the roof right now because of Hurricane Maria, so here's a thread about Puerto Rico.

Maria made landfall around 6 am ET in the southeastern town of Yabucoa. It's Category 4 and will continue ravaging the island all day long.

I know that you have good intentions when you #PrayForPuertoRico and all that jazz, but that's not what my people need right now.

What they need is for you to show the same type of solidarity you showed with Houston during Hurricane Harvey.

That means donating, sending supplies, volunteering if possible. Pressuring U.S. government officials to send a relief package. The works.

It also means avoiding misinformation, demanding the media properly covers the disaster and overall not being a shitty person.

And please take into account that Maria is not only impacting Puerto Rico — many of our neighborhoods in the Caribbean were also battered.

Show some solidarity with them too. Here's a list of orgs that helped during Hurricane Irma & might do the same now refinery29.com/2017/09/171206…

The road to recovery will be long, so don't forget my people once the news cycle is over.

(Like, you shouldn't do that with any natural disaster victims in the last weeks. You should know that by now.)

And I know you mean well, but unless you're close to me (family, friend, even coworker) don't constantly check in on how my family is doing.

I'm stuck thousands of miles away with barely any communication and little knowledge of the situation on the ground.

I just can't be revisiting what's happening in real time for your sake — I don't have the bandwidth for that type of emotional labor.

I'm speaking only for myself, but I believe many others in the diaspora feel the same way. So please, be kind.

In conclusion: This disaster will change Puerto Rico forever. We need you to help the 3.5 million Americans living there, full stop.