In April, Angelina was killed in a domestic violence murder/suicide. She was a non-believer, just beginning to get involved in public/ organized atheism. She was a friend of Mandisa Thomas (founder and current president of Black Nonbelievers, Inc., and member of Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta) and Bridgett ‘Bria’ Crutchfield (board member at Black Nonbelievers, Inc., president of Black Nonbelievers of Detroit, and founder of Minority Atheists of MI).

A college fund is being raised for her three children — Quantance, Robyn, and Jaden.

So I have a couple of questions for you. Question One: Do you think that one of the most important jobs for organized atheism is to build supportive communities, so people leaving religion won’t be alone and can get the kind of practical and emotional and social support they typically get from religion?

We have an opportunity here to do exactly that.

Question Two. Do you think atheists, and organized atheist communities, should do more about other social justice issues? Especially when they intersect with atheism/ religion issues — or when they intersect with our goal of building supportive atheist communities? When I was writing my recent series on why it isn’t “mission drift” for organized atheism to get involved with other social justice issues, and why it’s essential for us to do that if we’re going to be welcoming to a wider range of non-believers — were you either nodding and going, “Yes, absolutely, say it,” or “Oh, that’s a good point, I hadn’t thought of it that way”? Were you thinking, “That’s a really good idea — I’m going to look for opportunities to do exactly that”?

We have an opportunity here to do exactly that.

A member of our community has been murdered. She was a victim of domestic violence. And we have a lousy safety net in this country, which is going to make things even harder on her kids in this already terrible situation.

Please help Angelina’s kids. Even small amounts make a difference. I know a lot of people think “Oh, I can only donate five or ten dollars, that won’t help” — but it really does. It adds up, faster than you might think. You can also help by spreading the word: on Facebook, Twitter, other social media, blogs, word of mouth. Seriously: if all you do is donate five or ten bucks and Tweet or Facebook this, it would help enormously. (If you’re involved in a local organization or a student group, you could also do fundraising in your group.)

Domestic violence is a social justice issue. Underfunded education and the lousy safety net in our country is a social justice issue. And this isn’t just a social justice issue. This is about pitching in to create a community that supports each other in terrible times. Please help Angelina’s kids. Thanks.