If you're anything like The Stranger staff this morning, you're exhausted and emotionally drained from watching the protests and the absurd police overreaction in Ferguson last night. You're outraged at the violation of constitutional rights and the open displays of racism from the people who pledged to serve and protect the citizens of Ferguson. And you're also wondering if there's anything you can do to help from half a continent away; social media gets us close to injustice and makes us all witnesses, but it can also make you feel helpless, as though all you can do is watch. But that's not true; you can help.

You've probably seen calls for donations to the legal funds of people who were wrongfully arrested in Ferguson. We'd advise you not to donate to those just yet because it's hard to separate the real requests from the fake ones; the sad fact is that when events like these capture the nation's attention, there are always scam artists who try to profit from outrage. If you really want to donate to a worthy cause that will help make things right in Ferguson, you can always donate to the ACLU. But right now your money isn't what's needed. What Ferguson needs right now is your public support. You are a citizen, and you can make your displeasure known by adding your voice to the chorus of dissent. Share credible sources of information on social media. Talk about what's going on to your friends who only get their news from television; you'd be surprised what TV news crews are and are not saying about last night in Ferguson. Be informed and share good information with good people.

Even more important than that, you should join other outraged citizens in public protest, to show your solidarity with the people of Ferguson. There are two protests happening today in Seattle. The first is An Hour of Silence in downtown Seattle from 4 pm to 5:30 pm, sponsored by Mothers for Police Accountability and the JT Williams Organizing Committee "to call for Constitutional Policing and an end to Police Abuses." Here's the Facebook page for this protest, and here are the pertinent details:

We will meet at 4pm at the corner of 4th & Pine in downtown Seattle.

There will be 60 minutes of silence starting at 4:20pm, as part of a national call for silence.

There will be no speeches, no bullhorns, no chanting.

Yes to singing, holding up photos of victims of police killings, handheld candles, signs with messages of peace and solidarity.

There's a silent vigil at Queen Anne Baptist Church starting at 4 pm, too. If you asked us to choose between these two events, we'd say you should attend the downtown vigil because it will be more prominent and is more likely to attract the attention of televised media, but if the Queen Anne event is the only one you can attend due to geographical or time constraints, you should absolutely attend that one. Anonymous is calling for people to wear red ribbons or armbands to display their support, but don't let your lack of a red ribbon keep you from attending; the absolute most important point is that you show up. There are also rumblings of another protest on Saturday, but if you can you should come to an event today, while Ferguson has the mainstream media's attention.

We also just learned about a Change.org petition calling on Mayor Ed Murray to make illegal the police tactics demonstrated in Ferguson over the last few days: sonic weapons, cell phone jammers, and so on. Much of what the petition calls for Mayor Murray to make illegal is already law—you have every right to film police, for instance—but it's a useful way to let Murray know that we want him to strenuously denounce the actions of Ferguson police. We need to keep the pressure on our elected officials to know that we are not happy, and that we don't want to see this happen anywhere in America.

We'll keep posting information about Ferguson-related activism to Slog when we see it. If you have any information about how to help, please let us know so we can let everyone else know.