Please, be aware of what is happening in Eastern and Central Europe, particularly Belarus. The extremely shortened version of what is happening in Belarus is that they have been under a dictatorship for the past 26 years, and just recently had an election where Lushenko (i.e. the man who has been head of state the past 26 years) "won" by an overwhelming majority, which has led many to believe that the election was undoubtedly rigged. Citizens then came out to peacefully protest and were met with police brutality and violence from the State.

I've been seeing a few things float around about Belarus, but not nearly enough.

Learn as much as you can (historical information +current affairs) and consume information from reputable reporting sources. My personal choice is BBC for current affairs.

Don't center the dialog around yourself. Don't say "this is what it will look like in November with Trump", because not everything should be centered around American issues and it is such a horrible, self-serving thing to do. This is about Belarus, it needs to stay focused on Belarus, and we as outsiders need to not use this as an opportunity to self-insert our own political and social issues. Belaeus deserves the same respect and support from the world that was given to the US during the BLM protests.

Continue talking about what is happening with people in your circle and urge them to stay informed on the issues at hand.

Support in ways that you can. I know there are some fundraisers and reputable organizations that you can donate funds too. If you cannot financially donate then please stay informed and use your networks as a way to distribute accurate information.

If you know someone in Belarus or who is Belarusian and are in contact with them- simply listen. Be a support person for them if needed and don't offer unsolicited advice or viewpoints. If they want advice or your opinion they will ask. This goes back to the first point, don't center yourself into this conversation. As a friend, or just a fellow human being, it may be enough just to listen and be an external person to validate their experience and feelings.

As a side note, many of the guidlines I outlined above can be applied to other issues going on in the world. Right now it seems like the world is falling apart and many people are suffering. As an external observer we cannot pit tragedies against each other in some sort of macabre Olympics of suffering which we engage with from a safe distance.