Black Lives Matter

Over the past few weeks, all 50 states and dozens of countries around the world have participated in Black Lives Matter protests, making the uprising that is going on right now the largest civil rights movement in history.

2020 isn’t the year that any of us planned for or expected, but it will go down in history as a year of change and transformation. 

Following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25th, 2020, the issues of racial injustice and police brutality have been brought to the forefront of all of our minds. These are not new issues by any means, but ones that many of us are being confronted with in a new way right now—a way that is demanding for us to show up.

It isn’t enough to be nonracist anymore, we all need to be actively antiracist. 

There are many ways we can show up and support the Black community: Protesting, signing petitions, sharing resources, contacting your representatives to demand reform, donating to organizations, voting in both national and local elections, taking the time to actually listen and learn from Black voices—these are all places to start.  

So many resources have been shared online over the past few weeks, but here are a few that we recommend: 

Watch:
5 Tips for Being an Ally (short video)
Town Hall with President Obama (long video)
13th on Netflix (movie)
For those of you with young children: Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism (TV special)

Listen:
1619 Podcast
Code Switch Podcast
Pod Save the People Podcast

Read:
Article: 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Article for AV Folks: Addressing the Residential Tech Industry’s Race Problem
Books for Adults: 7 Anti-Racist Books Recommended by Educators and Activists
Books for Kids: Books to help you explain racism and protest to kids

Donating is important too, and as a company, we are pledging to make quarterly donations to organizations like Black Lives Matter and the NAACP. For years now we have been supporters of Give Merit’s FATE program, and we are looking to support Winning Futures as well, both of which are aimed at helping Detroit youth succeed in high school and beyond. Here is a thorough list of organizations to consider donating to.

But we know this isn’t enough and we will continue to look for ways to be better allies and supporters—whether it’s with our time, our money, or our voice, and we encourage you to do the same.

As Killer Mike said recently in his moving speech, this is time “to plot, plan, strategize, organize, and mobilize in an effective way.”

To the Black community: We see you. We hear you. We stand with you. We support you—and we pledge to fight alongside you.